Riders in Fiore
by Erzats
Summary: Shocker manage to escape the Riders by using their last invention : a gate to another world. Follow 6 of the Riders as they follow them to try and stop them before they could do whatever they are planning to do. And they'll find friends to fight with in the most famous of the Guild. Basically my take on "Neo-Heisei Rider Tail". Small risks of OOC. Rating just to be sure.
1. Chapter 1 : The gate to another world

**Hello ! How are you ? I hope you are all feeling good and healthy. I'm really happy to be back on a Kamen Rider x Fairy Tail fic but it won't be the same as my first, "When Science meet Magic", it will be more like another fic I like a lot, "Neo-Heisei Rider Tail" by So-Pro Warrior. It will be really similar, mainly due to the fact that many Rider will be here, my favorites ones, but with my take. I really hope you'll like it, just know that I'll try to publish it regularly, but I can't say what will be the rhythm. Nevertheless, I hope you'll like it, let me know if you have any CONSTRUCTIVE remarks, please make some efforts, and now, enjoy !**

 **Chapter 1 : Lets go to another world**

/- Somewhere in Japan -/

Night was falling on the city, bathing the old warehouse in a red and orange light, bringing a touch of mystery to the already creepy looking building. If one were attentive enough, he would hear noises coming from inside, even though no one was supposed to be inside. Explosions, cries of pain and noises coming from bodies and furnitures falling on the ground. Noises even a building like this one shouldn't make. But it all ended with one last explosion, preceded by two distinct voices.

 _ **FINAL ATTACK RIDE : D-D-D-DECADE !**_

 _ **RIDER KICK !**_

The explosion shook the whole building, people wearing black suit with white stripes on the front, a big gray belt showing some kind of eagle spreading his wings and a black wrestler mask with white lining the eyes, mouth and nose, flying everywhere, blown away by the attack. A few minutes later, beaten up bodies were scattered here and there, spread on the ground in many different position, clearly showing that those guys had seen betters days. In the basement stood two others persons, conscious and clad in strange looking armors, looking at a strange ring-like structure in the middle of the room, surrounded by computers, a mysterious blue and black swirl in the middle. They were looking at it with concern, in silence, until one of them finally decide to spoke.

\- "I knew that they were working on something, but it's clearly not what I was expecting." Said a young man with some kind of old square-shaped camera around his neck.

\- "Me neither, but we'll have to do what we can with it." Said another man, an old man with greying air but there was something about him that made you know that he could kick your ass if it was needed. "I think we'll need some brain to completely understand what that is, Tsukasa."

\- "I know, Takeshi." Answered Tsukasa running a hand through his hair. "Looks like we'll have to call some people to help us out."

\- "Yeah. Let's not waste any more time." Takeshi then turned around, taking his phone out and began to call some friends, Tsukasa doing the same. They had a lot of work waiting for them.

/- 1 month later – Amanogawa High School -/

It was 5 pm at Amanogawa High School and the bell just rang the end today's day at school. Students were currently either heading home or planning what to do in the evening but they were all very excited since it was also the last day of school. But the student weren't the only one who were excited.

\- "HOLIDAY KITAAAAAAAAAAAA !"

The one who just destroyed the students hearing was not a student, but a very excited teachers, wearing a gray suit and a tie, quite classic for a teacher, but his hair were combed in a pompadour, making him stand out even among the student.

\- "Yosh, at least some holidays. What should I do ?"

While he was wondering about what he could do, his phone rang suddenly. Surprised, not expecting any call today, he answered.

\- "Yo. Kisaragi here…. Yes. Hum, do I have to ? *sigh* Ok, I'll be here." He then hung up his phone before shrugging his shoulder. "Well, here goes my holiday."

/- Donut Shop Hungry -/

Client came and left the Donut Truck as usual, chatting and eating happily much to the owner enjoyment. But Yu will soon reach another level of joy because his best client was coming close. Haruto Soma, his Rings by his sides, was casually walking down the street, without a care in the world, heading straight at the shop.

\- "Haruto-kun ! What a pleasure to see you ! How are you ?"

\- "I'm good. I see you are too." Answered the wizard while walking to the counter.

\- "So, what do you want ? Oh, I know ! Why don't you try my new recipe ? Strawberry, Orange and Banana !" He asked the question, but deep down, he knew what his answer will be. And Haruto smiled, answering like he always do.

\- "No thanks. Plain sugar, please." Yu just sighed but obeyed, putting the donuts on a plate, but Haruto stopped him. "No, put them in a bag, it's to go."

\- "To go ? You are going somewhere ?"

\- "Yeah. I just received a call." And as he walked away, taking a bite of his donuts, he add. "Someone's in need of a wizard."

/- Helheim -/

In a luxurious field, full of green grass and colorful flowers, with a river of clear water flowing through it. A heavenly sight where two people, blonde and clothed in white, were currently standing, looking at the lush field. The woman sent a look at the man, who seemed lost in his thought.

\- "What's the matter, Kouta ? Is there a problem ?"

\- "Not really, Mai. It's just…" Kouta struggled to find his words, as if he himself didn't know what he was feeling. "I'm going to be completely honest with you. I'm bored. I need to change air. You see what I mean ?"

\- "I see. I guess you do need some action. It IS inherent to being a Kamen Rider." She answered with a smile, getting one out of Kouta as a result. But as he was about to reply, a noise was heard. Turning their head, they saw something they didn't expected. A Dimensional Wall had appeared in Helheim. It was not a big wall, but enough for someone to walk out of it. Someone Kouta recognized immediately.

\- "Tsukasa ?"

/- Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department -/

\- "Don't worry Kiriko. I know I wasn't supposed to work today but they need me to finish an important report. T won't be long, I'll be home for dinner. Yeah, I know. I love you, too. Say hi to Eiji. Bye."

Shinnosuke hung up, a smile on his lips before heading back to his desk, hoping to end the report quickly enough to go home and spent some time with his family. He read the report, yawning as it began to take longer that I thought. When he finally finished, it was 1 hour later.

He stretched, yawning widely. He was about to get up when his phone rang.

\- "Tomari, here." He said answering his phone. "What ? Seriously ?" He then began sulking in his chair. "Yeah. Yeah, I'll do it. Good bye." He had ended his call on a whisper, feeling defeated. Looking at the phone, part of him not wanting to do what he was about to do, he sighed and called his wife.

\- "Kiriko. There, um, there's a sudden change of plan."

/- Seito University Hospital -/

Doctors and nurses were all busy taking care of their own patients, even now that the sun was setting on the hospital. It had been a busy day for everyone, but not everyone could go home right now. In the pediatric ward, a kid was sitting on a hospital bed, his arm in a sling with his mom by his side. In the corner of the small examination room stood a doctor, with dark hair turning around with a file in his hands.

\- "Well, it's a broken wrist but it's nothing serious. So, no sports or effort for at least two weeks." He explained to the frowning boy.

\- "I don't like it. It won't be fun." Complained the boy, making the doctor chuckle, squatting down in front of him.

\- "This is how it is. It could have been worse you know. Life is precious, you have to treasure it, no matter how it turns." He said with wisdom while smiling at the boy who nod with a smile.

\- "Thank you, Doctor Hojo."

A little while later, the boy left with his mother, leaving Emu behind him, smiling widely before heading to the rooftop, taking a break like he always do before heading home, taking a time to think about his time as a Kamen Rider when suddenly, he was interrupted by Hiiro, joining him to stand by his side, without looking at him.

\- "Hiiro-san. I wasn't expecting you." Hiiro stayed silent for a moment before breaking the silence.

\- "I just received a call."

\- "From who ?" Asked Emu, Hiiro answering by putting his hand in his pocket and handing something out to him, shocking the young doctor.

The Mighty Action X Gashat.

\- "Someone seeking help."

/- A few days later, back in the strange building basement -/

Emu, riding his bike, just entered the old run down building, looking at it strangely but kept going anyway. He stopped his bike and head toward the stairs like he was told to. When he finally find them, he realized that he was not the only one here. Shinnosuke, Haruto, Gentaro and Kouta were here, waiting for something.

\- "Emu, you've been called too ?" asked Shinnosuke, not liking the fact that he didn't knew what was happening.

\- "Yeah. And I guess no one here know what it is about ?" asked Emu, getting a nod from the others.

\- "We were kind of hopping you would tell us." Admitted Kouta, scratching his head.

\- "He won't but I will." This time, it was a voice belonging to neither of them. Turning their head, they saw Tsukasa, standing in front of them.

\- "Oh, Tsukasa ! Are you the one who called us ?" asked Gentaro, getting up from the old barrel he was sitting on.

\- "I'm not the only one. Follow me, we don't have much time." With that said, the five Riders followed Decade through the hallways. After some time, they arrived in the same room where Ichigo and Decade were a little more than a month ago, but this time, they weren't the only one here. Several people, that the 5 Riders knew really well were working around the ring like structure. Among us stood Takeshi, Kamen Rider Ichigo, talking with a young man wearing a long yellowish coat.

\- "They are here, Takeshi." Tsukasa's words startled the two man who turned around.

\- "Very well." Said Takeshi turning completely to face the Riders who were still wondering what was happening, looking at the ring with apprehension. "Let's not waste any more time. I'll be quick. This thing here is a portal."

\- "A portal ? What kind ?" asked Haruto, now really curious like the others.

\- "A portal to another world." This time, it was Sento, Kamen Rider Build, who answered. "It was built by Shocker."

\- "Shocker is here ?" Asked Emu, now feeling anxious. "Where are they ?"

\- "That's why we are here." Said Tsukasa. "A few month ago, we discovered that Shocker was working on something. But we never found anything. After some time and a lot of work, we finally found this place. We were ready to raid it and stop whatever they were doing but when we got here, they were gone and that thing was the only thing they left."

\- "According to what we found, Shocker used that portal just before we arrived." Explained Sento, pointing at the portal. "And they planned to use it like that. To go to another world." At that, the Riders frowned, knowing that it was not a good news.

\- "It's not good. Whatever they are planning to do there, they'll come back and use it against us here." Said Shinnosuke with a worried sigh.

\- "That's why we called you all here. To go in this world and stop them."

This time, the Riders showed a feeling they didn't showed up to now. Genuine surprise.

\- "Wait what ? Why us ?" asked Gentaro.

\- "And how ? How can we be so sure that it lead somewhere safe ?" this time, it was Kouta who voiced his doubt.

\- "Shocker left barely enough data to know that it is a world that have at least enough similarities with our world to be livable." Said a new voice, making Gentaro gasp in surprise. "That's what we were working on this whole time. To find a way to send you and help you fight."

\- "Kengo ! It's been a long time." Gentaro had momentarily forgotten what they were talking about. Until he finally got it back together "Wait a second, you still haven't answered my question. Why us ?"

\- "You are the one we choose because we need some of the other Riders talents to locate and fight the remains of Shocker in this world." Said a new voice.

\- "Belt-san ?! What are you doing here ? I thought you were in the Drive Pit ?" asked Shinnosuke, totally shocked seeing his mentor and friend here.

\- "They needed the best minds they could find to help with this project. Also, they couldn't send you there if you couldn't become Drive."

\- "Why aren't we leaving them be." Suddenly asked Gentaro. "If they left our world, I say good riddance."

\- "I see your point, but I think they have a way to go back in our world already so they won't be gone forever. But we all know Shocker and that they are ready to do anything to get what they want. Our job as Kamen Rider is to protect the world from them." Said Takeshi, his voice suddenly carrying a strong deep determination. "I don't know what kind of world it is, but if it inhabited by innocent people, they'll be left alone against a force they won't be able to fight. We can't let those people suffer from a threat from our world and do nothing just because it might get us rid of them. So, are you all ready to go ?"

Those words triggered the Rider's protector nature, making them all agreed with a nod. But Shinnosuke still had a question.

\- "About our gears, how are we going to do ? Personally, I don't feel like going around with the Shift car following me everywhere."

\- "We already work on something about that." Said Kengo, handing a suit case to Shinnosuke. "After going through the gate, it will have enough energy to stay open and we'll use what's in the suit case as a beacon to teleport your gears to you : AstroSwitches, Ring, Lockseed, Shift Car and Gashat, but not much more than that. Then with this suitcase" he said handing another suitcase to Emu this time. "We'll have a way to keep contact with you. But don't use it to much, we don't know if over using it could weaken the gate and prevent us from stay in touch."

\- "It's really nice all those devices, but what would be useful would be something we could use to get the trinkets we want without having to carry them all the time."

\- "Glad you asked, Kouta-kun." Said Belt-san while Sento come up with 5 small white boxes in another suitcase. "After we have send you all your tools, you'll have to store them somewhere safe and keep them close to this beacon." Sento showed said beacon since Belt-san couldn't. "Those boxes, that you'll always have on you like your Drivers should I add, will allow you to get any device you need from where you'll store them. That way, the only things you'll have to carry will be the box and your Driver."

\- "That's so cool !" Gentaro was really excited as the boxes were passed between the Riders, everyone picking one, but Kouta saw the same box on Sento's waist.

\- "Wait. Sento, why do you have one ? Does it mean… ?"

\- "Yes, I'll go with you. I just can't pass the opportunity to visit and make some research on a whole new world." Answered the scientist excitedly, a tuft of his hair springing to life while he began rambling about what he could find there, making the Riders sigh and smile.

\- "Ichigo !" called Kengo, who was back at one of his computer. "We have to make it quick. It starting to get unstable and it might be too weak to send them if we're taking too long."

\- "Alright, then !" said Takeshi, turning to the Riders. "Gather your things and prepare yourselves. Take the minimum, we'll send you the rest when you'll have found a HQ. Good luck and whatever happen, don't ever forget your goal !"

The Riders took a few minutes to prepare themselves, getting ready and gather in front of the gate, gazing at the black and blue swirl.

\- "Okay. Ready everyone ?" asked Takeshi, his eyes on the Riders back.

\- "I'm ready ! Let's take them on !" said Gentaro, fixing his hair.

\- "Yes. It's showtime !" Added Haruto.

\- "Let's make it our stage !" said Kouta, readying himself.

\- "Shinnosuke, is your engine running ?" asked Belt-san, back on Shinnosuke's waist.

\- "Yeah. I'm taking you on a ride."

\- "I'm protect that world with my own hand." Said Emu.

\- "Okay then, let's begin the experiment !" said Sento, smiling.

And after that, they all jumped in the gate, heading to a whole new adventures. After they left, Tsukasa joined Takeshi who was still looking at the gate.

\- "You think they will be fine ?"

\- "They have too." Answered Takeshi, his smile now gone. "No matter what Shocker planned for this world, we have to stop them or our world will pay the price."

 **And done ! First chapter of this new crossover. It was kind of slow and short but it's just the prologue, next time, we'll really start digging into the plot. See you !**

 **Next time : Falling into the unknown. Information gathering at the port. A tidal wave, a boat and a dragon.**


	2. Chapter 2 : Welcome to Fiore

**Ok, 2nd chapter, here we go ! First of all, I would like to thank you all for your review regarding the first chapter, I'm really thankful. I see some of you had remarks, mainly about the cast. I don't really plan to add all the Neo-Heisei Rider, it will mainly be the 6 I introduced in the first chapter. But MAYBE I'll add Ghost. I saw many of you mentioning him, so I'll see if I can modify my plan to add him somewhere. Also, the plot I'm using in this fic is basically the same I had in mind for "When Science meet magic" and I do had some plan to make them all appear at some point. But it won't be soon so please be patient ^^. And to answer some question about 'how is Sento here since he is from another world ?', I didn't really thought about that but I'm going to go with a theory one of you guests did : "In the last episode build the two world merge together. The world of build and maybe the rider world". Anyway, let's get down to business.**

 **Enjoy !**

 **Chapter 2 : Welcome to Fiore !**

When the Riders stepped into the gate, they were ready for whatever my happen on the other side. However, what they weren't expecting was that the gate would be up in the sky.

\- "AAAAAHHHHHHHH !"

Right after they crossed the portal, the Riders found themselves high in the sky, just beneath the clouds and of course, they fell right away, free falling to the ground, certainly to an immediate death.

\- "EVERYBODY TRANSFORM ! WE WILL SURVIVE THE FALL THAT WAY !" had cried Shinnosuke, everyone putting on, or activating, their Driver and initiate their transformation sequence. After that, they, of course kept falling, but now they were prepared for the impact. Impact that came sooner, and harder, than expected. They all crashed through high trees, breaking branches all the way to the bottom until they reach the ground with a thud. Groaning, they tried to get up and succeeding despite the pain that shot through their bodies.

\- "Ow. That's what I call a fall." Said Kouta, now unmorphed. "Is everyone okay ?"

\- "I feel like my vertebrae are somewhere else but I'm okay." Said Shinnosuke, rubbing his sore back.

\- "I have to say, it was an interesting experience, but it would be best not to do it again." Add Sento, rubbing his neck, face contorted by pain.

\- "Wait, where are Gentaro and Haruto ?"

That last question from Emu made them realize that Haruto and Gentaro weren't with them. While they were starting to feel anxious and worried for them, they heard two noises. One was wind and the other was some kind of reactor. Raising their heads, they saw Fourze and Wizard, the first one with his Rocket Module activated and the second one in Hurricane Form.

\- "Well, glad to see you are all in one piece." Said Haruto, a laughing smile on his face.

\- "IF YOU COULD FLY, WHY DIDN'T YOU SAVED US FROM THAT FALL !?" roared Shinnosuke, his anger fueled even more by Gentaro comment.

\- "Hey, a free fall is a super experience, we would have been bad friends if we didn't let you enjoy it, isn't it ?"

\- "Well, it doesn't matter anyway." Said Belt-san, not bothered by the fact that Emu and Kouta were trying to stop his Rider from killing the 2 others, who were now unmorphed too. "First, we should gather information. The question is : where do we start ?"

\- "What about that city ?" Said Haruto, pushing some branches to allow the other Riders to see what he was seeing, which was a seaside city, with a big port, a train station and an overall bustling activity.

\- "That should be a great place to get what we need. Let's go." And they then began to head toward the city, where a train was just arriving.

/- Train Station -/

Indeed, a train just stopped at the train station, the passengers going down the vehicle. Well, not all the passengers.

\- "E-Excuse me, sir ? A-are you okay ?"

The train controller was talking to a pink haired young man, carrying a big backpack, with a scaly white scarf around his neck. The controller's worry was understandable because the boy was sitting on the ground, sweating heavily while panting, his eyes swirling madly. Between his legs stood a small blue cat who raised a paw at the controller, answering him, since the guy was unable to answer.

\- "Aye. It happens all the time." After a few seconds, the boy got up, still feeling sick.

\- "Impossible ! I will never ride a train, ever again… *barf*" feeling his sickness coming back, he passed his head through the windows, his arms hanging limply.

\- "Let's go. If the info we got is correct, Salamander should be in this town." Said the cat before heading out of the train.

\- "L-Let me…rest for a while." Said the boy, still hanging from the window.

\- "Okay." But as the cat answered, the train departed from the station, with a horrified pink haired guy still onboard, crying for help. As for the cat, he simply stared at the train. "Ah. It departed already."

/- Meanwhile -/

\- "Eeeeh !? There's only one magic store in this town ?" said a young busty woman with blonde hair and brown eyes, currently standing in the only magic shop of the city, talking to the owner of the shop.

\- "Yes. This town is more prosperous in fishing than magic to begin with." He said with an apologetic smile. "Only less than 10% of the towns-people can use magic, so this is mainly targeting travelling mages."

\- "*sigh* I think I've wasted my time." She complained, hands on her hips, but the owner wouldn't let a potential customer go away like that.

\- "Please don't say that and take a look around." He said, trying to cheer her up. "We have some new items, too." As he was presenting some of his items to her, she finally found something that she wanted. A silver key in a showcase.

\- "White doggy ! I've been looking for that one. How much is it ?"

\- "20000 Jewels."

\- "I wonder how much it is." She asked again, as if she didn't heard the first time.

\- "I said 20000 Jewels." Repeated the owner, but this time, the girl lean forward, putting her arms under her chest, trying to make it look even bigger, half closing her eyes.

\- "I wonder how much it really is, dandy mister."

And in the end, she did got a discount for the key. Apparently, her sex appeal was worth something.

1000 jewels.

/- Later, at the port -/

The Riders, after reaching the city, had decided to split up to gather information about that world. That's why Shinnosuke and Kouta were now at the port, trying to get information but they weren't that lucky.

\- "I don't think this is not the best district to learn about that world." Sighed Kouta, feeling down, and hungry.

\- "It does seems like we won't get any useful data in here." Said Belt-san, his sad face visible on the Driver. They were about to leave when they caught a ongoing conversation.

\- "This time, we'll have a good harvest."

\- "That's what Bora-san said, I hope he's right."

The two Riders stopped, intrigued, and discreetly looked at the guys that were currently talking, two shady looking guy. Feeling something in their guts telling them they were up to no good, they stayed and listen.

\- "With his little happening tonight and his charm spell, we should get plenty of women, right ?"

\- "Yeah, it should go smoothly, but it would be better to stay on our guard. We better not let the guards know about our activities. Let's go now, we have to prepare the boat."

As the two suspect left, the Riders were looking at each other, as if they were trying to take a decision.

\- "You know, if we can't get any information about that world, we might as well try to do what we do best. The right thing. What do you think ?" asked Kouta innocently, Shinnosuke seemingly taking a decision.

\- "He talked about charm spell, women, and probably something illegal if they don't want to alert the 'guards'. What kind of policemen would I be if I let them do whatever they want. And you, Belt-san ?"

\- "Well, I normally wouldn't get involved in such a situation without any solid information, but I guess I could make an exception."

\- "Okay then. Let's follow them."

/- Elsewhere -/

Gentaro and Haruto had no luck gathering information, mainly because Gentaro's boldness was scaring people away, and Haruto was not really helping neither. They were walking aimlessly when suddenly, Gentaro's stomach wailed loudly, making his hunger known.

\- "Huh. Say Haruto, do you think we can find somewhere to eat ?"

\- "I'm not against the idea, but we have no money usable. I don't know if we can."

But as he said that, they passed in front of a restaurant, and through a window, they saw a pink hair guy and a blue cat eating like pigs in front of a blonde girl who looked like she was regretting something. Haruto looked at the scene and broke the silence.

\- "Well, it doesn't matter. It doesn't change the fact that we have no way to pay for…" but he stopped when he realized that Gentaro was not by his side anymore and when he looked back at the restaurant he saw that he was inside, heading straight for the table they were looking at. Haruto ran after him, hoping he won't have to stop him from doing something stupid.

\- "Hey !" Said Gentaro, stopping next to the two young people and cat, Haruto approaching him. "Me and my bud have nothing to eat. Do you mind sharing with us ?"

Haruto was ready for the evident refusal that was about to come but surprisingly, it didn't came.

\- "Yeah, of course. Come."

A happy Gentaro, and a shocked Haruto came to sit with them, Gentaro next to the boy and Haruto with the girl.

\- "Well, I'll introduce myself once again. I'm Lucy. This guy is Natsu and the cat is called Happy. And who are you, exactly ?"

\- "I'm Kisaragi Gentaro ! Nice to meet you !"

\- "And I'm Haruto Soma. You two seemed to be talking about something. What was it ?" being reminded of the interrupted conversation she had with Nastu, Lucy got back on her track.

\- "Oh, right. There's a mage in town, a famous mage called Salamander that …."

* PRFFFFFFFT * Lucy stopped talking and Natsu stopped eating, looking at the newcomers who just spit what they had in their mouths, spraying each other before turning to the blonde.

\- "Wait ! Did you say mage ?" asked Haruto, fear building inside him, remembering about that world full of magic he was stuck in one time.

\- "Well, people who can use magic, duh. There's a lot of people like that in Fiore. How can you not know ?" she said, suspicious that those guys didn't know what a mage was.

\- "We aren't from here. We just arrived and we have no information about that country." Answered Gentaro, keeping his cool while Haruto calmed down. "You were talking about a salamander. How can an animal use magic ?" Now send back on her main subject, Lucy forgot her doubt and resume her explanation.

\- "It's not an animal, it's a nickname for a famous mage, as I said, but I discovered that he was using magic called charm. It's a forbidden magic that attracts other people's hearts to the caster. It was banned several years ago but for that guy to use it to get girls… How disgusting."

\- "You talked like you were a victim of that charm. How did you get out of it ?" asked Haruto, clearly interested by that magic.

\- "It's thanks to Natsu and Happy. They jumped in the middle of the crowd and that broke the spell on me. By the way, I may not look like it, but I'm a mage, too."

\- "Oooh, really ?" asked Natsu and Haruto at the same time, the pink guy still eating while Haruto was really attentive, Gentaro just listening while eating a pork skewer.

\- "I'm not a member of any guild yet, though." She added with a smile, Natsu almost ignoring her, but Haruto, who was sipping on glass of water and Gentaro, still busy with his skewer, knew it was a good way to learn a little more about that world.

\- "A guild ? What is that ?" asked Gentaro.

\- "Ah, A guild is an association for mages and it will mediate jobs and other information to mages. Mages won't be considered full-fledged until they work for a guild." She explained calmly before entering what could be seen as a fangirl mode. "There are so many guilds all over the world and it's pretty hard to get into the guilds that are popular. Many great mages will gather at the one I want to get into. Aah… What should I do !? I want to get in, but I bet it'll be hard…" And as if she suddenly remembered that she was not alone, she turned to the boys. "Ah, sorry. You wouldn't understand a story from the world of mages, would you ?"

\- "Well, I sure don't when you began muttering like that." Said Haruto, lost after her rambling. But he get the main idea about the guild.

\- "Those guilds seems like a nice place to make friends. I like it already." Said Gentaro, smiling widely while next to him, Natsu and Happy were still dumbfounded by Lucy's muttering.

\- "You talk a lot." Simply said Happy but Lucy ignored him, asking Natsu and his feline friend a question.

\- "By the way, aren't you guys looking for someone … ?" her question got the attention of both Riders who just listened, simply sipping on a drink.

\- "Aye, it's Igneel." Answered the question, before he and Natsu began talking among each other.

\- "I heard that Salamander is coming to this town, so we came but it was the wrong person." Said Natsu, feeling disappointed that he didn't found who he was looking for. "I totally believed that it was Igneel, too."

\- "This Salamander didn't look like a salamander." That last comment from Happy made the Riders looked at them like they were trying to understand what it meant. And seeing that Lucy was looking at them dumbly, it seems stupid for this world too.

\- "How could… a human look like a salamander ?" she half asked but Natsu answer was about to drop another bomb on the discussion.

\- "Hm ? He's not human. Igneel is a real dragon."

* PRFFFFFFFT * and that was another spit take for the Riders, spraying each other once again while Lucy was as shocked as them but not for the same reason.

\- "THERE'S DRAGON HERE !?" shouted Gentaro, while Haruto was dumbfounded, putting a hand to his chest, almost feeling WizarDragon roaring inside him.

\- "Well of course. How can you not know ?" simply said the cat but before any of the Rider could answer, Lucy voiced her reaction, which was more of a statement than anything else.

\- "There's no way such a thing would be in this town !" she shouted, the Rider agreeing because a dragon would be easy to spot if he was taking a stroll in the city. And judging by their reaction, neither the boy nor the cat had thought about that. "Don't tell me you only just noticed !"

After that, she took her bag and got up, Haruto getting up to let her pass.

\- "I guess I better get going… But go ahead and take your time." She said while leaving some money on the table. Seeing that, Natsu and Happy suddenly got up, pushing Gentaro away and kneeled on the ground, taking everyone in the restaurant by surprise.

\- "Thank you for the meal !" they shouted, much to Lucy's annoyance, more than embarrassed, the Riders looking at the scene not knowing what they should feel about that.

\- "Don't worry… You helped me, too. So we're even now, right ?" she said honestly, but also looking like she was trying to stop him from doing anything weird again.

\- "I don't feel like I've helped you at all… Oh Yeah !" he said before suddenly getting up from his kneeling position and going to Lucy, a piece of paper with the name Salamander on it. "I'll give you this."

\- "I don't want that !" she shouted, knocking the paper out of Natsu's hand and heading out of the restaurant. After a few quiet seconds, Natsu picked his things up and left with Happy, but not before one last word to Haruto and Gentaro.

\- "Well, it was nice meeting you. Good bye !"

\- "Aye. Good bye !"

After they left, Haruto and Gentaro looked at the door before looking at each other.

\- "Well, a world of mage, guild and dragon. Aren't you happy, Haruto ?"

\- "I'm more intrigued. It's a little late to say. Come on, we have some time left."

/- A little while later -/

Emu, as the doctor he was, was sure he'll end up losing his voice from the number of sigh he heaved since he began looking for information with Sento. And that also was the reason of all of this. Sento. Emu never experienced what it was to be with Sento when the latter suddenly became curious about something and felt the need to know all he could about it. It wouldn't be a problem if it wasn't about EVERY LITTLE THING just a little bit out of the ordinary for them, and in this world, EVERYTHING seemed strange and new to them, or at least from Sento's point of view. Which meant that he spent all of his time asking weird question about everything, scaring people away and because of that, they got almost no information. They were currently walking in a park, Emu sighing once again.

\- "I think I've already said that I was sorry. At least 5 times." Said Build, walking alongside Emu who was glancing at him, a peeved look in his eyes before looking in front of him.

\- "You know what ? forget it. What's done is done. Let's just focus on whatever information we can gather, okay ?"

\- "Alright, I'll behave."

With that, they kept walking across the park when they picked up something.

\- "You are one of the mages of Fairy Tail !?"

Turning their head, they saw, through the trees, a young blonde girl talking to a blue haired guy. Apparently, she just discovered something about that guy but one word got their attention.

\- "Did she said mage ? And what is 'Fairy Tail' ?" asked Emu, looking at Sento to get some kind of confirmation he heard that right.

\- "She did. I knew that this world was working on some kind of energy, but can it really be magic ? Haruto will love that. But I have no idea what that 'Fairy Tail' is, but if he is 'part of it', it might be a group of persons."

\- "I am. If you want to join, I can talk to the master for you." Answered the guy to Lucy, the latter throwing herself at him, heart in her eyes.

\- "It'll be a wonderful party, won't it ? Can I really join Fairy Tail ?!"

\- "Of course. But please, don't tell anyone about charm."

\- "She seems rather naïve." Commented Sento, Emu nodding next to him. That guy felt like trouble to both of them.

\- "I'll see you at the party then."

\- "Roger, Sir !" she answered like she was lovestruck, looking at the retreating mage, before suddenly realizing something. "Hack ! I fell for a pseudo-charm." But then, she was happy again. "I can join fairy Tail ! WOOHOO !" and with that, snickering to herself, she left to prepare for the party.

\- "What is her problem ?" asked Sento, troubled by Lucy's attitude.

\- "Well, I can't say for sure, but I'd say she could be a serious case of bipolarity. Should we do something ?"

\- "The party should probably be help tonight. Let's meet up with the other. We'll see then."

With that they left the park, forgetting the data gathering and began looking for the other Riders.

/- Night time, on the boat -/

Lucy, clad in a fancy red dress, was standing in some kind of living room inside a boat. She was standing in front of the man called Salamander, the girl looking utterly disgusted.

\- "This is a sleeping drug, isn't it ?"

\- "Oooh, how did you know ?" said Salamander, suddenly looking a lot more darker.

\- "Don't misunderstand. I want to join Fairy Tail, but I have no intention at all to become your girl."

\- "You're a bad girl." Salamander said, evil seeping in his voice, taking her by surprise. "If you just were to sleep peacefully, you wouldn't have to get hurt…"

Suddenly, a group of man appeared from behind the curtain, grabbing Lucy by her arms.

\- "Oooh, Good Job, Salamander-san." Said one.

\- "We haven't had such a pretty one for a while." Said another.

\- "Wha-What's going on !? Who are you ?!" shouted Lucy, feeling like something was really wrong. She then was forced to look around

\- "Welcome to our slave ship. I must ask you to remain silent until we get to Bosco, lady."

\- "Wha-, Bosco… Hey ! What happened to Fairy Tail !?" she asked, sweaty profusely, now feeling the fear coming up.

\- "I told you it's a slave ship. I brought you in as merchandise from the beginning. Just give up." As he said that, Lucy lowered her head, feeling something else beginning to boil inside of her. "Using that charm was a good way to influence girls and make them easier to break. But seeing that you can resist it, we'll have to train you a little."

Salamander had said that while approaching the blonde, when he saw something on her thigh. Putting his hand near her hips, he grabbed what looked like keys.

\- "Hrm. Keys of the gates, huh ? So you're a stellar spirit mage."

\- "A stellar spirit mage ? What's that ?" asked one of the thugs holding Lucy while Salamander took a step back, spinning the keys on his finger.

\- "Don't worry about it. Only contracted mages can use this magic. Meaning, it's useless for me." After that, he threw the key through the window, making them fall into the ocean. At that, Lucy knew. Lifting her face, she was shown crying, but her tears weren't from fear.

Those were tears of hate.

"How can he do something like this ? So this is a mage of Fairy Tail !"

She had no time to say anything else, though, because Salamander was pointing a heated rod, with a skull engraving on it, at her.

\- "Let me brand you a slave, first. It'll be a little hot, but please bear with it."

But as he was about to touch her, noises suddenly came from the hallway, stopping the mage.

\- "Damnit, Kouta ! Can't you watch your step ? We're going to be heard !" said a voice trying to be low but still hearable through the wooden wall, the people in the room looking at the door.

\- "Sorry, I didn't see that broom." Said another voice, more shushed than the other.

\- "You know, you're probably the nosiest one, talking so high, Shinnosuke." It was a third voice, but it seemed almost mechanical. The voices suddenly stopped, but Salamander wasn't ready to take any risks.

\- "You, go see what it is." Said Salamander, pointing at one of his men. The latter head to the door but when he was about to grab the doorknob, it suddenly busted out of his hinges, slamming into him and knocking him out. And in the doorframe stood Shinnosuke and Kouta, ready to fight.

\- "Well, we had a good idea, getting on this boat, isn't it, Shinnosuke ?"

\- "Seems like it, Kouta. I can't believe there is scum like that here too. Enslaving girls, you are the worst kind of scum."

\- "What the hell are you doing here ? Who are you ?"

\- "I'm just a passing-through Kamen Rider. Remember that !"

While the people in the room thought that suit wearing guy was out of his mind, Kouta looked at him with a mocking smile.

\- "Did you just quoted Tsukasa catchphrase ?"

\- "Don't judge me."

\- "Bah, whatever. Guys, eliminate them ! They can't go now that they know about our plans." But as soon as the fight was about to begin, something else happen. Something crashed from above, right through the roof, making Salamander leap out of the way. And out of the smoke cloud lifted by the destruction, came a pink haired guy.

\- "The brat from earlier !?" said Salamander, the Riders looking at the show, as perplexed as the others.

\- "Natsu !?" said Lucy, wiping her tears.

\- "That was one cool entrance. What a badass." But as soon as Kouta said that, Natsu became green and sweaty, motion sickness striking hard.

\- "No, I can't take it. *Barf*"

\- "That's lame !" cried Lucy and Kouta in disbelief at the same time, while Shinnosuke was thinking about another mystery.

\- "How did in get inside the boat ? And from above ?"

\- "Lucy, what are you doing ?" the response to his question came under the shape of Happy, displaying a pair of white wings, explaining how Natsu got onboard. He flew inside, grabbed Lucy with his tail and flew off, leaving Natsu and the Riders, who were busy taking care of the thugs, unmorphed, allowing them to go away. But Salamander then used his magic, forcing the Rider to go away.

\- "What was that ?" asked Kouta, frowning. "I think I just thought the same kind of magic circle as Haruto's !"

\- "I did too. I think we'll have to go up another level. Are you ready ?"

But as soon as they grabbed a Shift Car and a Lockseed, a huge tidal wave suddenly it the boat and send them rushing at the coast.

/- A few minutes ago, on the beach, Hargeon -/

Sento, Emu, Gentaro and Haruto were on the beach, talking about what they learned about that world. Well, Gentaro and Haruto did since Sento and Emu found nothing really interesting.

\- "So, do you know what a guild is then ?" asked Sento, eager to know about that world.

\- "Yes, from what that Lucy girl told us, it's a basically a places where mages can find informations and work. She also said something like a mage can't be really considered as such if they aren't part of one." Explained Gentaro, scratching his head, trying to remember more.

\- "So that Fairy Tail thing we heard them talk about in the park is probably one of those guild. She seemed really eager to join it." Added Emu, making Haruto nod.

\- "Then it's probably the guild she said she wanted to go in. Good for her I guess."

\- "Yes, but I wonder what that guy was talking about when he said Charm." When they heard about Charm, Fourze and Wizard did a double-take.

\- "Wait, did you just said Charm ?" asked Gentaro, worries beginning to appear inside of him.

\- "Uh, yes. Why ?"

\- "Because when we talked to her, she said something about that. A forbidden magic, or something like that. And she had met a mage who was using it." Said Haruto, answering Emu's question. "Why would she go with a guy she despised for using that magic ? Even if he is from that guild, in her place, I would have given up on that one."

\- "Well, if she's ready to forgot everything just to get in a guild, it's her problem. What we must do however, is find where Kouta and Shinnosuke are. At least we have the suitcases."

But as soon as the suggestion was made by Sento, they all saw something that made their eyes widen in fear. A huge tidal wave was coming their way, a big boat being swept with it. They had just enough time to dodge, the boat crashing down on the beach, and they had landed next to a well-known blonde girl. Lucy, still wearing her red dress, and Happy, Natsu's blue cat, were on the boat next to them but there was also something they weren't ready for. A blue haired woman, a jug in her hand, but her most prominent feature was the fact that under the waist, she was a fish. Which made her a…

\- "Mermaid ? Dragons and mermaids, I felt like this is more like a fairy tale world than anything else." Commented Emu, looking at the mermaid disappearing, Lucy fuming at the now gone woman. After a moment to calm herself, she noticed the Riders.

\- "Hey ? Haruto, Gentaro ? What are you doing here ? Are those friends of yours ?"

\- "Yeah and we could ask you the same question. I thought you were looking g to get into a guild, not going on a cruise." Asked Gentaro when Lucy's face suddenly twist in a disgusted look.

\- "You remember that guy I told you about the charm ? Well, he is a member of fairy Tail, the guild I wanted to join. He made me come on this boat for a party, but it was just a trap. They wanted to sell us as slave in another country."

Hearing that, the Riders frown in disgust, not liking the idea that there was the same kind of crimes in this world. But as they thought that, they heard familiar voices coming from the boat.

\- "What the hell was that ?" said Kouta, still half-buried under many crates fallen when the boat was washed ashore.

\- "Don't know. It felt like we were suddenly thrown away like a paper boat in a raging sea." That was Shinnosuke, trying to get up.

The others Riders, followed by Lucy and Happy, run inside the boat to find the remaining Riders, helping them to get up while in front of them, Natsu was standing to. But when they saw him, it was like they were staring at a totally different person. He was so serious, the complete opposite of the hungry boy they saw in the restaurant or the one that couldn't even stand up because of his motion sickness. But it didn't bothered Salamander.

\- "Hrm ? Brat, you shouldn't get on other people's ships without permission." That was meant to be threat of some sort but Natsu didn't seemed bothered, taking off his mantle, revealing a tones body, clad in just a sleeveless vest. "Hey, throw him out, quick."

Two of the thugs began going at Natsu, but as Lucy and the Riders were about to step in, Happy make them stop.

\- "Don't worry. I forgot to tell you, but Natsu is a mage, too."

Throwing his vest aside, Natsu was focused on Salamander, like the thugs that were rushing at him didn't event exist.

\- "Are you a mage of Fairy Tail ?" he asked, scowling at Salamander who just smirked.

\- "What about it ?"

\- "Let me take a good look at your face." He said as the thugs were on him. But in an instant and with just one swing of his arm, he threw both thugs aside, knocking them down, before dropping a bomb no one was ready for. "I'm Natsu from Fairy Tail ! And I've never seen your face before !"

\- "WHAT !?"

Salamander was in shock and he was not alone. Everyone was now looking at Natsu, and mainly the red mark he had on his right shoulder. A mark the Riders didn't knew but that seemed to mean a lot for the others.

\- "What ? That mark ! Bora-san, he's the real deal !" said one of the thug to 'Salamander'.

\- "Idiot ! Don't call me by that name !" Bora said, clearly pissed that his real identity was discovered like that.

\- "Bora, Bora of Prominence." Began Happy, his back turned to the Riders, who saw a green mark, the same as Natsu, on his furry back. "He was banished from a mage guild called 'Titan nose' several years ago."

\- "I've heard from him…" said Lucy, apparently knowing what the banishment was about. "He committed several theft using magic and got banished."

\- "Taking a fake name and keeping on committing crime. What a puny criminal." Said Kouta. "But if he was banished, it means that there are law regarding magic, and it also mean good and bad mages."

\- "And if a guild banished him for thieving, they might be rightful organization." Added Haruto, feeling somewhat proud that magic user in this world had, at least, a sense of justice.

\- "I don't care if you are a good person or a bastard. But I can't forgive you for using our name." seething Natsu, grinding his teeth, Gentaro smiling at that.

\- "I like his way of seeing things."

\- "Whatever ! You're just a noisy brat !" Shouted Bora before casting a spell that called fire upon Natsu, scarlet flames engulfing the pink haired boy. Lucy tried to jump in to save him but Happy stood in front of her, wings and arms spread out to stop her. And indeed, there was no need to help him.

\- "Awful." While it was already weird hearing Natsu talk about something being awful while being burned, what was even more surprising was the fact that the flame seemed to shrink. Inside, they could see Natsu's silhouette becoming even clearer and they saw what he was doing. Or at least, tried to believe in what they were seeing. "What is it ? Are you really a fire mage ? I've never tasted such awful fire."

And as his words let it believe, Natsu was literally eating the fire. After a some minutes, the fire had disappeared, Natsu grinning while sighting of content.

\- "Thanks for the food."

\- "WHAAAAAAAT !?"

The shock was too much for the people on the boat, Riders and mages alike, trying to proceed what happened.

\- "Did I just see a man eating fire ?" asked Shinnosuke, taking the words right out of the mouth of the other Riders.

\- "Fire don't work on Natsu." Simply said Happy, looking almost creepy while saying that. As for Natsu, he was gathering his strength. Taking a deep breath, magic gathering in his mouth, putting his hands in front of his head, forming a tube of some sort. In the same moment, one of the thug was pointing at him, suddenly shaking, tears forming in his eyes.

\- "Bora-san ! I've seen him before ! Rosy hair and a scales-like scarf… No doubt ! He's the real…"

Alas, he had no time to finish his sentence, because Natsu unleashed his power, his mouth becoming like a steroid-boosted flamethrower that put Bora's flame to shame. The attack burned all the thugs down. When he was done, Lucy finished the sentence that was still unfinished by the now charred up villain.

\- "The real Salamander."

\- "So that Bora took the name of a famous mage to attract attention then charm the girls coming to him to sold them as slaves ? And I thought our world were the worst when it came to scumbag." Shinnosuke resumed with a sour expression on his face.

As Lucy said that name, Natsu had lit his hand on fire, facing a now completely scared Bora.

\- "Remember it well." Said Natsu, ready to finish it off, running at Bora. "This is the Fairy Tail's mage !" And as soon as he finished his sentence, he punched Bora straight in his face, sending him to the ground, completely knocked out. After that, he kept fighting what was left of the criminals.

\- "Eating fire, punching with fire … Is that really magic ?" Asked Lucy, trying to understand what was happening with Natsu.

\- "Dragon's lungs spew flames, its scales melt flames, and its nails are dressed with flames. This is an ancient spell that converts the body to a dragon's constitution…"

\- "What the hell ? He is a human with a dragon strength ?" asked Gentaro, trying to understand while watching Natsu plowing through the thugs.

\- "It's originally a dragon interception magic. Dragon slayer ! Igneel taught Natsu this." Finished Happy.

\- "Isn't that weird that a dragon taught someone a magic to fight dragon ?" asked Emu and judging by Happy's reaction, he never thought about that.

\- "So he is a fire mage whose powers are coming from a dragon ? I've got the feeling you'll get along with him, Haruto." Teased Kouta, earning a smile from the magic Rider. But soon, they realized that if he had a lot in common with Natsu, Haruto had something else the Dragon Slayer didn't have. Self-control. Blinded by the fight, he had destroyed the boat, the thugs, but also a great part of the port and the building around them. And of course, such a ruckus was not left unnoticed. A group of armored men was getting close, apparently ready for the fight.

\- "The military !"

Lucy had just the time to said that that Natsu had just grabbed her, forcing her to go with them.

\- "Why me ?" she had said, feeling like she had already lived enough adventures for one day, but Natsu had other plans for her.

\- "You want to join Fairy Tail, right ?" She suddenly stopped complaining, looking at him with big eyes. "Then come with me." She then smiles, agreeing before running by his side. Meanwhile, the Riders were looking at the scene from a nearby roof.

\- "Hey, a guild should be a great place to gather information about whatever Shocker is doing, isn't it ?" innocently said Gentaro.

\- "And if they are friendly, we could also get some good companion in our quest." Added Shinnosuke, a smile on his face.

\- "I guess that's settled." Said Sento, grabbing his Build Phone. "Let's meet up with them."

/- At the train station -/

Natsu, Happy and Lucy just reached the station but alas, they couldn't enter it. The military stood in the entrance and they couldn't get close in fear of being arrested for the damages Natsu did to the city, which of course made Lucy mad.

\- "Why did you have to go overboard ? We are in trouble now !"

\- "Sorry, sorry. Sheesh, you sure are loud."

Just then, they heard some rumbling noises. Turning their, head, they saw 4 bikes and a car coming closer. A white rocket shaped bike with Gentaro riding it, a grey and gold bike with a red crystal like face driven by Haruto, Kouta on a white and pink bike with a flower on the front, Sento driving a black and red one with a gear in the front and Emu and Shinnosuke were in a red and white car, Shinnosuke driving it. Seeing those vehicles made the mages and cat react differently. Lucy was intrigued, Happy was amazed and Natsu was feeling sick. Shinnosuke then opened his window to talk to them.

\- "Looks like you need a ride. Want to get in ? We can drop you wherever you want."

\- "With pleasure, but we are heading to Fairy Tail's HQ, I don't know if it's where you're heading." Said Lucy, Emu answering her.

\- "To explain it simply, we are looking for people and a guild could be a great help for that. So get in and tell us where to go."

Lucy agreed and was already heading to the door with Happy but Natsu was still glued on the spot.

\- "Natsu ! Come on, quick ! The military are coming !"

But Natsu stayed deaf to those warnings, and Lucy's patience was wearing thin and she just grabbed him and forced him inside the car. Once he was inside, Shinnosuke start the engine.

\- "Okay, let's go."

But as soon as they left, Natsu was becoming green, ready to barf. Lucy began panicking, but she was not the only one.

\- "NOOO ! DON'T PUKE ON ME ! TURN AROUND !" shouted Lucy, pushing a green Natsu away toward the now opened windows.

\- "DON'T YOU DARE SOIL MY CAR, YOU BRAT ! I'LL KILL YOU MYSELF IF YOU DO !" roared Shinnosuke, glancing repeatedly at the interior mirror to check if Natsu was about to puke or not. Meanwhile, Emu, sitting beside the driver, sighed.

\- "It's going to be a long trip."

 **Alright, that's 2. I didn't expected it to be so long, but well, I hope it will be good enough for you. See you next time !**

 **Next time : Meeting the guild. Explaining the situation.**


	3. Chapter 3 : Meeting the guild

**Hello ! I hope you are all feeling good, because I am. Here for the next chapter of this crossover. I hope you'll like it and if any of you have any remarks, any advices or even any critics, please don't be afraid and let me know, as long as it's a constructive one.**

 **Concerning my publication rhythm, I'll try to update the fic like once a week, but it will also depends on how the ideas are coming and how fast I can write them. But don't worry, if I ever decide to stop the fic, I'll update a notice so you'll know about it.**

 **In this chapter, the Riders meet the guild, with some explanation and a teleporter in the Riders HQ.**

 **Edit : I corrected a name swap near the end, nothing really important, but it said _'Said Emu, before Emu began talking'_ , so i had to correct it. Sorry for my negligence. **

**Chapter 3 : Meeting the guild**

Just as Emu predicted, the trip from Hargeon to Magnolia, the city housing the Fairy Tail Guild, was really long because of Natsu. If being onboard a train was enough to make him want to die from nausea, being inside Tridoron was like he was stuck in hell. The car was way faster than the train and the road, clearly not made for this kind of vehicle, was so bumpy he felt like his stomach was rising to his throat at the slightest bump. At first, Emu had tried to appease him with some trick he knew were useful for people feeling motion sickness, but nothing worked, probably because he was a dragon. Or maybe it was just that he made no effort to listen to what Emu was saying. Either way, Emu gave up half way and it was then up to Lucy to make sure that Natsu didn't made a mess in Shinnosuke car, because she was sure Shinnosuke will kill them if it should happen. And it was after a long ride that they all finally reached Magnolia, Natsu literally kissing the ground as soon as the door opened. He was so glad everything was finished that the Riders swore they heard him say 'I'd rather go by train'.

After Natsu had recovered, they gave some time to Lucy to change clothes before they all head to the guild. That's where they were standing now. they stood in front of the guild hall, a white and yellow building with green pillar and windows and red roof tiles. Above the big door was a sign with the guild name and on a banner above it, the same symbol that Happy and Natsu had on them.

\- "Wow. It's huge." Simply commented Lucy, admiring the building with the Riders.

\- "Welcome to Fairy Tail."

This marked the moment for them to enter and once inside, the Riders were surprised by what they saw. It was mainly a big dining hall, with table and bench everywhere, with a bar at the end and waitress walking here and there carrying plate with beverage or food. In a corner, some people were standing in front of a board with many papers on it. A cozy little place with a vibe that made them all smile.

\- "We're home !" Well, cozy is not the kind of adjective you use to talk about Natsu, who was now rushing to a guy with rabbit like teeth.

\- "You overdid it again. I read about the Hargeon incident in the newspaper…" But as soon as he finished his sentence, he was kicked in the face by a pissed off Natsu.

\- "BASTARD ! That info you gave me about Salamander was fake !" he roared, teeth bared, sending him flying away in another group of mages, tables breaking on his way.

\- "My… Now that Natsu is back, the hall might be torn apart soon." Casually said a white haired beauty with a warm smile while the guild has now become an all-out brawl.

\- "I think it's already being torn apart." Commented Kouta while looking at the mess the guild hall had become. On her part, Lucy was smiling almost dumbly while looking at the free for all.

\- "Wow… I really came to Fairy Tail."

\- "And you still want to stay ?" asked Kouta, sweat dropping at the fact that she didn't seem bothered by what was happening, almost half the tables and bench now reduced to shreds.

\- "Did you say Natsu is back !?" someone said over the ruckus. "Hey, let's settle our fight from the other time, punk !"

That voice came from a dark haired guy who had suddenly appeared next to Lucy and the Riders he was buff, with a sword shaped pendent around his neck and a blue guild mark on his chest. How could they know that ? Because he was only wearing a boxer.

\- "Gray… Have you been walking around like that ?" said a woman, making Gray gasp and the Riders sweat drop.

\- "Did he just realized he was walking around half-naked ?" said Haruto, almost not believing what he was seeing.

\- "Another one of those undignified guys…" sighed the girl who mentioned Gray's half-nakedness, a beautiful girl with long dark brown hair wearing red pants and a blue bikini top. "…That I really hate." And she finished her sentence, lifting a huge barrel of alcohol, that she chug down like it was nothing, shocking both Lucy and the Riders. But their thought were cut short by a shadow that was now looming over them.

\- "What rubbish." Said a deep voice coming from a tall and bulky guy with white hair and a scar on his right eye. "Yapping in the middle of the day… You're not little kids, you know…"

\- "Finally someone will make them stop." Said Shinnosuke, but this hope was short lived.

\- "So fight with fists to show your manhood !" he finally roared coming to join the fight, Shinnosuke looking peeved.

\- "Did you said anything, Shinnosuke ?" teased Sento, making Drive groan in frustration.

And just as the tall guy was sent flying easily by Natsu and that Gray guy, another voice, coming from behind them, making them turn around. It was a orange haired man with sunglasses that seemed to sparkle.

\- "Hm ? It's so noisy here."

\- "Ah ! Loki, the top ranked 'Mage you want as your boyfriend' according to Weekly Sorcerer !" Said Lucy blushing a little before face faulting seeing another side of Loki, who had two girls under each arms, both girls giggling at him.

\- "A playboy. I guess there have to be one everywhere." Said Emu, while Lucy took a small notepad from her pocket.

\- "Okay so, I guess I can get him off my 'dream boyfriend' list."

\- "What kind of people make that kind of list ?" said Haruto when the white haired girl from before came up to them.

\- "My, are you all newcomers ?"

\- "Mi-Mirajane !" cried Lucy, almost fangirling on her before going back to reality pointing at the mess. "D-Don't you have to stop them !?"

\- "It happens all the time. You don't have to worry about it. And…" she answered, smiling sweetly at the scene, before getting hit in the head by a bottle, falling to the ground and getting up, still smiling. "Isn't it fun this way ?"

\- "I don't know what is the most scary thing here. How casual this situation seems to be here or the fact that she find it fun ?" wondered Kouta.

Meanwhile the fight kept on, growing in intensity, with a naked Gray asking Lucy to lend him her underwear or the tall guy keeping on shouting about manliness and getting beaten each time.

\- "Hey. Maybe this is how they strengthen their friendship ? Alright, if I wanna be friend with everyone here, I'll have to join them." Said Gentaro smiling, taking his Drivers out before being pulled back by Shinnosuke.

\- "Hold your horses, Gentaro. It's not the time."

Shinnosuke probably saved Gentaro's life because a few seconds later, magic circles began to appear everywhere, a fascinating show for Haruto, light shining on object or body part. But before all hell got loose, a deep and powerful voice stop them dead in their track.

\- "That's enough."

The call was followed by a huge foot stomping on the ground, belonging to a gigantic humanoid monster, which shocked Lucy and the Riders, but what was the most shocking was that everyone stopped, the explanation coming from Mirajane.

\- "My… You were there master ?"

\- "Master !?" cried Lucy, sweating bullets while the Rider were looking at him wide eyed. Some of them even had moved to grab their Drivers. But there was one persons who saw nothing and began bragging.

\- "HAHAHAHA !" Laughed Natsu, dumb enough to not notice the master behind him. "You all got scared ! This match is my…"

*THUMP* His sentence was left unfinished when he was stomped down by the giant who turned to the Riders and Lucy, who was still shaking, in fear of what could happen.

\- "Hum ? Newcomers ?"

\- "Y-Yes…" said Lucy, shaking like never before while the Riders had put their suitcases down, ready to counter whatever could happen. In the next seconds, the giant began, concentrating and soon, he began shrinking and became a small old man with a horned cap, making him look like a clown of some sort.

\- "Nice to meet you. I'm Makarov, master of Fairy Tail." He said introducing himself, Lucy shocked by such a change.

\- "Talk about an anti-climactic plot twist." Said Kouta as Makarov jumped to the railing of the second floor, addressing the guild.

\- "You've done it again, fools. Look at these documents I received from the council." He said, waving a big stack of paper in one of his hand.

\- "A council ? Is that some kind of government ?" Emu asked Sento, who shrugged when Lucy answered the question.

\- "It's an organization that manages mage guilds. How could you not know that ?" she wondered but before the riders could dodge the question, the master saved them when he began reading the documents.

\- "First, Gray." The latter raised his head, wondering what he did wrong. "Good job on sweeping out the smuggling organization, but you walked around naked in town afterwards and ran away after stealing underwear that was being dried."

\- "But… Wouldn't it be worse if I were naked ?" Said Gray, slightly embarrassed, trying to justify his behavior.

\- "Why were you naked in the first place ?" muttered Shinnosuke.

\- "Elfman !" This time, it was the tall white haired man who looked up. "You had a mission to escort a VIP, but assaulted him during the mission."

\- "He saw 'men are all about education', so…" Elfman said, looking down while scratching his chin. The Riders looked at him as if to say 'you're serious ?' while Makarof just shook his head, continuing with his list.

\- "Kana, drinking 15 big barrel of alcohol and charging it to the council." The brown haired girl looked away. "Loki, flirting with council member elder Reiji's grand-daughter. A certain talent agency charged us for damage compensation, too." Now, it was the glass wearing man who looked annoyed. As for Lucy and the Riders, they weren't believing it.

\- "How could they cause so many problem and still be active ?" wondered Kouta, while Emu sighed.

\- "Well at least it couldn't be worse." But he was wrong.

\- "And Natsu." The master hung his head has he began reading what Natsu did wrong. "You destroyed the Devon Thief Family, but also destroyed 7 other houses that belong to the townspeople. Levelling a historical clock tower in Tully Village. Burning down a church in Freesia. Damaging parts of Lupinus Castle. Nazuna Ravine Observatory collapsed and thus stopped its operations. And last in dates, destroying half of Hargeon port."

Lucy smiled warily, realizing that almost all of the incident mentioned in Weekly Sorcerer were Natsu's doing. The Riders however were awestruck and thought the same thing : "How can they let such a loose cannon walk around like that ?"

\- "Alzack, Bisca, Levy, Warren, Reedus, etc." said Makarof, listing names of other reprimandable mages. "Guys, the council members are angry at me all the time…" His voice suddenly became dangerously low, everyone hanging their head in shame while Lucy was shaking in fear and the riders were getting ready for the explosion they were feeling coming.

\- "But… Forget about the council members." His 'anger' was suddenly gone, surprising the newcomers, as he use magic to burn the stack of paper, throwing it away, Natsu catching it to eat the fire. "Listen up. The power to overcome reasoning is born from reasoning. Magic is not a miracle. When the 'spirit' flow within us and the 'spirit' flow in nature connects, they will form an embodiment for the first time. You will need a strong mentality and a lot of concentration for that. I mean, pouring all of your soul into whatever you do is the magic." By now, he was smiling widely. "If you keep worrying about the watchful eyes of the higher-ups, your magic won't improve. Do not fear the fools of the council. DO WHATEVER YOU THINK IS RIGHT ! THAT'S THE WAY OF THE FAIRY TAIL MAGES !"

Those last words made the whole guild explode in cheers as Lucy was beaming, the Riders also smiling at the scene.

\- "They may be a chaotic bunch, but I like the way they seems to work." Admitted a smiling Gentaro, hands behind his head turning to his friends. "I can live with that."

\- "Well, now, please pay attention, we have newcomers." Makarov said jumping down form the railing and land onto the bar. "First, the young lady here. What's your name ?"

\- "Ah. I'm Lucy. It's a pleasure meeting you all. I've always dream of joining this guild, Mr. Makarof." She said while bowing respectfully which made the master smile.

\- "Don't call me Mr. or Sir, just master will do, or even Gramps. After all, this guild is like a family." Saying that, he turned to the Riders, his smile suddenly gone, making the riders slightly nervous. "And who might you be. And before any of you can say it, I know you aren't normal. So please explain who you are or you might be in for a lot of trouble."

The Riders were shocked to be discovered so quickly, but could they really . They looked at each other's, anxious but knowing that they had no choices. The others mages in the building were all looking at them like predator looking at their prey, ready to pounce should they receive the corresponding order. And they also felt like the old man wasn't the kind to be easily fooled by lies. So they had no choices, Shinnosuke taking a step toward the master.

\- "Okay, we'll tell you the truth, but you might think those are lies because they might be difficult to believe."

\- "Try me."

\- "Okay. Hm, we are from another world."

Just one sentence was enough to make them doubt about the mental stability of the Riders, everyone looking at them with a raised eyebrow but Makarof was skeptical.

\- "If you are from another world, why did you came here ?"

\- "We are here because our enemy, a group named Shocker, build a portal that was leading there. We don't know what they are trying to do here, but whatever it is, it won't be good for our world, and neither for yours. We came to stop them, but we have no resources nor any information on where they are, so we'll need some help and being part of a guild is probably the best way for it."

Makarof was nodding, as if he was thinking about what Shinnosuke had said.

\- "Let's admit I believe you, what will you do ?"

\- "Well, it's simple. If you help us, we'll help you in return. Isn't that fair ?" Gentaro's bluntness took them aback but it made Makarof smile.

\- "Okay, I'll let you in. But with one condition : no secret. So who are you ?"

This meant that it was time for introduction and Gentaro began, taking a step forward.

\- "I'm Gentaro Kisaragi, the one who will become friend with the whole world !" he stated proudly, smiling broadly, before a smiling Haruto walked up to him. "And I'm also known as Kamen Rider Fourze." At the mention of Kamen Rider, the mages frown in confusion.

\- "Wait. What's a Kamen Rider ?" asked Lucy.

\- "In our world, a Kamen Rider is a warrior fighting in secret to protect humanity from diverse kind of threat." This was a voice the mages didn't knew that answered. They were looking around to try and find where it came from while it keep on explaining. "Each Kamen Rider faced different threat but we also have common enemies and Shocker is probably the oldest and more dangerous one."

\- "Stop right there, who is talking ?" asked Gray, the Riders turning at Shinnosuke.

\- "Oh, it's him." Answered the policeman, opening his suit jacket, revealing his Driver smiling face.

\- "Nice to meet you all. I'm Krim Steinbelt. But you can call me Belt-san."

\- "WHAT !?" the mages shock was understandable. After all, even for a world of magic, a talking belt was something weird. "How can a belt talk ?" asked Happy.

\- "It would be too long to go in the details. Let's just say that I was once a human but when I was killed, I saved my mind by putting it in the Drive Driver." Explained Krim, but it only brought another question, from Mirajane this time.

\- "What's a Driver ?"

\- "It's the device each Rider have that allow them to transform into a Kamen Rider. It's always a belt like device. With some exception like Shinnosuke who also need a Shift Brace to morph." Explained again Krim, Shinnosuke showing the brace but the attention of the mages was more focused on the words 'morph' and 'transform'.

\- "Wait. What do you mean by transform ?" Said Lucy and this time, it's Sento who answered.

\- "Well, for that, I think a demonstration is the best thing to do." He said, going out of the group, turning to his friends. "Do you mind if I do ?"

Since no one objected, he got ready, turning to face the mages who gathered around him. Smiling, he grabbed his Driver, the mages looking at the device closely, watching Sento putting it on his waist. Once in place, he took two FullBottles out of his pocket, shaking them under the mages curious gaze. He then turned the cap and plugged them in the Driver.

 _ **RABBIT ! TANK ! BEST MATCH !**_

Hearing those announcement coming from the belt, the faeries all jumped, not ready for this, but they were even less ready for what came next when Sento grabbed his Driver handle and turned it. The mages were more than taken aback when the pipes and support suddenly came out of the Driver, forming the Snap Ride Builder, both red and blue halves of the armor standing on each side of Sento.

 _ **ARE YOU READY ?**_

Taking his usual stance, Sento was ready.

\- "HENSHIN !"

Surprised the mages were because they just saw Sento getting smashed between both half-armor that closed on him. But the fear that something may have happen to him was short-lived when they saw both halves now forming a single full body armor.

 _ **HAGANE NO MOONSAULT ! RABBITTANK ! YEAH !**_

\- "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT ?" shouted most of the mages, amazed, and a little freaked out, by what they just witnessed.

\- "It looked like some kind of Requip Magic." Muttered Makarof, playing with his mustache, while the others mages were looking at Sento.

\- "It's so cool !" said Happy, flying around Build before turning to the other Riders. "And you all can transform like this, too ?"

\- "Well, each Rider has his own armor and gadget, but it's almost the same principle." Explained Kouta while Sento was starting to feel ill at ease with everyone staring at him. But luckily, he was saved by his own phone who began to ring. Unmorphing, he picked up, the mages looking at him strangely.

\- "Kiryu Sento, here. Oh, it's you. Yes. Hum, give me a minute." He left his phone, putting the caller on hold while turning to Gentaro. "Gentaro, put the suit case on a table, please."

Fourze did as he was told, putting the suitcase he had in his hand on a table Haruto and Shinnosuke had placed in front of the bar. They had a feeling it might be useful. Opening the suitcase, it revealed some kind of computer on which Sento plugged his phone, displaying the caller on the screen and it was none other than Takeshi Hongo.

\- "Okay, we are ready. So Ichigo, why did you call ?"

\- "Just to see if the gate worked well. Everything went well on our side." Hearing Takeshi talk made Sento feel like something was wrong so he asked a apparently stupid question. The key word being "apparently".

\- "When did we crossed the gate ?"

\- "What ? A few seconds ago, of course. Why the question ?" The Riders sighed, knowing what it meant.

\- "Because we already spent a day here. Time is passing faster in this world apparently." Said Shinnosuke, Takeshi inhaling, taking in what it implied. "The question is : is there a risk for us to, like, age faster too ?"

\- "I don't think so." It was Kengo who just appeared on the screen. "Apparently, the gate leave an energetic mark on those who crosses it. It must have been put in place by Shocker to prevent this kind of trouble. I don't think you'll age thank to it."

\- "Well, that's a relief." Sighed Emu, before Takeshi took back the screen.

\- "Well, did you find Shocker or anything related yet ?"

\- "No, we just arrived after all. But we did find some help." Said Sento before stepping aside, showing Makarof and some of the mages, gathered around the master.

\- "So you're their leader, isn't it ?" rhetorically asked Makarof, Takeshi nodding in return.

\- "I'm the first Kamen Rider ever. I'm more of a senpai than anything else but I guess you can say I am." He said, before eyeing Makarof with a serious glare. "I guess, if you agreed to help them, that they already told you about what they have to fight ?"

\- "The Shocker, right ? They did, yes."

\- "I'm sure they also said that but if you should fight them, you have to be really careful. Shocker is ruthless, they'll stop at nothing to get what they want and they'll use thing you've probably never saw before. Are you sure to fight with us ?"

\- "From what I were told and had guessed, those villains will not only use what they found here against you, but also spread chaos in our world doing so. I treasure this kingdom and we'll never let anyone soil it with their evil deeds." Saying this, his face suddenly became serious, and the same could be said for the surrounding mage, some of them displaying their magic. "Should they cross our roads, they'll never forget their mistakes."

Takeshi smiled at that. They had indeed found some people with guts.

\- "Well alright. Please help them in any possible way and I'm sure they'll help you in return." With that he addressed the Riders. "Good luck to you all. We'll keep you updated if we ever find something interesting. Takeshi, over."

After that, the screen got black and the call ended, Shinnosuke clapping his hands.

\- "Okay. Now another thing. We have to find a place to put all of our belonging in."

\- "Maybe we could stay here." Said Emu, turning to the master. "Can we ?"

\- "I wouldn't mind but as you saw, this place can be, how can I say that, rowdy, and I'd hate to see your things get destroyed because of that. But I have an idea. I'm sure you'll like it !"

/- Later, a few street away, on Lake Sciliora shore -/

\- "THAT is your idea ?" asked Kouta, pointing at what was in front of them.

Makarof had dragged the Riders outside, the mages following them, until they reach their destination and everyone, except Makarof who was grinning like a child, wondered if that was a joke. They were in front of a run-down building. The wall were full of holes, the windows all broken, half of the roof was missing and through the windows, or lack of, they could see that the inside was as pitiful as the outside with holes in the flooring and old furnitures whose decrepitude was obvious.

\- "What the hell is this ? Is it even yours ?" asked Shinnosuke, not really liking how it was going.

\- "It belong to the Guild to be more precise." He said before explaining. "This was built as a storage and as an 'emergency escape' for the Guild by an old member who was, special. He was a bit paranoiac, he was sure that a war or a 'mage hunt' could happen one day and to stop him from annoying anyone with his theory, the guild master at the time build this. It's connected to the Guild hall by an underground tunnel in the basement to allow the members to flee or enter the main building discreetly if it was needed. It had been left unused for many years, but I'm sure it will be perfect for you. Oh, of course, you'll need to freshen it a little, but I'm sure you'll be fine."

The Riders didn't know what to think of it. This building had a basement, according to Makarof, enough space for all of them, and even enough space to build an extension should they need it. In fact, the only problem was the shape of the building. Furthermore, they'll need money to buy everything they'll need to repair it. But despite that, they were thankful for the opportunity and help they were ready to provide.

\- "Well, it does need a lot of work, but it should be good. Thanks." Said Shinnosuke, before Emu began speaking.

\- "While you are all here, why aren't we taking this time to get our things back ?" he said lifting a suitcase, the other Riders nodding and the mages being curious. "Well, I said that, but it's not like you can all be inside the…"

\- "Don't worry about that." Interrupted Makarof, waving his hand dismissively. "It was built to act as a shelter. There's enough space for all of us. Let's go."

They opened the door, walking inside the house and down the stairs to the basement. Once down inside the basement, they realized that indeed, it was bigger than they expected it. The main mages of the guild had come down with the Riders, the others heading back to the guild. Haruto grabbed a table and Emu put the suit case on it, opening it to reveal big transparent box that seemed to be expanding to end up being 50 centimeters long on each side. After pressing some button on the side of it, he took out the other suit case, with the computer, and connected it to the box. After some time, Kengo appeared on the screen.

\- "Oh, hey guys." He said, straightening up a little. "I see that the teleporter is online. Everything is ready on our side, but we can't send everything at the same time. The energetic signature varies if we are teleporting Lockseed, AstroSwitches or Gashat. So what are we starting with ?"

\- "Try the Lockseed first." said Kouta "I'm ready to take the risk."

\- "Very well, I'm configurating the teleportation for the Lockseed. Launch the teleportation and it should be alright."

\- "Okay then. Let's try it."

Emu pressed a button and was now waiting for something to happen. And indeed, something happened. The box began filling with a bright light, blinding mages and Riders and a few seconds later, the box was filled with a bag. Taking the bag out, Kouta opened it and it was filled with Lockseed. But not just his.

\- "Why is there all those Lockseed here ?" he asked Kengo, taking the Durian Lockseed out of the bag. "Why not just mine ?"

\- "It's just in case. You'll need all the power you can get to fight Shocker. " he said before smiling widely. "But at least it works. Now, let's send the rest."

After that, the others devices came one after the others. First the Gashat, next were the Rings, and then the AstroSwitches and the FullBottles. When the bag with the Shift car came however, they suddenly burst out of the bag, driving madly around Shinnosuke in a happy car dance.

\- "Yeah, yeah, I'm happy to see you all again. Stop that now !" laughed Shinnosuke, sending the cars away, the latter parking on the table.

\- "What are those small things ?" asked Lucy, leaning on the table to look at the car, Natsu and Happy doing the same.

\- "The Shift cars. My comrades. They are the one I'm using to morph." He simply said before turning to Kengo. "So now we have everything we need."

\- "Yes. We'll keep you updated on anything useful we could find." Said Kengo before adding a last reminder of his own. "Don't forget to make sure the trinkets are at least 5 meters around the teleportation machine. If they are too far, you won't be able to access them via your boxes. We wish you all good luck. Kengo, over."

And once again, the computer screen got black, sign that the communication has ended. Looking at their bags, the Riders were now smirking. With such allies and all their powers, they were ready for anything.

 **Here we are, one chapter down. Next time, we will finally have some action. I'll see you next time. See ya !**

 **Next time : Marking the Riders. The past of a dragon. The monkeys in the mountain.**


	4. Chapter 4 : Vulcans and Riders

**Here I am ! And what do I have with me ? A new chapter for this fic ! I really hope you'll like it cause we are having some actions today !**

 **Before that, I would like to add something about something a reviewer said (thanks for the reviews by the way). Concerning the Riders I'm going to include in this fic, there won't be much more than the one already here. Maybe some guests, here and there (and I said MAYBE), but nothing much more. Some said that there might be some nice interactions between some mages and Riders. Some mentioned Natsu and Cross-Z or Gray and Grease (Blizzard), I agree it would be fun to get those meet, I'll keep the idea somewhere, for special chapters maybe.**

 **Enough talk, let's go !**

 **Chapter 4 : Vulcans and Riders.**

After the Riders finally put their things down in this old house that was now their own, the followed the master back to the guild by taking the old secret tunnel, a dark and dusty tunnel high enough for them to stand up, handmade judging by the roughness of the walls. After some times, they finally reached the end, which was some kind of wooden door. Pushing it, they discovered that the entrance of the tunnel was inside a small room, use as a storage room with brooms, bucket and many kind of cleaners.

\- "A secret passage in the broom closet. What a classic." Commented Shinnosuke, stretching his back since the door was much smaller than the tunnel was : they had to be almost on their knees to pass.

\- "Well, I hope you won't be using this tunnel too much. It would be a problem to run into Max and his broom." Muttered Makarof, dusting his vest while the Riders looked at him strangely.

\- "What ?"

\- "It doesn't matter. Let's go back to the main room."

The others mages, who were already back to their own business, were shocked to see the master and the Riders coming out of the closet but remembering where they went, they just shrugged it off.

\- "Natsu ! Look ! She gave me the mark of fairy Tail."

Lucy's voice grabbed the Riders attention, mainly the words 'mark' and indeed, she had a pink Fairy Tail mark on her hand, showing it to Natsu with a large smile. But the latter ruined the mood.

\- "Good for you, Luigi."

\- "IT'S LUCY !"

The Riders sweat-dropped at that, watching Natsu finishing his meal, which was a fairly normal meal, if you didn't counted the fire that covered his pasta, chicken and drink.

\- "He really eat fire in a daily routine, not just in a fight." Said Emu, Gentaro nodding next to him, his fingers toying with Fire Switch in his pocket. When the dragon got up, he walked up to the board they saw when they first entered the building, now seeing the words above it.

REQUEST BOARD

\- "What is a request, exactly ?" asked Sento to Makarof, sitting on the bar.

\- "People often are in need of mages to do some things they can't do themselves. So they are making those request and send them to the guilds they want. A mage then can take it and do it. It's the client who pay the mage once the job is done. It's often money, but it can also be magic items or anything else." Answered Makarof.

\- "And what kind of jobs are they ?" asked Haruto this time getting an answer from Mirajane who was washing glasses behind the counter.

\- "It can be anything, really. Being someone bodyguard for an event, hunting down monster or criminal, finding something, or even more trivial things. Basically anything legal. The guilds aren't accepting jobs like murdering someone or doing anything illegal."

The Riders nodded before turning to the board, Gentaro walking to it, taking a request asking to hunt down a monster in a neighboring city.

\- "Hey, we'll need money to upgrade the house. And maybe there can be request that will lead us to Shocker. So let's do some work, okay ?" Fourze finished with a smile, the Riders agreeing and going to the board but they were stopped just before they reached it by the master.

\- "Stop right there !" turning to Makarof, they saw that his eyes were cold and for a moment, though they did something wrong. But the gaze disappeared, quickly replaced by a grin. "You can't go on one of those if you aren't part of the guild. So, what will you do ?"

The Riders didn't need a lot of time to think about that. The decision was obvious.

\- "Well, let's be mages then !" said Gentaro, happily walking to the bar. "What do we have to do ?"

\- "Just ask me where you want your mark." Answered Mirajane, a stamp in her hand. "With that mark, you'll officially be one of us."

\- "On the hand, just like Lucy. It will be the best, I think." Said Emu, getting in line with his friends.

\- "By the way, we don't know what your names are ? So introduce yourselves when you get your mark, okay ?" asked Makarof, the Riders agreeing.

\- "Make mine white !" said Gentaro, Mirajane stamping his hand where a white Fairy Tail mark now stood. "I'm Kisaragi Gentaro, high school teacher but when I'm fighting, I'm Kamen Rider Fourze ! And I'll be friend with everyone here !" saying that, he hold his hand to Makarof, who smiled and took it, going for a handshake. But the Riders knew better. And indeed, Gentaro did a handshake. HIS handshake, which took Makarof and his mages by surprise.

\- "This is my friendship handshake. To see those I befriend with a smile on their faces. What more could I asked for ?"

Makarof and the mages smiled at him. They already liked that guy. Next in line was Kouta.

\- "I want it orange, please." He got stamped. "I'm Kouta Kazuraba, Kamen Rider Gaim." Next was Shinnosuke.

\- "I want it red. And I'm Shinnosuke Tomari, also known as Kamen Rider Drive. And you already know Belt-san."

\- "I want it pink." People looked at Emu strangely, the latter looking back at them. "What ? A guy can like pink. I'm Emu Hojo, a doctor and also Kamen Rider Ex-Aid."

\- "Since red is taken, I'll do blue." This time, Sento was getting stamped. "I'm a physicist, a genius physicist. Sento Kiryu, and alternatively, Kamen Rider Build."

\- "I'm the last one, it would seem. Red, please." Looking at his mark, Haruto walked to the rest of the group. "I'm Haruto Soma, and when I'm fighting to protect the others, I'm Kamen Rider Wizard."

\- "Wizard ? Like a mage of some sort." Asked Gray, the rest of the guild as surprised by what Haruto had said.

\- "Well, in my world, I'm a magic wielding Kamen Rider. I guess I'm more or less at ease here." He simply said, shrugging it off, the other not bothering him. They'll probably have more than one occasion to see them all in action. But for the Riders, it was one big step they took. They were now officially mages.

They were Fairy Tail mages.

Once the commotion had passed, they head to the board, looking at a job they could do to start things off, Natsu also looking for a job next to them.

\- "What should we choose guys ?"

\- "I don't know. Maybe an easy one to start, to see what kind of threat that world have." Said Emu, answering Gentaro. "But we shouldn't all go. We should send three people maximum on a request, just in case someone from our world called us."

\- "Yes, furthermore, we still have work to do if we want to repair the house." Added Shinnosuke before grabbing a request. "Hum, 150000 to subdue a creature terrorizing a village. Is 150000 Jewels a lot of money ?" he turned to Natsu, who was still looking at the board.

\- "Yeah, it's a good amount. But that is better." He said, grabbing another one for 160000 Jewels, but a new voice grabbed their attention.

\- "Is my daddy back yet ?"

Turning their head, the Riders and Natsu saw a young purple haired boy, who looked like he was 8 years old at best, looking at Makarof with teary eyes, shaking a little with worry, Makarof looking almost annoyed by the kid.

\- "You're annoying, Romeo. If you're the son of a mage, trust your father, be a good boy and wait for him at home."

\- "He said he'd come back in 3 days… But it's been a week since then…" Said Romeo, his fist balled by his side before pleading. "Please look for him ! I'm worried about him !"

\- "No way ! Your dad is a mage !" shouted Makarof, leaving no place to any replies. "We have no mage here who can't take care of himself ! Go home and drink your milk or something !"

In front of Makarof uproar, Romeo stood still a moment before leaping to the bar to punch the master in the face and turning around running away, crying in frustration, worry and sadness.

\- "It's very strict here, isn't it ?" Comment Lucy, sitting at the bar with Sento and Haruto.

\- "Master is like that, but he's worried about Macao, too." Answered Mirajane, just as a noise grabbed their attention. Turning their head, they saw Natsu walking away from the board, taking his backpack and heading to the door, leaving the Rider behind them, who looked between the Dragon slayer and the request he had picked, now embed in the wood.

\- "Natsu's gonna do something bad, master." Said Nab, talking to the master. "He's going to go find Macao."

\- "No one can decide what he should do." Said the master smiling, biting his smoking pipe. "Just leave him alone."

\- "What happened to him all of a sudden ?" asked Lucy, Mirajane answering without turning away from the beer dispenser, her back looking at the mage and Riders.

\- "The same thing happened to Natsu. Maybe he saw himself in Romeo. Natsu's father hasn't come back ever since he left? Though, by father, I meant a foster parent." She then turned around, eyes closed and smiling a little. "And he's a dragon."

*BAM* Lucy had just fell off her bar stool, landing on the ground with a thud before reaching for the bar to herself off the ground. Next to her, the Riders were as shocked as she was, but some of them were also understanding what it was to lose someone.

\- "A dragon !? Natsu was raised by a dragon ?!" asked Lucy, her head now at the bar level, looking with wide eyes at the white haired barmaid. "How could I believe that ?!"

\- "Right ?" Said Mirajane, understanding her skepticism. "He was found by a dragon in a forest when he was little and learned words, cultures and magic from him. But one day, he disappeared from Natsu."

\- "So this dragon is probably the Igneel he was looking for in that city." Concluded Gentaro, looking at the door where Natsu had disappeared.

\- "Natsu is looking forward to seeing Igneel again one day." She then lean on the counter, looking at Lucy dead in her eyes. "Isn't he cute ?"

Lucy laughed awkwardly, feeling the double meaning of the barmaid words and she just tried to dodge the question, Kouta looking at a grinning Mirajane with a drop of sweat sliding down his head.

"Isn't it a little soon to play the matchmaker with her ?"

Putting down a glass in front of Lucy, Mirajane was now looking pretty solemn.

\- "We are… mages of Fairy Tail are… all… carrying something." She said, her voice shaking just a little. "Wounds… Pain… Suffering… And I as well…" in the end, she was slightly shaking, her voice breaking but she stopped before she said anything else, dismissing that with a smile. After listening to her, the Riders that they had more in common to the fairies then what they though. Even the heavy past was something they had. Among them, two had just decided on something they wanted to do. Sento and Shinnosuke looked at each other's, nodding and getting up.

\- "Guys, go on the request without us. We have some things to do."

/- Later -/

After some time, Lucy was sitting in a carriage with Happy and Natsu, who was actually dying, laying down on one of the seat.

\- "And so, I'll visit Mira-san's house next time." Lucy had said that with her hands on her face, as if she was thinking about her idol.

\- "Don't steal underwear and stuff, okay ?" advised Happy matter-of-factly, making Lucy shout in response. Next to her, Shinnosuke and Sento rolled their eyes, feeling like those weird sentences were something the blue cat often did. But he also asked straight to the point question. "Why are you here anyway Lucy ?"

\- "Because it's a chance." She answered, stars around her as she explained further, the others looking at her like she had three head. "I wanted a chance to do something that'd help Fairy Tail."

"It's just about her reputation. I'm sure of that." Thought the cat and the Riders, while looking at her. But she quickly got her things together and turned to the Riders.

\- "And what are you both doing here ?"

\- "It's for that boy." Answered Sento, thinking about Romeo and his worries for his father. "We both know what it is to lose a father." At that, Lucy and Happy were looking shocked at both Riders. Even Natsu look at them, even though he was feeling like dying. "That boy don't deserve to feel what it's like to lose his father."

The mood was quite gloomy after that, but Lucy decide to light it up by changing subject.

\- "Anyway, once we got back, I'll have to find a place to live."

\- "We would help you with pleasure, but we don't have that much room." Said Shinnosuke, looking sorry for her, but she just nod, understanding their situation. And besides, she think it was better if she didn't mend to much with their problems.

\- "You can live with Natsu and me." Proposed Happy, raising a paw.

\- "If you're seriously saying that, I'll pull out your whiskers, little kitty." Answered the blonde, blushing a little at the idea of living with a boy. And soon after that, the carriage suddenly stopped, Natsu springing back to life in an instant.

\- "It stopped !" he cried happily while Lucy and the others were perplexed.

\- "We're there already ?" Wondered Sento, before hearing the voice of the driver.

\- "I'm sorry. We can't go any further than this with the carriage."

And the reason why the couldn't was obvious as soon as they stepped out of the carriage. The were in the middle of a snowstorm, strong and cold wind blowing between the rocky peak, the cold striking them all, except Natsu who wasn't bothered in the least. But the worst was Lucy, her skimpy outfit doing nothing to counter the cold.

\- "It's cold !" she said, rubbing her arms, trying to get a little heat.

\- "That's cause you are wearing so little." Natsu pointed out.

\- "The same goes for you. But I guess being a Dragon Slayer come with some advantages." Said Shinnosuke, trying to get some heat too, but managing to deal with it. They looked at Lucy, wrapping herself in a blanket she grabbed from Natsu's backpack before grabbing what looked like a silver key.

 _ **O-OPEN, THE GATE OF THE CLOCK : HOROLOGIUM !**_

All of a sudden, a clock appeared out of nowhere. Well, it looked like a clock, but it also had arms and a face above it. Looking closely, they saw Lucy, sitting inside the clock, relieved to be safe from the cold.

\- " 'I'll stay here.', she says. " told the clock, the others understanding, having seen Lucy's lips moving, that he was repeating what she said.

\- "Why did you come if you weren't ready, Lucy ?" asked Sento, not getting an answer, Lucy asking another question in return.

\- "Speaking of that, what job did Macao-san come here for ? She says."

\- "You came here without knowing that ?" replied Natsu, looking at her like she was mad, which was probably the case. "TO subdue the brutal monster, Vulcan."

The Riders seemed intrigued, wondering what kind of beast those Vulcans were, while Lucy looked terrified.

\- "I want to go home. She says."

\- "Yes, go ahead. Says I." Answered Natsu in a Horologium fashion, walking away, leaving her behind. "MACAO ! ARE YOU HERE ?! WERE YOU DONE WITH THE VULCAN !?" he shouted in the storm, hoping that maybe his voice could reach the missing mage. Alas, he didn't reached the mage. But it did reached something, noises coming from a rocky hill next to Natsu, which got the attention of the Riders and Lucy, still in her clock. Suddenly, a big beast, black and white with some kind of big horn on his head and a long tail appeared. He had jumped and landed in front of Natsu, throwing a punch at him, which the dragon dodged before leaping above Natsu, heading to the others, pushing the Riders aside and grabbing Horologium, looking at Lucy through the glass.

\- "A human woman." He said in a rumbling voice, looking rather please by what he was seeing while Lucy was horrified and before anyone could do anything, he ran away, carrying the clock and the girl on his shoulder.

\- "Did that beast just spoke ?" asked Shinnosuke, weirded out by that fact while Sento looked ecstatic.

\- "That beast is so intriguing. I have to do some research on them." Said the scientist, a tuft of hair standing up on his head.

\- "Well, intriguing or not, we have to save her. So let's go."

Following Natsu, they all head up to where the Vulcan had gone, hoping to find him before he could do something to Lucy, even though she seemed protected by her clock. After some minutes, they reached a cave in a mountain where they found Lucy, her clock nowhere to be found, face to fac with the Vulcan who was looking at her quite lewdly. Seeing them, Natsu ran for it.

\- "I finally caught up with you ! he said rushing straight ahead. "Where is Macao !?" And as soon as he finished his sentence, he slipped on the icy floor and cartwheeled right into a wall. But he wasn't bothered by that. "Hey ! Monkey ! Where is Macao ?!" he asked standing up to face the beast, Lucy getting away from the monster, and closer to Natsu. "You understand what I'm saying right ? I'm talking about a human man. Where did you hide him ?" he finished, pointing his finger at the Vulcan.

\- "How can you know he is hiding him ?" asked Sento.

\- "And beside, there's the possibility that Macao is already…" Shinnosuke didn't even finished his sentence, but judging by Lucy's widening eyes, there was no need.

Suddenly, the Vulcan smiled, asking Natsu to follow him. The Riders felt that there was a trap but the dragon just followed him to a hole in the cave where the Vulcan point at something outside and when Natsu got in the hole to see what was up, the beast simply pushing him off, sending him crashing down the mountain. Lucy was horrified while the Riders, even thought they were worried, couldn't help but feel disappointed : Natsu had felled for the oldest trick in the book.

\- "Me… No likes man. Me… Likes woman." Said the Vulcan looking at where Natsu had fallen.

\- "Seems like he is a beast AND a pervert. It's more than enough for me to stop him." Said Shinnosuke, walking to them, followed by Sento. But the Vulcan then snapped his finger and 2 others Vulcans appeared in the cave, blocking them, leaving Lucy alone against the first one, probably the boss of the two newcomers.

\- "Well, it's seems like I'll have to take one for a ride." Said Shinnosuke, putting his Driver on his waist. "Are you ready, Belt-san ?"

\- "Yes I am. Start your engine !"

Next to him, Sento also put his Driver on and put two Fullbottles out.

\- "Well, shall we began the experiment ?"

Lucy, and even the three Vulcans, stopped to looked at them, intrigued, even though Lucy was more focused on Shinnosuke since she already saw Sento transforming.

 _ **RABBIT ! TANK ! BEST MATCH ! ARE YOU READY !**_

Shinnosuke simply just turned the switch of his driver, the latter making an engine noise with a small music playing. He then grabbed a small red and white car, twisting it in half and inserting it in the Shift Brace and pulling it like a lever.

\- "HENSHIN !" they both roared, taking their stance.

 _ **HAGANE NO MOONSAULT ! RABBITTANK ! YEAH !**_

 _ **DRIVE ! TYPE : SPEED !**_

Now wearing their armor, Drive and Build rushed at the two Vulcan that block the road, their fight taking them to another part of the cave, where the two Riders were now alone with the beasts. Facing off with them was more than easy for them. They both have dealt with far worse before and 2 monkeys weren't going to make them sweat. Dodging the angry blows coming from the beasts, almost yawning. After some times, they deemed that it was time to put a stop to that meaningless fight. They began dealing blow themselves, the beasts stepping back with each of those hit. After some time, they each grabbed another one of their trinkets.

\- "Since" they are living in an ice cave and look like monkey, I guess there is a perfect way to solve this equation, isn't it ?" said Build, grabbing his Gorilla and Diamond Fullbottles.

\- "Yeah, I guess. Let's see if they like it." Answered Drive while taking Max Flare. Shaking their bottles and twisting their car, they both got ready for the change.

 _ **GORILLA ! DIAMOND ! BEST MATCH ! ARE YOU READY ? "Build Up !" KAGAYAKI NO DESTROYER ! GORILLAMOND ! YEAH !**_

 _ **TIRE KOUKAN : MAX FLARE !**_

Build now wearing his big fisted brown and cyan armor and Drive now wrapped in the fiery orange tire, they pounced once again on the Vulcans who, despite their uneasiness facing those two strange guys, kept on attacking but the Riders stopped the blows and dealt some of their own, pushing back the beasts. After some time, the Vulcans were panting, back to a wall. To the Riders, it was time to finish it. Sento spun the lever on his driver while Shinnosuke pull the lever of his brace three time.

 _ **READY, GO ! VORTEX FINISH ! YAY !**_

 _ **FL-FL-FLARE ! HISSATSU ! FULL THROTTLE : MAX FLARE !**_

The tire around Drive suddenly ignite while a cloud of diamond appeared in front of Build and once they were ready, they attacked the beast.

/- At the same time, in the main part of the cave -/

Even if the Riders disappeared, it was still time for Lucy to show what she could do. And it was something she wanted and NEED to do, mainly due to the gorilla who was flailing his arms and running around like he was doing a happiness dance.

\- "Me no likes man. Me no likes man. Woman ! Woman ! Uhhohohoho !"

\- "Woman ! Woman ! You perverted monkey." She seethed, putting a hand on her hips. "What are you gonna do if Natsu got hurt !?" She then pulled a key, like the one she used for the clock but this one was made of gold.

 _ **OPEN, THE GATE TO THE GOLDEN BULL : TAURUS !**_

In a puff of smoke, the bull constellation spirit appeared, lowing a war cry.

\- "Taurus is the most powerful stellar spirit in my contract and he'll be your opponent ! You perverted monkey !" she said, while the Riders, easily dodging the Vulcans they were fighting, were looking at the girl fight.

\- "Lucy-san ! You have nice boobs as always." Said Taurus, looking at her with heart in his eyes. "Moo-re amazing than ever." Next to him, Lucy sighed

\- "Oh yeah… He's a pervert as well…" she said, face palming while the Vulcan felt unhappy by the spirit appearance.

\- "Uho ! Don't take my woman !"

\- "My woman ?" repeated Taurus, now mad at the beast, walking toward him. "That's a moo-st unforgivable remark."

\- "That's right, Taurus ! Get him !" said Lucy, but Taurus wasn't finish.

\- "You should say 'my boobs' instead of 'my woman'."

\- "THAT'S NOT RIGHT !" cried Lucy, outraged by what he said but quickly getting her emotion back on track. She had used Horologium earlier so she had no idea how long she'll be able to keep Taurus here. But as soon as the bull began attacking, something happened.

\- "How dare you… Push me off the cliff… ? It was close…" This was Natsu, who appeared to be floating in the hole where he had been pushed. Lucy felt relieved that he was safe, but this happiness was short lived.

\- "WHAT !? THERE ARE TWO MONSTERS NOW !?" he exclaimed before kicking Taurus un the head, sending him flying away, the bull falling to the ground.

\- "I can't… Take it no moo-re…" said the spirit before falling unconscious, Lucy shouting at him for his weakness before turning at Natsu.

\- "I was worrying about you so much and then you come and do this to me !?" roared Lucy, mad at the dragon. "How did you survive the fall, by the way ?" she then asked, Natsu grinning before answering.

\- "It's all thanks to Happy." He answered, looking up at the cat who was flying around. And that made Lucy notice something. "Where are Shinnosuke and Sento ?"

\- "Two others Vulcans came when you fell off the cliff. They are fighting them right now. I hope they are all right." She said before something clicked in her mind. "Wait. You can't deal with transportation but you're okay with Happy ?" Her question made the pink haired guy look at her strangely, some bead of sweat appearing on his face, not feeling right.

\- "Happy isn't for transportation, he's a 'nakama'." He said, his voice quivering a little. "You're weird." After that, he turned his body to look at Lucy, but at the same time, the Vulcan began charging at him.

\- "Listen. All of Fairy Tail's members are nakama. From the Geezer, Mira,"

\- "He's coming !" cried Lucy, pointing at the beast behind Natsu, but the latter didn't seemed to care.

\- "Then the annoying Gray and Elfman," continued Natsu, still don't giving a fuck about the danger, Lucy shouting at him.

\- "To Happy and Lucy. We are all nakama." That shut Lucy up as she slightly blushed while Natsu finally turned at the beast as he was diving on him. "That's why… I'm taking Macao home !" he then ignited his feet, kicking the beast in the chin, sending him to the ground behind Lucy. "Tell me where Macao is, or I'll burn you all black like charcoal."

The beast got up, mad and grabbing some stalactites and throwing them at Natsu, but his body was so hot that the ice melted right away, but the Vulcan next did something Natsu's heat won't be useful against.

He had picked Taurus axes from the ground, Natsu suddenly not looking as confident as before.

\- "That looks painful." He said, sweating when he saw the axe, knowing that it won't be as easy to counter as the ice. The Vulcan then began swinging the axe, the dragon dodging until he grabbed the axe, both hands on the blade, in a limbo-like position, struggling. While Lucy was shaking her spirit to wake him up to go back to his world, since the axe will follow him. He seemed in a difficult position, but he then did something Lucy wasn't expecting. The axe begin to smoke and sizzle, the metal melting, a drop of melted metal landing in his mouth, shocking the rest of the team.

\- "Did he just melt the blade with his body heat !? He's eating it too !" said Lucy, almost frightened by what she was seeing.

After munching a little on the metal drop, he finally spit it at the Vulcan's head, the pain making the beast take a step back and dropping the axe, Natsu finally getting a chance to attack.

 _ **FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FIST !**_

The flaming punch struck the beast straight in his face, sending him flying and crash in the cave wall, cracking the wall.

\- "He is stuck !" cheered Happy, looking at the upside down beast, unconscious against the wall.

\- "Yeah, but maybe we should stop admiring it and go help the others, don't you think ?"

But as soon as Lucy said that, they heard Krim's voice and another one, coming from a wall next to them.

 _ **READY, GO ! VORTEX FINISH ! YAY !**_

 _ **FL-FL-FLARE ! HISSATSU ! FULL THROTTLE : MAX FLARE !**_

The wall burst open suddenly, the two Vulcans being thrown across the cave, knocked out and surrounded by ice and rocks fragment coming from the wall but also fireballs and diamond among them. Once everything finally stopped, the mages turned to the hole on the wall to see Build and Drive stepping out of it, the mages surprised by their change of armor, partial or total.

\- "What is this armor Sento ?" Asked Happy, the Rider shrugging it off.

\- "I'll explain later, for now, we should try to find Macao, right ?" he said before noticing that Natsu was gazing at Shinnosuke, not saying a word. People were starting to be worried for Natsu, not understanding why he was looking so intently at Shinnosuke.

\- "Natsu, are you feeling alright ?" asked Krim, intrigued and worried for the boy when Natsu suddenly turned green, spinning around to take a deep breath and appease his… nausea ?

\- "Why do you look like a car, seriously ?" he moaned pitifully while the others were now dumbstruck.

\- "HOW CAN YOU GET MOTION SICKNESS WHILE JUST LOOKING AT SOMEONE ?!" roared Lucy, teeth bared and not believing that he could be sick from something like that while Shinnosuke was shocked by something else.

\- "I DON'T LOOK LIKE A CAR ! Well, the armor design is based on one, but that's not the point. Get a hold of yourself, please."

\- "Well, everything is cool and all, but we have to find Macao." Reminded Sento, the others agreeing, Natsu managing to suppress his nausea for now. But before they could look for Macao, the Vulcan Natsu and Lucy fought began covering with some strange marking that covered his whole body, shocking everyone, but Shinnosuke analytic mind made him notice something he'll have to question. But once the whole Vulcan was covered, he disappeared and in his place stood a man, beaten but alive, just unconscious.

\- "The monkey became Macau !" said Natsu, shocking everyone but Happy who explained.

\- "Oh, so he was 'taken over' by the Vulcan !"

\- "'Taken over', what's that ? Some kind of magic ?" asked Sento, his scientific mind interested in this mysterious magic.

\- "It's a magic to take over the body !" simply explained the cat.

\- "I saw the same mark appearing on Elfman when he was about to fight in the guild the other day. Is he a mage using some kind of 'Take over' magic ?" asked Shinnosuke, remembering his first meeting with the guild.

\- "Yes. To explain it simply, he can take over the appearance and abilities of monsters." Satisfied by the explanation, they turned back to Macao, just as he was about to fall off the cliff. Natsu jumped to catch him, Happy going after him. Ala, they weren't strong enough to pull him back, so Lucy came to their rescue.

\- "Lucy !" Happily cried Natsu. But Lucy was struggling.

\- "Heavy…" she said, trying hard to hold on but she couldn't. Luckily, she was helped by Taurus when she was about to let go, the two mages and cat too heavy for her. But the cave was not strong enough to support such a weight and the ground gave out. It broke down and they all fell down the mountain. Or at least they were about to when Drive and Build grabbed onto the girl ankles, saving them all from a deadly fall. They pulled them all back into the cave, even if it was harder than they though, mainly because the strange anthropomorphic bull was easily twice as heavy as everyone else. Once everyone was back inside the cave, they laid Macao on the ground and took his jacket off to look at his wounds, the most serious one being a deep bleeding cut on his right side. Lucy was cleaning the wounds while Natsu was becoming frantic. They had nothing to take care of such a wound and it could be deadly if it stayed open too long. Suddenly, Natsu lit his hand on fire and put it on the wound. The pain was hardly bearable for Macao who began shouting in pain. As Lucy was about to stop him, Sento put a cyan armored hand on her shoulder.

\- "No. Let him do this. He is trying to close the wound by burning it. This is one of the best solution we have right now. Just hold Macao down."

Following Sento, she pushed on the mage body to prevent him from moving while Natsu was shouting at him.

\- "Don't die ! Romeo's waiting for you !"

\- "I got 19 of them… and I was… taken over... by the 20th one…" groaned Macao, Natsu ordering him to stop talking. On her side, Lucy was dumbstruck. She had a hard time dealing with one and Macao came here alone and had beaten 19 of them. She slightly smiled. She really was no match for them. At least for now. Despite Natsu's effort, the poor mages looked like he was about to pass out and if that happen, he might never wake up. Shinnosuke was looking at him, standing on the side, a Shift Car in a hand. He was deeply thinking about something. He had an idea but he wasn't sure if he should do it.

\- "Belt-san, do you think it can work ?"

\- "There's a chance it can work, yes. But I have a feeling it will be even more painful than it was for you. Beside, since he is a mage, his magic could disrupt it." Answered the belt, Shinnosuke nodding.

\- "It's either that or death." He said, now walking toward the group, now well decided on doing what he was thinking about. Stopping next to the group, Lucy, Happy and Sento were looking at him not understanding what he wanted to do until Sento saw the Shift Car in his hand.

\- "Do you really intend on using it on him ?" asked Sento, a little worried. "We don't know how magic meddle with our powers or even if they can in the first place. It will be dangerous." Lucy and Happy weren't really loving the idea but Natsu, who looked up at Shinnosuke without letting go of Macao.

\- "Can it help him ?"

\- "It will always be better than waiting or just burning him. But there's a risk." Answered Drive before a coarse voice was heard after a second of silence.

\- "If it can… help me in… going back to Romeo… do it." Said Macao, Shinnosuke nodding before twisting the white Shift Car he had in her hand.

 _ **TIRE KOUKAN : MAD DOCTOR !**_

The orange tire now replace with a white and blue one with a strange white device in his left hand. With his right, he activate the Shift brace three time.

 _ **DOC-DOC-DOCTOR ! HISSATSU ! FULL THROTTLE : MAD DOCTOR !**_

The white device flew toward Macao and hovered above him. Suddenly, many bright colorful lights surrounded Macao, who began to shake violently, as if he was having a seizure. The others were worried when after a few long seconds, he stopped moving and for a few moments, they were worried that it might haven't worked when Macao began breathing again, a soft breath as his chest rose slowly, his wounds not completely healed, but enough for him to survive. The mage then turned to Shinnosuke.

\- "I don't know who you are or what kind of magic you used, but thank you." He said, Shinnosuke laughing just a little before removing Mad Doctor from the bracer and pressed the Igniter, cancelling his transformation.

\- "It's just that I lost my father when I was a kid. He died on a mission and I didn't want Romeo to feel the same thing I felt." He explained before getting up, everyone doing the same, Natsu and Shinnosuke helping Macao. Now that everything was settled, it was time to go home.

/- Back in Magnolia -/

After a difficult road back to Magnolia, thanks to Natsu who, as usual couldn't handle the transport? Macao was not in the best of the shape, but thanks to Mad Doctor, he was able to walk a little and managed to stay awake during the whole trip, the Riders using that time to explain to the mage their situation, Macao nodding along the explanation.

\- "I see. You're in one hell of a situation." He said after Sento and Shinnosuke finished their explanation. "But if you ever need help, don't be afraid to ask. After what you did for me, it's the least I can do."

After some time, they were back in the city as the sun was setting, giving the city a red and orange glow. After some time, they finally found Romeo, who was outside reading a book. When he saw the group getting close to him, his father supported by Natsu, his face lit up for a moment before tears began to appear in his eyes, sadness washing over him. The mages and Riders knew what it was about. His friend made fun of him about the fact that Fairy Tail mages were just a bunch of lazy drunkard and he bugged his father to do something great to shut them up^. And apparently, after almost losing his father because of that, he felt a lot of regret. Macao walked over to his son and got on his knees, hugging him.

\- "I made you worry. Sorry." He said, comforting Romeo who smiled through teary eyes.

\- "It's okay…" he said, his voice shaking just a little. "I'm a son of a mage."

Macao then slightly push himself away from his son to look at him in the eye, a smug look on his face.

\- "When those brats tease you next time, ask them if their old man can defeat 19 monsters by himself ! Okay ?"

At that, Romeo smiled brightly, happy for the first time since his father departure a few days ago. Turning around, he saw the others walking away, but he wasn't going to let them go without a thanks.

\- "Natsu ! Happy ! Thanks ! And thanks to you too, Lucy !" Shouted the boy, not forgetting the new girl. Nor the new guys. "And you too, Sento and Shinnosuke ! Thanks you, everyone !"

Looking back at the smiling boy and his father, the Riders looked at each other before smiling and heading back home, feeling great. They had learned that no matter the world they were in, they could still protect people and make them smile and be happy. And that was all the motivation they needed.

 **Okay, here's the forth chapter. I didn't felt that right with the fight against the Vulcan, but I have a better idea on how things will be afterward. I hope you liked it and that the others chapter will please you too. See ya !**

 **Next time : Lucy's and her contract. Looking for the book. Ninjas in the mansion.**


	5. Chapter 5 : Contract and a book

**Hi guys, I'm really happy to be here for this 5th chapter. I'm really happy with how you welcomed this fic. I'll do always listen to our advices and remark to make sure this fic will always be to your liking, so don't ever hesitate to leave a comment, review or even a PM. Without any further ado, let's get down to business.**

 **Chapter 5 – A contract and a quest for a book**

As the morning just begun on this new day, everything was calm and nice in Magnolia. Birds were happily chirping, the soothing sun was bathing the city and the guild did nothing to mess with the calm. Basically, it was a perfect morning for everyone and that included the newly made Fairy Tail mage, Lucy.

\- "I've definitely found a nice place."

The blonde was currently having a bath in the bathroom of her newly acquired apartment, even if acquired was a big word since she was only renting it. But she was really happy with it, as she said to herself while going out of the water, grabbing a towel.

\- "The room is spacious for 70.000 Jewels and has a lot of storage place. Pure white walls, scent of woods, a little old-fashioned fireplace. It even has a cooking stove !" she enumerate, her eyes shining, sparkles surrounding her. "But most importantly…"

Remember when I said that Magnolia was all calm and nice this morning ?

Well, it is Magnolia, nothing stay calm forever here.

\- "Yo !"

And Natsu's unexpected presence in Lucy's room, eating messily on a armchair with Happy eating fish, as messily as his friend, on the coffee table, was just what the city needed to be disrupted by a shriek.

\- "MY ROOM !" She roared before performing a perfect spinning kick, crushing both mage and cat against the wall. "WHY ARE YOU HERE !?"

\- "Because Mira told me you got a new place…" explained Natsu, massaging his swollen cheek, still shocked by what Lucy just did.

\- "She told you ? So what !? Does that mean you can just come in like that !?" She was pissed, but she then saw a line of three small car driving in front of her, honking like nothing, and her anger took off once again. "AND WHY ARE YOU ALL HERE !? "

The Riders were, indeed, all here, gathered in the blonde dining room, sitting at her table almost casually, as if they didn't understood why she was mad.

\- " Don't you guys know the phrase 'A hedge between keeps friendship green' !? What you did is trespassing ! A crime ! You're lacking morals ! "

That's when the Riders realized what they just did, Lucy's word acting like a trigger in their mind.

 _"Did we just broke inside someone else house ?"_

Shinnosuke was almost crying on the table, muttering about the shame of such a petty crime staining his career as an irreproachable ace detective. The others were more like wondering how they could have get here without noticing it sooner. But Lucy had no chance to push more on them, thanks to a cat being… well, a cat.

\- "It's a nice room." Said Happy, casually scratching the wall as if he owned the place.

-"Don't sharpen your nails ! You feline !" shouted Lucy, looking like she was about to lose her voice from shouting so much.

\- "You feline ? What kind of insult is that ? " asked Kouta, looking almost disappointed by her lack of insults. Meanwhile, Sento, the one who were the least bothered by what was happening, was intrigued by a stack of paper on a small desk.

\- "Hmm ? What is this ?"

Lucy turned her head to look at the rider and her face suddenly lost all of hear anger, replaced by what could be seen as a mix of fear, shyness and anxiousness. Powered by those feeling, she jumped, crossing the whole room in one go without even taking step to gain speed and deliver a strong drop kick, the Rider receiving the blow straight in his face since he was turning to ask Lucy what the paper were. Knocked out, Sento was sent to the ground under the wide and shocked eyes of Natsu, Happy and the other Riders who could compare this kick to some of their Riders friend. Lucy seized the opportunity to grab the sheet Sento had in hands, clutching them close to her, on her knees, looking warily at the others.

\- "What is it ?" asked Haruto. "I'm kinda curious to be honest."

\- "Who cares what it is !? Just go home already !" Said Lucy, shaking her fist but the boys seemed nowhere near ready to move, Natsu being the worst of them since he wasn't the kind of guy to do as he was told.

\- "Don't wanna. I came here to visit you."

After one last weeping from the girl, she returned to the bathroom to change and put some clothes on while the Riders were trying to wake Sento, almost not surprised when he woke up saying : "Did one of you just Rider Kicked me ?". A few minutes later, Lucy was fully dressed and sitting at her table with the Riders, Natsu and Happy and she wasn't looking like she was happy.

\- "I just moved and I have no furniture. You have nothing to play with, so please go home after this cup of tea."

\- "No need to be so snappy, Lucy." Said Emu. "I don't know for Natsu, but Shinnosuke and Sento told us about your magic. Some kind of invocation, isn't it ?"

\- "That's why we came." Said Sento, a pack of ice on his nose, his voice slightly nasal. "We are really interested in this." With that, he took a notepad out of his vest, ready to take some notes.

\- "Yeah, he's right ! Show me all of the key guys that you've got." Asked Natsu, getting along with the idea just to get an excuse to stay.

\- "No ! It'll consume a lot of magic power. And they are not key guys. They're stellar spirits." Said Lucy, looking more relaxed now that they were talking about spirits.

\- "How many stellar spirit do you have a contract with ?" asked Happy, Lucy taking her keys out and putting them on the table. Seeing those, Gentaro, who was sipping on his tea, was feeling like those keys were oddly familiar.

\- "If have 6 keys." She said, splitting them in two groups, pointing at one. "These silver keys are the ones you can buy at stores. Horologium the Clock. Crux, the southern cross. Lyra, the lyre."

\- "The most basic ones then ?" asked Krim, who was put on the table next to Shinnosuke who was drinking his tea.

\- "Yes, they are. But they are all useful in a way. Then we have the gold keys that are very rare that open the gates of the ecliptic Zodiac. Taurus, the Bull. Aquarius, the Water bearer. Cancer, the Crab."

*PRFFFFFFFFFFFT*

Gentaro had suddenly spit all the tea he had in his mouth to his right, right on Shinnosuke who end up soaked. Gentaro was busy coughing, almost choking while Shinnosuke was not even moving, letting the tea slide down his face.

\- "I now know what Gou was feeling like back then."

\- "Why is he reacting like that ?" asked Lucy, not understanding why Gentaro was choking on his tea after seeing her keys.

\- "You know how we said that we each had our own threat to fight back in our world ?" asked Haruto, making the mages nods. "Well, he fought against people who used Switches to create monsters based on constellation. And the most powerful were called the Horoscopes, based on the Zodiac."

Lucy nodded, understanding what this was implying but was also curious. Gentaro had stopped coughing but remembering what his friends said about her bull friend, he was imagining Yuta wearing just a speedo, boots and glove with a huge golf club shaped like an axe on his back, and it clearly was something he'd like to erase from his mind as soon as possible.

\- "So, does it mean that you fought monster based on my spirits ?" asked Lucy, Gentaro turning to the blonde.

\- "Well." He began, sitting correctly on his chair. "I've never fought against the Southern Cross, the Clock or the Lyre Zodiarts. That's what the monsters I fought were called." He added, seeing that she was about to ask what a Zodiarts was. "But I fought all the Zodiarts powered by the Zodiac constellation, called the Horoscopes."

Lucy nodded, also wondering if those Zodiarts were also physically different from hers, but she then realized something.

\- "Now that I remember, I haven't made a contract with Nicola, the Canis Minor, that I bought in Hargeon." She said while standing up from her chair. "Perfect timing ! I'll show you all how stellar spirit mages and stellar spirits make a contract."

The boys all seemed glad, except maybe Gentaro who couldn't help but feel weird about that. But no one was as excited as Natsu and Happy, even if Happy seemed to have a kind of twisted way to see a contract.

\- "Does it involved blood seals ?" he asked, already shivering while Natsu put his hands on his ass.

\- "Butt seals ? That sounds painful."

\- "Why suddenly talking about butt ?" wondered Emu, sweat dropping just like everybody else while Lucy grabbed her key, just standing still in the middle of her room.

\- "We don't need blood seals or anything. Just watch." She then got into position, the hand holding her key stretched in front of her. "I am the person who connects the road to the stellar spirit world. Thou… Shalt respond to the calling and pass through the gate."

A shining key hole formed on the tip of the key, growing until it began like a wall of light in front of Lucy, the boys looking, surprised by what they were witnessing.

 _ **OPEN : THE GATE TO THE CANIS MINOR : NICOLA !**_

Suddenly, in a small burst of light and smoke, the spirit finally appear and for those who were hoping for a dog, which the name Canis Minor implied, were disappointed to say the least, cause Lucy called upon a really small white humanoid spirit with a yellow conic nose that shivered like he was left in the cold for too long. The boys were looking at the creature not knowing what to think of it so they all did the same thing at the same time, raising their head to look at Lucy.

\- "Don't feel too bad."

\- "IT'S NOT A FAILURE !" shouted Lucy, raising a fist in the air, mimicked by the spirit, not liking that they all though it was a fail because for her, everything was perfect. She got on her knees and rub her face on the spirit, smothering it with affection. "Ahh, so cute !"

\- "That's cute ?" asked Shinnosuke, not really seeing in what a basically living snowman was cute. But Lucy was deaf to those remark and just kept on smiling.

\- "Nicola's gate doesn't consume too much magic power and is popular for being a cherished stellar spirit." She said, her words definitely making an impression on the Riders and mages.

\- "Hum… I think it's what they call human ego." Said Krim, his digital face looking peeved.

\- "Okay, moving on to the contract." She pulled a notepad from nowhere, the little guy lifting his hand to show his approval. And to say that it wasn't what the others expected was an euphemism. She just asked the spirit on which day she could call him, the spirit shaking his head to say yes or no. The guy looked at it blankly until she finally finished, explaining to the guys who were still dumbfounded.

\- "It's really easy, but it's also really important. Stellar spirit mages regard contracts, meaning promises, with utmost importance. That's why I will never ever break promises."

\- "I see." Said Natsu, arms crossed, the Riders approving of that kind of mindset. But they couldn't shake off the feeling that Natsu's "I see" was hiding something. After she finally named the spirit Plue, a name that had the merit of being as weird as the spirit himself, the spirit ran out of Lucy's arms and began to do some kind of dance.

\- "Does he want to dance ?" asked Haruto before turning to Kouta. "Maybe you should dance with him, Kouta."

\- "Uhm, I'm not sure he want to dance. It's more like he is trying to talk." He said and indeed, the little guy insistence could feel like he was trying to communicate.

\- "I can't find anything meaningful behind those gesture." Said Sento, rubbing his hair until Natsu suddenly dive on the little spirit.

\- "PLUE ! That's a great idea !" he suddenly said, the Riders and Lucy surprised that HE understood Plue. "Stellar spirit, huh… It's true, the bull helped me on the snow mountain."

\- "And you thanked him by kicking him in the face." Reminded Shinnosuke. "You should be more thankful."

\- "That's right ! You should have more respect for stellar spirits." Added Lucy, while Natsu just kept on thinking.

\- "I didn't think Lucy, or even Sento and Shinnosuke, would be coming with us that time. But in the end, if they hadn't been there, we would've been in danger. Now that I think about it. Lucy is a weirdo but also a reliable and good person. Hrrm…"

Natsu now seemed to be in deep reflection, the other wondering about what, even if Lucy felt a little weird out seeing him think after calling her weird. After a little moment of silence, Natsu suddenly got up, his face showing that he decided something.

\- "Okay, I've made up my mind ! I agree with Plue's idea !" He said before turning to the others, a large smile on his face. "Let's make a team !"

\- "A team ?" repeated Lucy and the Riders, not understanding what he was meaning with that, but a jumping Happy came to their rescue with an explanation.

\- "I see ! At Fairy Tail, we are all comrades, family. But we make teams with whoever we ger along with. If you're in a team, difficult request will be easier."

Hearing that, the Riders nod while looking at each other, debating without words, just looks, while Lucy seemed more than happy, smiling widely.

\- "That's a good idea !" she said. "It does sounds fun !"

\- "All right ! It's decided !" roared Natsu, fists in the air while Happy and Plue were jumping together in joy.

\- "The contract has been sealed." Said Lucy with a smile, her previous anger about their intrusion long forgotten. The spirit was now high in the small apartment, but when Natsu turned to the Rider, he didn't knew that the mood was about to be brought down a little bit.

\- "So, you're in, too ?" asked the Dragon but he was shot down by Sento.

\- "Sorry, but we have to turn down the offer." The answer given by the Riders did killed the mood, but they had a good reason to do that. "It's not that we don't want to, but we still got a mission of our own and we won't be able to do it if we are always going on mission."

\- "You don't want to work with us ? I thought we had a deal ?" said Happy, his hears slightly dropping.

\- "We don't really have a deal strictly speaking, but we have to be ready for whatever Shocker would plan at the moment they'll act. But we are part of fairy Tail now, so if you need help, come and ask, but we won't be part of a specific team." Added Emu, the mages nodding in understanding.

\- "Beside, an 8 persons team would be a little too much, don't you think ?" added Haruto with a small smile, the mages smiling in response. But this little problem solved didn't killed Natsu's mood who brought the mood up again, slamming a paper on the table.

\- "Well, anyway, let's get to work then ! I've already decided !" he said, the Riders looking at him while Lucy seemed totally oblivious, thrilled by Natsu's quick thinking.

\- "My… You're thinking way too fast." She said before taking the request to read it. "Shirotsume town, it's close. WOW ! We just need to get a book from the mansion of someone called the Duke of Everlue… AND GET 200.000 JEWELS !?"

\- "Right !? Isn't it an easy job ?" asked Natsu, looking proud of him.

\- "Easy but for such a reward, there have to be some kind of twist." Advised Shinnosuke, sipping on the rest of his tea with the others. And judging by Lucy's face, who was now wide eyed in surprise sweating and shivering, there indeed was a twist.

\- "The-The Duke of Everlue is a pervert and a womanizer currently hiring a blond-haired maid."

*PFFFFFFFFFTTTT* As soon as Lucy ended her sentence, all the Riders spat their tea in each other's face in shock before turning to Natsu who was now smiling toothily, squatting down next to a snickering Happy.

\- "And Lucy has blond hair." Said the Dragon "So let's ask her to sneak in as a maid."

\- "Were you planning this from the beginning ?" asked Lucy, not believing that Natsu of all people could do something like that.

\- "I see stellar spirit mages value contracts. Very admirable indeed." Finished Natsu, rubbing his chin in a thinking gesture even if he had, apparently, already thought of that.

\- "YOU TRICKED ME !" cried the blonde, while the Riders, still dumbfounded, were still looking at the pink haired guy.

\- "He thought about this plan up to the very fact that mages like Lucy are not the kind to go back on their words ?" stated Kouta in an almost shaky voice. "How can someone be so twisted ?"

\- "You deceived me, you cheater !"

\- "Let's go now, Lucy." Said Natsu, deaf to Lucy's shout.

\- "I don't want to be a maid !" she wailed, Natsu still ignoring her despite her cries and going as far as humiliating her a little more

\- "Let's rehearse. Now, call Happy 'Master'"

\- "Definitely not a cat !"

The Riders looked at them not knowing what to do. They had a feeling that if those guys teamed up, things won't necessarily always end nicely. But Sento wasn't sharing their thought.

\- "They seemed like a Best Match."

The Riders looked at him before turning their attention back on an evily smiling Natsu, a half-shouting, half-crying Lucy and a cat trying to make her call him 'Master'. And they all were thinking the same thing.

"He's right."

/- Later, in a carriage leaving Magnolia -/

After Lucy finally had calm down, they left her house heading to the go on their job, followed by Gentaro and Haruto while the others Riders were going back to the guild to see if they could find something about any form of event they could link to Shocker. However, a few miles away from Magnolia, Lucy forgot her anger and was now smiling almost devilishly.

\- "How are you feeling on the carriage, 'Master' ?" she asked Natsu who, as always, was deadly sick and Lucy loved that small vengeance she could have on the guy who played such a dirty trick on her and Gentaro and Haruto couldn't really blame her for that.

\- "I can see a maid from the afterlife already." Groaned Natsu, sitting but sweating heavily.

\- "Maybe I could use Medical on him, it might make him feel better." Proposed Gentaro, turning to Haruto who looked at him with a knowing smile.

\- "After what he did, does he even deserve it ?" They stayed silent for a moment before answering at the same time.

\- "No."

\- "You traitors !" shouted, or at least tried to since he was about to puke, but the Riders didn't gave a fuck, just chilling in the carriage, while Happy, oblivious to everything else, kept on doing what he was the best at : annoying Lucy.

\- "I am roleplaying as your master !"

\- "Shut up, cat !" Lucy spat at the cat before quickly regaining her composure. "Now that I think about it, it's a pretty easy job, isn't it ? "

\- "Maybe a little too much. I feel like there's something more to it." Said Haruto, thinking about the job. "But you seemed to be rather interested in it. I thought you didn't like the idea ?"

\- "Of course. It's my first job after all. I'll do my best." She said smiling. "II'll just have to sneak into the mansion and get the book. But let me tell you : for this job… Since you guys aren't participating in most of it, we'll split the reward 7:1:1:1."

\- "Oh, you're okay with 1 ?" asked Happy but of course, she meant that differently.

\- "I'm taking 7 !"

After more or less half an hour, they finally reached the town of Shirotsume, a nice little town surrounded by trees and with a small bridge crossing a small crack were a river was flowing.

\- "Anyway, I'm hungry. Let's go eat." Said Natsu once his motion sickness had finally calmed down, Happy walking by his side.

\- "I'm not really hungry. Why don't you just eat your own fire ?" Questioned Lucy, Natsu turning around to look at her like she said something stupid.

\- "What are you saying ? Do you eat your own 'Plue' or 'Bull' ?"

\- "It's no, then. But why this comparison ?" asked Wizard sweat dropping. Why would Natsu even think about this kind of thing. Gentaro however is not the kind of guy to spit on a meal.

\- "Well, I'm with Natsu. I'm hungry. So what are we doing ?"

\- "I'll go around and check out the town for a bit." Said Lucy, already walking away. "You can go ahead and have a meal." Once she was gone, leaving the others behind and if Gentaro and Haruto didn't mind, it wasn't the case for Natsu.

\- "What the … It's more fun to eat with everyone."

\- "Let her be Natsu. She'll join us soon for sure." Haruto answered putting a hand on the Dragon shoulder, dragging him to a restaurant where he quickly forgot his disappointment to eat all the meat he could get. But he was also a thoughtful sharer.

\- "Let's keep the oily ones for Lucy." He said, putting some meat on another plate, the Riders looking at him while sweat dropping.

\- "She does look like she loves oily stuff." Confirmed Happy, the Riders looking at him like he had three head.

\- "On what kind of proof did you based that affirmation ?" asked Gentaro.

\- "I also would like to know."

It was Lucy who finally joined them but when they turned their head, they found themselves looking at a Lucy clad in a maid uniform, already ready for the job and truth to be told, she looked really cute in it. Well the Riders thought she was, Happy and Natsu looked more shocked than anything.

\- "After all, I look good in anything." She said, rubbing her own ego in the process before getting back into roleplaying as a maid. "How is your mail, sir ? If you're still working on it, please take your time."

The boys reaction, as said before, were various. Gentaro and Haruto said nothing but were smiling when they remembered themselves of how she reacted when she learned she had to be a maid because she almost seemed thrilled right now. As for Natsu and Happy, they turned to each other, they were shaking and sweating like they had saw something impossible.

\- "Oh no ! I was joking, but she took the maid idea seriously !" said Happy to Natsu in a shushed voice, the pink haired mage answering with the same tone.

\- "We can't really tell her it was a joke any more. L-Let's just do it."

\- "I heard that !" shouted Lucy, not believing that they were just toying with her. The Riders were just looking at them, feeling like this kind of things is definitely part of the Fairy Tail culture.

\- "Hmm, joke or not, if that duke is looking for a maid, playing the part is probably the best idea we can thought of." Said Haruto, gaining the mages attention. "If we are finished here, we better go to that duke house."

\- "Not really." Answered Natsu, surprising the Riders. "We first have to go meet the guy who send the request."

\- "Oh, okay. Let's go then." Said Gentaro, getting up from his chair and the group followed him, walking to the house of the client's, which was a huge mansion. The group was surprised but someone willing to pay 200.000 Jewels just for a book had to be rich. Natsu went to the door, knocking on it.

\- "May I have your name, please ?" asked someone from behind the door.

\- "We're from the Fairy Tail gu…" as if he just said something bad, the person behind the door, shushed him directly.

\- "SHH ! Be quiet, please !" he said, almost like he was afraid that someone might learned that they were here. "Excuse me, but can you enter from the back door, please ?"

Truth to be told, the mages and Riders were surprised and felt like something was off. But they did as they were told and a few minutes later, they finally met the client, a well dressed man with black hair and a small mustache, standing next to a woman.

\- "I'm terribly sorry about earlier… I'm the client Kaby Melon. And this is my wife." He said, introducing himself before guiding the group to the dining room, Natsu laughing at the name of the guy, who laughed to. But the Riders noticed that Lucy seemed disturbed by something. "I wouldn't have imagined a mage from the renowned Fairy Tail would accept this job…"

\- "Really ? I was wondering why such a good job was still available."

"Because a job as simple with such a reward was too weird and had to hide something." Thought the rest of the group.

\- "And you're young, too. You must be a famous mage." Asked Kaby, talking to Natsu, Happy giving an answer.

\- "Natsu is also called Salamander."

\- "Ooh ! I've heard of that nickname." He said before turning to the two Riders. "And I guess you two are also mages from Fairy Tail ?"

\- "Yes, we both just joined." Answered Haruto, Gentaro and him showing their mark while Kaby turned to Lucy. "And this is ?"

\- "I'm a mage of Fairy Tail, too !" said Lucy, Mr Melon looking at her for a few seconds before answering.

\- "Is that outfit your hobby or something ? No, I mean, it's okay, but…" this question was not meant to be a reproach but it made the boys laugh and Lucy sulk, suddenly wishing to go home. After a few second, Mr Melon took a better position, hands joined. "Let's talk about the work."

This got everyone's attention, now focused, listening to the job's details.

\- "There is only one thing that I'm asking you to do : The one and only copy of 'Day Break' that the Duke of Everlue owns… Please incinerate it."

This surprised the mages and Riders who didn't understand. Why did that guy wanted to destroy a book ?

\- "Destroying the book ? We thought that for such a price, you'd ask to retrieve the book that he took from you." Said Gentaro, not understanding how he could ask for such a thing.

\- "Incinerate it, huh…. How about we just burn the mansion down !?" proposed Natsu, laughing his ass off.

\- "That'll be easy." Added Happy but the only girl of the group wasn't feeling like doing such a thing. "NO ! You'll surely go to jail for that !"

\- "What kind of book it is, anyway ?" asked Haruto, not believing that someone could pay as much to destroy a simple book.

\- "Who cares ? We're getting 200.000 !" said Natsu, clearly motivated by the money, but what said Kaby then shocked everyone.

\- "No, I'll pay 2 million. The contingency fee is 2 million."

This announcement was like throwing a huge rock in a puddle, the group sent completely out of their mind because of this new reward.

\- "2 MILLION ?! Hold on, if we divide it by 5, then… ARGH ! I CAN'T CALCULATE !" cried Natsu

\- "It's easy." Said Happy, shaking like he was freezing. "I get 1 million, you get 1 million and the rest goes to Lucy."

\- "There will be nothing left for me !" cried Lucy after Natsu had congratulated the cat for his 'intelligence'

\- "Hey ! Where's out share in that ?" Said Gentaro while Haruto was frowning but not because of how Happy wanted to split the money but by the reason by such a raise. "Why did you suddenly increased the reward to 2 million all of a sudden ? Why do you need that book destroyed so badly ?"

\- "That book really need to be destroyed. I can't forgive that book's existence." Answered Mr Melon, hanging his head, hiding his eyes, something was off with him, and Haruto wasn't the only one who felt it. Lucy too was feeling like he was hiding something.

\- "OOOOOOHHH !" Natsu had suddenly bursted into flame before grabbing Lucy's hand and dragging her outside. "Let's go, Lucy ! I'm burning with passion !"

Looking at them go, Gentaro and Haruto turned to Kaby Melon saying good-bye before taking off after the mages, their minds busy analyzing what they just learned.

\- "Why does he meant by 'he can't forgive this book's existence.' ?" asked Gentaro, Haruto looking as lost as he was.

\- "I have no idea, but I have a feeling that in contrary to what Lucy thought, we might have to do more than just watch her being a maid."

The ran after the two mages, already feeling like this job was going to be much more complicated that they thought it would.

 **Okay, and that's 5 ! I hope you liked it. I also hope that the time I took to publish this chapter wasn't too long for you. If it was, please let me know so next time I'll know if I have to publish them faster or not. Anyway, thank you for reading, feel free to leave a review if you have a remark, advice or even just to tell me what you though of that chapter, or even about the story so far. See you !**

 **Next time : Operation maid failed, let's go with Operation T ! The secret of a book. Faeries and Riders vs Wolves and Duke.**


	6. Chapter 6 : The mansion of Everlue

**Hello guys ! I hope you are all feeling well and fine. This time, I won't be wasting any time talking. I'll just thank you all for your support and get right into the main event.**

 **I own neither Fairy Tail nor Kamen Rider.**

 **Chapter 6 : The mansion of Everlue**

The mansion of the duke of Everlue was a huge three-stories building with pale pink colored wall and a roof covered in red tiles. The whole thing was surrounded by a well-kept garden with tall trees protected by a tall fence.

\- "Excuse me. I came to apply for the blond-haired maid position."

And standing in front of the metal gate guarding the entrance of the mansion was Lucy, clad in her maid outfit, was trying to call someone out, playing the role of the applying maid perfectly.

\- "Excuse me. Is there anyone here ?"

"Fu Fu… It's easy." She thought to herself, grinning. "All I have to do is become the Duke's favorite. Then I'll find the book, burn it and I get 2 million ! What should I buy with that money ?" she wondered, the mission already a success in her mind. A little farther behind her, hiding behind a tree, Haruto, Natsu, Gentaro and Happy were looking at her doing.

\- "Do your best, Lucy." Whispered Natsu, looking at the blonde who was still waiting for an answer.

\- "Good luck !" whispered Happy, hoping for the best.

\- "I really hope this plan work out well." Said Haruto in a whisper. "It would make things really easy for us." "Too easy, maybe." He added too himself, feeling like something was off with this job.

\- "That guy is, according to the request details, a pervert womanizer looking for a blonde haired maid. If that plan don't work, I'm diving head first in the river back in Magnolia." Said Gentaro, sure that this would work. After a short moment, the ground next to Lucy suddenly swelled and a something jumped out of the ground landing in front of the blonde mage. At first, they thought it was a monster, but in reality, it was a large, REALLY large woman with pink hair wearing a maid outfit that was way too small for the body she had, making the boy see things they clearly weren't ready to see, like her underwear. The huge woman was looking down at a now frightened Lucy, her hands on her hips.

\- "Maid applicant ?" she asked, her deep voice adding to the uneasiness Lucy and the boys were feeling. After a second, she turned to the hole, talking to it. "There's a girl who came for the maid position, my master !"

A small huffing noise was heard and after a few seconds, another person came out of the hole and this time, it really was a man. They guessed that this was most certainly the Duke of Everlue. And one thing was sure, they didn't need a notice in the job poster to know that this guy wasn't an agreeable fellow. The man was short and plump with skinny arms and legs wearing a formal black suit, with a large gold button fastening it and with a decorative red flower in his pocket. He also sports a curled mustache which directly protrudes from his nostrils, as well as a bushel of wavy hair atop his round head.

\- "Boyoyoyooon. Did you call me ?" he asked before redirecting his attention to Lucy. "Let me see." He said, rubbing his chin while looking at her from every angle.

\- "Nice to meet you." Lucy said, smiling and trying to be as nice and sweet as possible, even if the guy was literally making her shiver in disgust. But she hold on well and the guys thought it was good. 'Thought' being the important word here.

\- "Rejected ! Go home, ugly." He simply said, turning away from Lucy who looked like she was kicked in the gut.

-"WHAT !?" The Duke and the maid turned to the trees not far away, thinking they heard something but after a few seconds, they just shrugged it off. Behind the trees however, Natsu, Happy and Haruto had pulled Gentaro behind the tree, their hands on his mouth. He had almost blown their cover shouting like that so they had to stop him, even if Haruto could understand his reaction. After some time, they let him go, turning back to see what was happening in front of the mansion, namely Lucy being lifted off the ground by the huge maid.

\- "That's it. Time to go home, ugly." As Lucy was struggling, 4 new holes appeared on the ground and 4 new persons jumped out of them.

\- "You see, for someone as great as I am," began Everlue before smiling with a small blush on his face as 4 other maid, who also were probably the ugliest woman they had ever seen landed next to him. "Only beautiful girls would suit me. Boyoyoyo…"

\- "And where are those beautiful girls, exactly ?" asked Haruto for the first time in his life feeling real disgust toward a person while Gentaro had ran off to puke somewhere farther away. As for Lucy, she was knocked out like she had lost a boxing fight, being thrown away by the huge maid.

A few minutes later, Lucy, back in her normal clothes, was sitting curled up against a tree, her arms surrounding her knees as she was crying, mourning her now buried ego. And she couldn't count on Natsu's to get some comfort.

\- "You're useless." He said without a care in the world, hurting Lucy's pride even more, the latter crying even more.

\- "IT'S NOT THAT ! IT'S JUST THAT HIS SENSE OF BEAUTY IS COMPLETELY RETARDED !" she cried, trying to explain the situation to an unconcerned Natsu while Happy decided to join the 'Annoy Lucy Brigade' by adding his own little word.

\- "An excuse."

\- "How's that an excuse ? This guy clearly has a really weird definition of beauty, light years away to the classic model most people have." Haruto said, coming to Lucy's defense. "Any other kind of pervert would have hired her straight away, I'm sure."

\- "I'm not the kind of guy to judge what people like or don't, but I have to admit that this is something I have a hard time accepting." Explained Gentaro before getting them back on the mission. "So, if the maid plan didn't work, what's the other plan ?"

\- "It's obvious. It's time for plan B !" said Natsu, grinning and cracking his knuckles while Lucy, getting up still crying but now looking like she was ready to make that guy pay for the affront that was done to her.

\- "And what's plan B ?" asked Haruto, already fearing the answer a little.

\- "It's B for Break in !" answered Happy, looking as ready as the other mages. The Riders then looked at them before turning to look at each other

\- "Is it really alright ? I mean, we are basically going to enter someone else's house to steal something. That would made us burglars." Said Gentaro, Haruto looking at the mansion while answering.

\- "I have a feeling like this is not the kind of thing we should be worrying about." He said. "We aren't in our world so I guess it would be wise to just do whatever they want to do and just make sure everything doesn't go out of control." With that, they walked to the wall surrounding the house, now ready to do what they came for : destroy Day Break.

/- Meanwhile, inside the mansion -/

Everlue was currently sitting in a throne like chair, smoking a huge cigar of some sort, looking satisfied.

\- "Mages came again in spite of the previous failure." He said, proving that he knew they were mages and judging by his words, they weren't the first one. "And that mark, it's Fairy Tail this time ? She was dumb enough to not hide it, but I wish they'd send me someone more beautiful at least." As he finished his sentence, a curtain opened behind him, showing two silhouettes standing behind the Duke. "Now… How should I kill the mages this time ? Boyoyoyoyoyo !"

/- A moment later -/

Haruto and Gentaro felt a little left out. While Natsu and Lucy had been carried by Happy directly onto the roof of the mansion, they had to climb up the tall fence then the wall of the mansion by themselves, because Happy said he 'didn't had the strength to carry them after the two mages'. Waiting on the roof, Happy was giggling behind his paws, proud of his joke.

\- "You really have a weird sense of humor." Sighed Lucy shaking her head while Natsu, who was busy looking through a window, followed Happy to the edge of the building, looking forward seeing the Riders struggling, Lucy going to them to drag them both away from the ledge but she realized that they were disappointed and intrigued because they didn't saw the Riders anywhere.

\- "Maybe they are lost ?" said Happy, looking around the garden.

\- "How could they be lost ? No, wait. How can ANYONE be lost with so little distance to cover ?" asked Lucy, Natsu answering without even looking at her.

\- "You can if you're a green haired swordsman."

\- "Wait, what ?"

 _ **CONNECT PLEASE !**_

The voice behind them startled the mages and Exceed who turned around to find that a big red magic circle had formed out of thin air and out of the ring walked Gentaro and Haruto, looking rather amused by their shocked face. Once the circle disappeared, Haruto Driver also disappeared, making the mages look at him, eyes wide in surprise.

\- "What the… Was that magic ?" asked Natsu, completely in shock.

\- "It definitely was !" answered Lucy, eyes as wide as saucer. "How is that possible ?"

\- "Well, long story short, I'm a Kamen Rider whose powers are born from magic I access through those rings." Explained Haruto, showing the Wizard Rings hanging on his waist. "I guess I'm the Rider who's the closest to this world, in a way."

Once the surprise was gone, they got back to work. But Natsu wasn't okay with the plan.

\- "Why do we have to sneak in ?"

\- "Isn't it obvious ?" Said Lucy. "Even if it's under someone else's request, it's still is basically a robbery. Also, we can't just barge in like that. He is the town's most influential man. He's not a villain. If we do things wrong, the military will come to get us."

\- "While I'm agreeing about that way of thinking, I thought you said you'd never forgive him." Asked Gentaro, Natsu sitting against the wall with Haruto.

\- "Of course I'd never forgive him !" confirmed Lucy, a malicious look on her eyes, fist shaking. "He said such bad things to me. So in addition to burning the book, I'll also hide his shoes and stuff. Ufufufu."

The boys looked at the snickering Lucy, sweat-dropping at this new side of her they discovered.

\- "Can you get any more petty than that ?" wondered Haruto, looking at the girl feeling like he was looking at a child plotting a scheme to get payback from an adult. But after some seconds, she got back in the mission.

\- "Either way, no violence, okay ?" she said to the boys, Haruto and Gentaro agreeing while Natsu looked like he didn't heard her, who got angry as a result. "WHAT IS THAT FACE ?!" she said, smashing her hand on his forehead all under the watchful eyes of the Rider who felt like something bad was bound to happen with those three. But they'd manage. After they'd finally calmed down, Natsu used his flames to melt the glass and used the newly formed hole to open the window, giving them an entrance. They got inside what looked like some kind of storage room, with a lot of crates, shelves and dust covered objects everywhere. They didn't waste any time, going for the door quickly barely noticing Happy who was wearing a skull like an helmet, not noticing a crystal ball shining on one of the shelves shimmering slightly. They opened the door slightly, Happy passing his head through to see if the way was clear.

\- "No one's around." He reported, his voice slightly echoing in the skull.

\- "Please, get that skull off, it's creepy." Asked Gentaro, to which the cat answered with a simple "I'm stuck." Not looking bothered by that at all. A few seconds later, they were all walking against the wall, trying to be as discreet as possible. But there was one flaw in this plan. It was slow as hell.

\- "At this rate, if we have to go through every room in the mansion, it's going to take forever." Said Haruto, whispering just in case someone could hear them.

\- "Isn't it faster to find someone and ask where the book is ?" Whispered Natsu, not really linking that this was so slow. He was bored out of his mind.

\- "We can't do that. They'd threw us out of here if they saw us. We aren't supposed to be here." Explained Gentaro, following after Haruto.

\- "We'll just complete the mission without getting noticed." Ordered Lucy, talking to Natsu. "Doesn't it sound cool ? Just like a ninja."

Little did she know, what she said was about to become more than just an idea thrown like that. At that exact moment, a rumbling noise was heard and out of a swell on the ground, the 5 maids jumped out, the big one being the only one without a weapon while the others all had spears in their hands.

\- "Intruders detected !" roared the big one, the Riders and mages shocked by their sudden appearance, the skull on Happy's head popping off in shock. "Eliminate the targets."

Even if she said that, the maids had no time to do anything because Natsu, after doing who know what with his scarf, jumped on them, his hands joined, his head in fact wrapped around his face and kicking three of them, the huge one include.

\- "NINJA !"

Lucy was shocked by what Natsu had done and at the same time annoyed by Natsu's childish attitude. She didn't even saw that the two maid who had dodged Natsu were running at her, but before she had any time to react, Haruto and Gentaro jumped in, knocking them out without even needing to transform. Once the maid were all knocked out, the boys all standing in the hallway, Natsu still doing the ninja, with Happy copying him by his side.

\- "We can't let them find us just yet. Nin nin." Said Natsu, dead serious whit his hands still joined in some kind of ninja hand signs. The Riders were looking at him, sweat dropping.

\- "When we got home, remind me to ask Sento to try and never use NinninComic if Natsu's around." Said Gentaro to Haruto, who just nod with a small 'hm', Lucy looking at them all, tired by the weirdness she was witnessing. Deciding that she had enough, she grabbed Natsu and dragged him with her to hide in a room just in case someone heard them. The Riders followed and realized that they had entered a big room with big shelves full of books on three of the wall, surrounding a desk and a round couch with a table in the middle. They all split up to look at the shelves, everyone looking for 'Day Break'.

\- "That's a lot of books. That guys like to read a lot apparently." Haruto said casually, his hands sliding across the books spines.

\- "LET'S FIND IT !" shouted Natsu, Happy agreeing while looking through the same shelves as him.

\- "Yes, he does have a nice collection of books. If he reads all of these, I'll respect him a little bit." Said Lucy, looking for the book, sighing a little while Nastu and Happy kept shouting while rummaging through the book on their shelves.

\- "Uho ! I found a perverted book !" Said Natsu.

\- "Fish reference book !" said Happy, half-drooling.

\- "Sigh… It's going to take forever to go through all those books." Sighed Gentaro, rubbing his head. Meanwhile, Happy and Natsu were still clowning away, as if they had long forgotten the mission and just had a blast playing with the books.

\- "OOOOH ! I FOUND A GOLDEN BOOK !"

\- "LOOK FOR IT SERIOUSLY, WILL YOU ?!" Lucy said, turning around to shout at the pink haired mage and his Exceed friend, Haruto and Gentaro looking at the duo, Natsu really holding a golden book. A golden book with a photo of a sunset and the name Kemu Zaleon written under it. And above it, in big black letter stood the name of the book.

Day Break.

The mages and Riders stared at it, not believing it, even if they got out of their daze quite quickly.

\- "DAY BREAK ! We found it !" said Natsu and Happy joyfully while Lucy and the Riders were shocked.

\- "Is it even allowed to find the book so easily ?" wondered Gentaro while Haruto looked at the book intently. "What's the matter, man ?"

\- "I just can't get over the fact that a man can pay so much just to destroy a book. There's something we don't know about that." Said Haruto, his face scrunched by doubt. But Gentaro was probably the only one who listened to him because Natsu had already ignited his hand and was ready to burn the book. But Lucy stopped him before he could do it, the blonde apparently noticing something.

\- "W-Wait a minute !" she reached for the book, snatching it away to look closely at the author name. "This author… It's Kemu Zaleon !"

\- "Hey ! Would you look at that, she can read !" Gentaro said mockingly, Natsu and Happy snickering while Haruto simply shook his head. Lucy glared at him before turning her attention back to the book. "Very funny. But joke aside, he was a mage as well as a writer. I'm a big fan of his ! And I thought I've read all of his book. I didn't know there was an unpublished one ?"

\- "It doesn't matter. Let's burn it." Natsu said without any trace of pity in his voice while Lucy, looking at him in disbelief, was squeezing the book against her chest, as if she was trying, and it was probably the case, to protect it, saying they couldn't destroy what was basically a cultural heritage like no other in this world. Gentaro was almost laughing at the scene while Haruto was thinking about the book and the context of the mission.

\- "Natsu, I think we shouldn't destroy that book, but not because it's a cultural heritage." He said, grabbing everyone's attention. "We are asked to destroy a book for 2 million Jewels and now we learned that it was written by a mage and was never published. Maybe this book hide much more than we thought."

Those words made the other think about it, agreeing that there was a lot of mystery around that book but they weren't the only one who heard him.

\- "I see, I see. Boyoyoyoyo…" The Duke voice was heard as the ground suddenly burst open, the man jumping out of the ground. "I'm glad I allows you to do as you please. I'm a genius. Boyoyoyo ! I was wondering what all those mages were after and it was that worthless book."

The Duke landed as he finished his sentence, Lucy looking at him strangely, what he just said replaying in her mind. And she wasn't the only one since the Riders were also wondering the same thing as her.

 _"Mr Melon is offering 2 million to destroy that book, and the duke said it's worthless ? Something definitely add up."_

But as the Riders didn't go farther than that in their thinking, Lucy had a some hope for something else.

\- "I-If it's worthless, can I keep it then ?" she asked her eyes shining, the Duke shooting down her hope immediately

\- "No. Even if it's worthless, it still belong to me." The exchange was short, but it didn't made Natsu smile a bit.

\- "We just have to burn the book and we'll be done here."

\- "No ! Absolutely not !" Whined Lucy, but this time, Natsu wasn't joking.

\- "LUCY ! It's our job !" he snapped, a kinda pissed off expression on his face which was a little unusual to see for Gentaro and Haruto, but it didn't phased Lucy at all.

\- "Then at least let me read it !" she had said, opening the book and dropping to her knees in the middle of the room, shocking everyone else, dumbfounded by her stubbornness. And the Duke won't have any of it.

\- "Bull shit ! I don't like this ! How dare you touch the book that belongs to the Duke of Everlue !? Come, Vanish Brothers !"

The mention of 'Vanish Brothers' got the attention of the boys, who turner their head toward two bookshelves that were sliding sideways, revealing a hidden room were two silhouette stood, hidden in the shadow.

\- "It's finally time for business." Said a new voice.

\- "If we get paid without doing actual work, mama will get mad at us." Said another one, both coming from the silhouette who then walked out of the shadow, revealing two men.

\- "Good afternoon." Simply said the smallest of the guy. Who was bald with symbols on his face, long hair put in a braid and what looked like to be a giant pan on his back.

\- "These brats are the mages of Fairy Tail ?" asked the second and taller one, who had spiky hair and tattoos on his right arm. Both of those guys had on their arms the same mark, a wolf head on a S.

\- "This mark ? Are they mages from another guild ?" Haruto asked turning to Natsu and Happy, getting his answer from the latter.

\- "They do are from another guild, but they aren't mages." Said the cat, looking serious. "They are from the mercenary guild, Southern Wolves."

\- "If it's the same he hired each time, I guess they must be good to beat all the guys that came here for the book." Said Gentaro, already ready to fight. A stare off then began between Natsu, Happy, Gentaro and Haruto on one side and the Southern Wolves and the Duke on the other.

With Lucy in the middle, reading Day Break with not a single care in the world, which slightly annoyed the others.

\- "HEY !" they all shouted, waving an hand at Lucy who still didn't gave them any attention, which angered the wolves. "What a joke. And they claimed to be the mages of Fairy Tail ?"

\- "Vanish Brothers ! Retrieve the book at once ! And kill them !"

As the Duke ordered the brothers, Lucy suddenly began shaking, her eyes filling with realization before suddenly running off with the book.

\- "Guys ! Buy me some time !" She said as she head to the door. "This book seems to hold some kind of secret ! Let me find what it is first !" she closed the door as soon as she finished her sentence, leaving the boys behind, wondering what she was about to do.

\- "A secret ? That would explain why Mr Melon is ready to pay such a huge amount of money to destroy it and also why it seems worthless to the duke. It's because he never found about said secret." Haruto's explanation made a lot of sense, also wondering what this secret might be about. And judging by the sudden gleam in the Duke eyes, he wasn't the only one thinking about it.

\- "Change of plan ! I'll get her myself ! Vanish Brothers, obliterate those brats !" the Duke said that as he dove in the ground, going after Lucy. On the fairies side, they also decided to split up.

\- "Happy, go after Lucy, will you ?" ordered Natsu, stretching his arms. Seeing that Happy was about to protest, he added "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine on my own."

This didn't pleased the Vanish Brothers, the tall one being the most annoyed of the two, being held back by the bald one. As for Gentaro, he also had some things to say.

\- "I'll go with Happy and find Lucy. You don't mind staying here, Haruto ?" Said Fourze, already knowing the answer.

\- "No, you can go look for her. Beside, I'm sure he'll like seeing me fight." Answered Wizard, pointing at Natsu who looked at him strangely, one of her eyebrows rising. With Happy and Gentaro gone, the Dragon Slayer and Rider turned to face the Wolves who didn't looked impressed.

\- "Come on, flame mage." Said the bald one to Natsu, the latter intrigued by this statement.

\- "Hrm ? How do you know I'm a flame mage ?" he asked, Haruto also wondering.

\- "We saw everything on the surveillance crystal. The girl is a stellar spirit mage with 7 contracts judging by her keys. The cat that flies is no doubt an ability type, 'Wings'. And you who wore flames on your legs and melted the glass are obviously a fire mage. And the two others seemed to be good fighters with this one using some kind of teleportation magic."

\- "They are good observers, I'll give them that." Said Haruto, not correcting them about his true powers, leaving it to be a surprise for later.

\- "That means that you're prepared to end up charred, right ?" Added Natsu as a taunt, lighting his hand on fire, but his opponent weren't fazed by that.

\- "Unfortunately, allow me to decline." Said the small one while grabbing his pan, unsheathing it. "Because flame mages are the easiest kind of opponent for me."

While Gentaro and Happy were looking for Lucy, hoping to find her before the Duke, Natsu and Haruto stared at the mercenaries, who were standing tall and proud, looking down on them and the same thought crossed the fairies minds : they were about to show them that they should be afraid of them.

 **And that's it. But you know what that means : next time, it's battle time ! Two fight in one with a plot twist on one of them, but I'll let you see it by yourselves. See you !**

 **Next time : Two fire facing the heaven and the earth. Stars and space showdown in the sewers. The first sign of danger.**


	7. Chapter 7 : The secret of a book

**Okay guys, here we are, about to start the first real fight of this fic (because the Vulcans weren't the real deal and honestly, I didn't knew how to deal with them). I really hope you'll like it, let me know if you have any advices and ideas. Now, let's stop talking and do some writing.**

 **And before starting, just know that I'm using the Kamen Rider Wikia to get my information so you can always go check if there's something you don't get.**

 **Fairy Tail and Kamen Rider aren't mine.**

 **Here we go !**

 **Chapter 7 : Fights and secrets**

/- Everlue Mansion : Library -/

Natsu and Haruto were standing still, looking at the mercenaries from Southern Wolves, both sides ready to fight, even though the mercenaries brothers didn't seemed fazed. They even were pretty confident.

\- "It seems like the mages of Fairy Tail think they are the strongest or something." Said the one with the huge frying pan, his brother nodding next to him.

\- "It is true that we do hear a lot about you. So, we'll approve its status as a mage guild."

\- "Well, that's a nice compliment. How nice of you." Said Haruto in a laughing tone. But the Vanish Brother continued.

\- "Maybe it is, but a mage is a mage. You are no match for the professional fighters, mercenary soldiers."

\- "If you're so sure, then why don't you come and get us ? You could also both come at me at the same time, too." Taunted Natsu, the flames on his finger forming the text "Come On" and the bothers didn't liked his behavior at all.

\- "Nii-chan… He's really looking down on us…" said the taller one.

\- "I'm not !" Corrected Haruto, the Brothers looking at him with a neutral expression.

\- "Whether you're looking down on us or not, it won't change the fact that You have no chance. It should be easy business."

At that, the bald brothers ran at Haruto and Natsu, swinging his pan down on them, the two dodging, Natsu jumping while Haruto dived to the side. As Natsu was in the air, he was grabbed by the tall brother who, displaying a great strength, threw him toward a wall that Natsu broke, ending in the main hall of the building. As for Haruto, he was struck by the other brother's pan, getting thrown through the wall and land next to Natsu. Looking up, they saw the mercenaries on the balcony of the second floor, looking down on them in every sense of the word.

\- "Do you know the weak point of a mage ?" suddenly asked the bald one, Natsu feeling afraid all of a sudden.

\- "T-They can't handle transportation !?"

\- "I think it's more of a personal problem, Natsu." Said Haruto, sweat dropping, just like the Vanish Bros. Taking the question more seriously, Haruto took some time to answer. "WizarDragon"

The two mercenaries and the Dragon Slayer looked at Haruto like he was an alien and was talking in a foreign language. Natsu was the first one to broke the silence, even if he had retained half of the word.

\- "Dragon ? What do you mean ?"

\- "You already know I'm kinda special." Said Haruto, Natsu nodding. "Let's just say that I'm even more special than you might though."

\- "Tch, it doesn't matter." Said the smallest of the brother, getting back on the question he asked, giving the answer. "the weakness of a mage, is the body."

\- "The body ?"

While the fairies wondered what they meant, the mercenaries jumped down and began attacking them both, all while explaining what they meant.

\- "You cannot learn magic without training your intellect and spirit." Said the bald one while swinging down his pan at Natsu while the tall one was going after Haruto who was having trouble keeping up. "As a result, during the process of mastering magic, your body doesn't get enough training which means that compare to us who train our bodies day and night, you don't stand a single chance. That's how mages are. If they don't have their magic, they don't even have the strength of an average human being."

\- "Really ?" simply said Natsu, jumping away before standing before the fighters , sticking his tongue down. "But I don't see any of your attacks hitting me."

\- "You might have train your body better than most mages, but your friends do confirm what we're saying."

Indeed, Haruto laid on the ground, after being quite beaten up by the bigger of the two mercenaries, apparently knocked out, which made the Dragon Slayer feel sorry for him, but not only.

\- "Do you really suck that much ?" he said, disappointed while the Vanish Bros took their position and when Natsu got his attention back on them, the tall guy was standing in the frying pan. "What the hell is that, now ?"

\- "This is the technique that made us so famous. You can be confident while you can. In a few seconds, you'll be done for."

 _ **HEAVEN AND EARTH EXTINCT SLAYER ATTACK !**_

The bald guy swung his pan up, sending his brothers into the sky, Natsu naturally looking at the flying man, which was the intended effect.

\- "If you look up to the heaven, we are down here on earth !" said the bald one, hitting Natsu with a powerful blow done with his pan, Natsu setting his attention back on him, which was also part of their plan.

\- "If you look around on earth, we are up here in the heaven !"

With that, the tall brother fell on Natsu, both fist first, burying the mage into the ground, Natsu not moving anymore, the brothers back standing together, doing some kind of victory pose.

\- "This is the Vanish Brothers' united attack : HEAVEN AND EARTH EXTINCT SLAYING ATTACK ! No one has ever survived after taking this atta…"

And Natsu got up, just slightly bruise, sighing while looking at the brothers disapprovingly.

\- "Is that all you've got ?" he said, shocking both fighters who clearly weren't expecting him to survive. But it wasn't the only surprise that was waiting for them.

\- "You know, I had some doubts but now I'm sure of it." It was Haruto, still laying on his back before getting back up, bruised but in good shape, shocking the two brothers even more. "We are relying too much on our armor. It would be really a good idea to strengthen ourselves in a more general way."

\- "What the hell ? No way ! Are they really mages ?!"

\- "Well, he have a kind of magic that his apparently quite rare." Haruto said, talking about Natsu before grinning. "As for me, I'm not really a mage. I'm more of a Wizard."

 _ **DRIVER ON !**_

Putting his right hand on his hand shaped belt, the hand engraved ring he had on his middle finger shone and his hand shaped driver appeared, shocking the mages, even Natsu who was also kinda excited to know what his power really were? Haruto put his main ring on his left hand before shifting the WizarDriver position, the latter shining while a singing voice came out of it.

 _ **SHABADOOBI, TOUCH HENSHIN ! SHABADOOBI, TOUCH HENSHIN !**_

\- "Henshin !"

He then slid down the band like ornament on his ring with his right hand, making the ring look like a head before putting it above the Driver, initiating the transformation.

 _ **FLAME, PLEASE ! HI HI, HI HI HI !**_

Holding out his left arm, his ring shone red before a red magic ring appear, slowly getting closer to Haruto until it finally engulfed him, changing him into his Fire Style, shocking the mercenaries while Natsu was amazed.

\- "UHOOO ! SO COOL !"

\- "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT MAGIC ?!" shouted the brothers who felt completely lost. First a mage that survived their united attack, then another one, they thought was out of commission, woke up and displayed a type of magic never seen before.

\- "Now, it's show time."

\- "You said it, Haruto. Let me heat things up first."

 _ **FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR !**_

Natsu puffed his cheek, gathering his breath, which was something the Vanish Brothers were waiting for, if their excited face was something to judge by.

\- "Here it comes ! The fire magic !" said the tall one, probably the most excited of the two even if the other one was smiling too.

\- "This is it. My anti-flame user technique, FLAME COOKING !"

The flame all got sucked up inside the pan and got send back at Natsu. There was something they just didn't take into account. Natsu wasn't affected by fire, which surprised the brothers.

\- "WHAT ?! HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE !?"

\- "Fire doesn't work on him." Explained Wizard, shrugging his shoulder. "I did said that he wasn't like any others mages."

Natsu lunged at them, managing to grab the bald one, setting his hand ablaze.

 _ **FIRE DRAGON'S WING ATTACK !**_

He sent the small fighter flying while the other one was trying to flee, and he could have done it if it wasn't for the Wizard of the room.

EXTEND, PLEASE !

Haruto's arm stretched out and grabbed the fleeing mercenary and brought him back to the middle of the room.

\- "You know, I'm more of a fighter than you might think. Come and get me."

Not liking the taunt, the last brother standing come at Haruto who then shown what he was really made off, fighting at first evenly with the guy before slowly getting the upper hand until he was toying with the mercenary who was thrown away, stumbling and having a hard time staying up.

\- "And now, the finale."

 _ **LUPACHI MAGIC TOUCH GO ! LUPACHI MAGIC TOUCH GO !**_

 _ **CHOINE, KICK STRIKE ! SAIKO !**_

Haruto, thanks to his Kick Strike Ring, covered his legs in flames and, after some acrobatics and somersault, he was high above the ground, leg pointed at the Southern Wolves member and diving at him, the powerful strike sending the guy through the wall on the other side of the room. Now that the two threats were disposed off, Haruto disengaged his transformation and walked to Natsu who was as excited as before.

\- "Wow, your magic is so cool ! "

\- "Thanks. But now is not really the time to be amazed. We should be looking for the others."

\- "Yeah, you're right. Let's go !" at that, Natsu ran away, already running to look for his friend before stopping and running backward to where Haruto was still standing. "Hum. Do you have any idea where they are ?"

Haruto sighed through a smile, shaking his head, Natsu whining about Haruto 'mocking him', both of them not noticing that the big maid, still knocked out near them, suddenly opened her eyes.

/- Everlue Mansion – Sewer, just before the beginning of the previous fight -/

After leaving the library, Lucy had gone into hiding in the sewer of the mansion. Not the cleanest place, but she was at peace to read the book and discover what was hiding inside. Using her Gale-Force Reading Glasses she got from her book-loving friend Levy, she read the book entirely and when she finally reached the end, she was shaking. She had finally discovered what the book was hiding and she now had set her mind. She couldn't burn that book. She had to get it back to Mr Melon. But someone had other plans.

\- "Boyoyoyoyoyo… Gale-Force Reading Glasses, huh ? You really are a great reader, aren't you ?" Arms suddenly came out of the wall she was against, holding her in place, making her drop her keys in the process, the Duke head appearing next to her waist. "Now tell me, what is the secret of that book ?"

\- "You… You're pathetic. You're an enemy of literature…" seethed Lucy despite the pain she was feeling in her restrained arms.

\- "An enemy of literature ? Me ? How preposterous ! You aren't in any position to say such thing. Now, what is the secret ? Is that a treasure map ? A hidden fortune !?" Lucy managed to stay mute even if he was about to break her arms to make her talk. And his patience was wearing thin. "This is my book, you hear ?! I made Kemu Zaleon write it, so the secret of that book is mine, too ! OGHH !"

He was stopped in his rant and torture by Happy who came flying and drop kicked the duke in his elbow, making him release Lucy.

\- "Happy ! Nice, you're so cool !"

The cat grinned at the compliment, flipping through the air after his kick.

And landed in the sewage waters, killing the 'cool' vibe that lasted barely 3 seconds. Lucy just shrugged and grabbed her keys, now feeling confident, turning to the duke who got out of the wall, trying to understand what was the cat when he noticed that Lucy was ready to fight, which made him smirk too.

\- "The tables have turned. If you give me this book, I may forgive you." She said, pointing on of her key at him.

\- "Haha ! Stellar spirit magic, huh ? Anyway, you're a fan of literature, yet you're not using that phrase correctly." Said the Duke, rectifying what she said. "'The tables have turned' is something one can say when he has turned from a position of disadvantage to an advantage. And it's not a cat that will help you beat my Diver Magic !"

At that, the duke dived into the ground, literally, and rushed at Lucy, trying to get her but she managed to dodge everything. While they were fighting, they also began talking.

\- "This book. It's story's main character is you." What Lucy said shocked Happy, while the Duke answered the blonde.

\- "Indeed. It's wonderful that I'm the main character, but the story was crap ! It was written by the great Kemu Zaleon and yet he wrote such a piece of crap ! "

\- "You forced him to write it. How can you act so high and mighty ?! You threatened him to revoke his family citizenship if he didn't !"

\- "So what ? It's his fault for refusing in the first place." The duke was completely unashamed by what he was done, which infuriated Happy and Lucy. "He had the greatest honor of writing a book about me and he had the audacity to refuse. So I threatened him and made him write in a solitary cell I CRUSHED HIS PRIDE AS A DISTINGUISHED WRITER ! Now, GIVE ME THAT B…ARGH !"

Has he was about to jump on Lucy, someone jumped in the way and clotheslined him, sending him flying behind Lucy, stumbling to get up, visibly pissed.

\- "What was that, now ?!"

\- "Dude, I never knew I could meet such rotten people here." Turning to the newcomers, Lucy and Happy saw that it was Gentaro, which made Lucy and Happy happy, but annoyed the duke.

\- "Gentaro ! Where were you ?" asked Happy, who had left Natsu almost at the same time as the Rider.

\- "I got lost in the sewer. Sorry about that. I heard everything I clearly I won't be friend with that guy."

\- "You kept Zaleon prisoner for 3 years how do you think he felt in that cell !?" shouted Lucy, going back to the duke and his horrifying persona.

\- "He realized my greatness !" Smiled the Duke, rubbing his own ego and loving every seconds of it which disgusted the others.

\- "Are you really that prideful ?! How could anyone in his right mind think you're great." Said If he didn't wrote the book, his family would pay the price and if he did, he'd write the worst book of his career, something his pride would never be able to support."

\- "How do you know so many details ?" asked the Duke, clearly not expecting her to know so much, to which she answered by holding the book up, shocking the duke.

\- "It's all written in this book. If you read it in a normal way, it's nothing else than the worst book Kemu Zaleon ever wrote. But…"

\- "…He was also a mage !" suddenly said Happy, remembering what Lucy had said in the library, something the duke didn't know judging by his shocked face.

\- "Exactly. And he cast a spell on this book."

\- "Did…Did he make it so that sentences of his grudge would show up after releasing the magic !? Unforgivable !" stuttered the duke, still shocked by what he was learning, but Lucy wasn't done.

\- "Your mind is so shallow… True, it does have the process of completing the book written in it. But that is not what Kemu Zaleon wanted to leave behind in this book. The real truth is something else." She seemed so sure of herself that no one dared to counter her, even if they were all wondering what she meant by that. "That's why I won't ever give this book to you ! You don't have a right to possess this !"

At that, she grabbed one of her key, now counter-attacking.

 _ **OPEN, THE GATE TO THE CRAB : CANCER !**_

Gentaro suddenly couldn't helped but feel tense. After all, last time he saw someone called Cancer, he had materialized his soul and cut it, leaving him basically dead for a moment. But what appeared was clearly not the Cancer he knew. This one was basically a dark skinned human with a crab-claw hairstyle and scissors in each hand. The only inhuman feature about him was the crab legs he had on his back.

\- "Lucy." Began the spirit addressing his master. "What can of hair style would you like today, ebi ?"

\- "Now's not the time ! Take care of that guy !" said Lucy, pointing at the duke.

\- "EBI ?!" complained Happy.

\- "Hair style ?" Disbelievingly said Gentaro while the duke suddenly roared, looking like he had enough, and what he did shocked everyone. He pulled a golden key out of his pocket, pointing it toward the intruders.

 _ **OPEN, THE GATE TO THE VIRGIN : VIRGO !**_

\- "Eh !?" Was the general reaction and it wasn't for no reason. No one could have expected the duke to have the same kind of magic as Lucy and just as for the blonde, a spirit was summoned in a puff of light and smoke. And to add another layer of surprise…

\- "How may I help you, master ?"

\- "Virgo ! Retrieve that book at once !" ordered the Duke while the guy

…The spirit was none other than the huge maid from before, appearing in front of them.

\- "What ? She is a spirit too ?" said Happy, as shocked as everyone else, even if Lucy was also feeling bad about it.

\- "That's not good. If they attack together, I won't be able to stop them both." She said with sweat trickling down her temple, turning to Gentaro. "Aren't you supposed to be a fighter ? Help us ! Do something !"

\- "Well, I'd like to, but I'm not feeling fighting real people." Answered the Rider, because if he already fought human, it was human transformed into monsters, not really human then.

\- "We Stellar Spirit can't really die. If we 'die', we are just send back to our world." Explained Cancer, who felt like he had to do some explanation, Gentaro smiling at that, while the Duke and his spirit ran at them but as the they were about to reach them, Gentaro jumped at Cancer, Lucy and Happy, pushed them aside as the maid and her master crashed on where they were standing a few seconds ago.

\- "Why did you also pushed me aside ?" Asked Cancer, surprised since he wasn't used to be protected. "I'm meant to protect my master and not being saved ?"

\- "Hey, it's normal to protect my friends. And if you're Lucy's friend, then you're mine too." Saying this with a huge smile, it also made the group smile, liking his way of thinking while the duke, standing a few feet away, just huffed in annoyance.

\- "Friends ? It's just a waste of time. There's nothing to get out of such a waste of time."

\- "I didn't though you'd be able to understand how great friends are. But as for me, friends aren't just that." As he said that, he grabbed his Driver, showing it to everyone. "… They are the source of my strength."

Putting his Driver on his waist, he pulled the four Transwitches down before grabbing the lever, taking his usual transformation pose, the device doing a countdown.

 _ **3 ! 2 ! 1 !**_

"Henshin ! "

Pulling the lever and looking up, a hand pointed at the sky, he finally was transformed, surrounded by a layer of smoke that quickly disappeared, revealing his transformed self, clad in his white armor, much to the shock of the mages and spirit present.

\- "Uchuuuuu Kitaaaaaa ! Kamen Rider Fourze. Let's settle this man-to-man ! "

\- "What ? What is that ? What kind of mage are you ?" said the duke, shocked by what he just witnessed while Lucy was looking at the Rider with a much contemplative look.

\- "So this is what you look like in your armor ? It's quite nice."

\- "Tch. No matter what you're doing, you won't stop us with a flashy armor ! Virgo !" At that, the duke dived into the ground with the maid, but Fourze had other plan.

\- "Sorry but I'm not letting you do as you please." Said the rider, placing his Schop Switch in the Driver and switching it on.

 _ **SCHOP ! SCHOP ON !**_

Under Lucy and Happy's amazed eyes, the Schop Module appeared on his right arm, which Fourze used to dig into the ground fast and after a quick excavation, he had forced the duke and Virgo out of the ground, much to everyone surprise, and anger for the Duke.

\- "Who do you think you are, destroying my property ? I'll…"

\- "Do nothing." Interrupted the Rider. "Will you stop thinking about yourself ? It's starting to get annoying."

\- "Grrr ! You little disrespectful youth ! Virgo ! Make him pay his disrespect !"

But as the two were dialoguing, Gentaro had grabbed another Switch that he set in his Driver, instead of his Launcher Switch, which he activate immediately, just before Virgo began rushing at him.

 _ **BEAT ON !**_

The small subwoofer appeared and the sound wave stopped the spirit, and the duke as well, the soundwave forcing them to cover their hear, without any success. The sound waves was so powerful that even Happy and Lucy had to cover their ears even if they weren't the target. Even after Gentaro had stopped the Beat, the two opponent were still busy nursing their ears, which gave some time to Gentaro who grabbed another Switch.

\- "Lucy, I'll take care of the maid. You take care of the Duke." He said, deactivating Beat and activating two others.

\- "Alright." She said, grabbing her whip.

 _ **ROCKET ON ! DRILL ON !**_

Gentaro, now wearing his two modules, was about to do a Limit Break, but he hesitate. It might be a spirit, but the idea of drilling through a human looking being wasn't that appealing. So he decided to use something else, trying a combo he never tried before. And for that, he deactivate Drill, and replace Beat with another Switch.

 _ **GIANTFOOT ! GIANTFOOT ON !**_

Now wearing the Giantfoot Module, he took off with the Rocket Module and once he was in the air, he pulled the lever of his driver, initiating his final attack. Meanwhile, Lucy had thrown her whip at the Duke, wrapping it around his neck.

\- "Now you can't escape underneath the ground anymore !" She then pulled on the whip, sending the guy flying toward Cancer, who was waiting for the moment to attack. "You shouldn't be more than a supporting character !"

 _ **ROCKET GIANTFOOT LIMIT BREAK !**_

Just as Cancer struck the duke with his scissors, making him go unconscious and bald, Fourze propelled himself with the rocket, right foot extended toward the main, a giant mirage version of Giantfoot appearing around his foot, which struck Virgo who, despite her size, was crushed under the foot, the spirit disappearing a short while after being rendered unconscious by the attack.

\- "Hey, are you guys alright ?"

Turning their head, the Rider, mage, spirit and Exceed saw Natsu and Haruto heading their way, Haruto still transformed, Natsu running straight to the other Rider. "Wow, is that you Gentaro ? Your armor is cool !"

\- "Thank you." He said before turning to Haruto, Natsu going to Lucy and Happy. "How did it goes with the two dude upstairs ?"

\- "Quite good, even if they did had a great teamwork." Simply answered the wizard as they both undo their transformation, heading to the group. "So, do we really have to destroy that book ?"

\- "No we can't." Said Lucy. "As I said a little before, Kemu Zaleon was a mage as well as a writer and hide something in this book. Mr Melon have to see it."

\- "If you're so sure, I guess we can wait to show it to him. Let's go." As Natsu said That, they left the mansion, heading back to the Melon residence. When they reached the place, they got in by the rear entrance, just like before. But when they came face to face with Kaby, he was clearly not expecting to see the book.

\- "Wh-what are you doing ?" he asked to Lucy who was handing him the book. "If I remember correctly, I asked you to destroy it."

\- "It's not that hard to destroy. You can od it yourself, Kaby-san." Answered Lucy, making Kaby snatch the book away from her hands, but before he could say or do something he might regret, Lucy continued and said something that stopped him. "I know why you cannot tolerate the existence of that book. You're Kemu Zaleon's son, aren't you ?"

\- "So that's why you knew about that unpublished book. Did you ever read it ?" asked Haruto, the others too busy getting over their shock after learning that he was the author son.

\- "I've only heard about it, but it would be a waste of time to read it. My father told me that it was a piece of trash…"

\- "So that's why you're going to burn it ?" The question came from Natsu who was ready to pounce on Kaby in anger if he hadn't been stopped by Lucy, Happy and Gentaro.

\- "Natsu calm down ! It's to protect his pride !" said the space Rider, Kaby confirming that.

\- "Yes, my father was ashamed to have written 'Day Break'. 31 years ago, came home after 3 years. I didn't had any time to ask him where he was that he talked about quiting being a writer and cutting his own arm off." The revelation came like a bomb on the Riders and mages. "When he was in the hospital, I told him that I was right about him regretting writing such a book. He abandoined his family for three years just to write the worst book in the history. I said harsh things to him and after that, he committed suicide. I hated him even after his death but as time passed by, I came to regret those words. If I didn't said those rude things, he wouldn't have committed suicide. That's why I want that book to be destroyed. Only with this atonement can he regain his pride as a writer." Ending his monologue, his lit a match that he was about to burn the book with. "Now my father will…"

\- "WAIT !"

But as soon as Lucy's shout echoed through the room, the golden book began shining, a feat that shocked everyone, except for Lucy who knew what was going on, as the letter of the title left the book, shuffling on the air.

\- "What the… The letters are floating ?!" shouted Happy in shock.

\- "What is that ? Pen Switch with extra steps ?" Gentaro said aloud, making Haruto shake his head at the unneeded comment.

\- "Zekua Melon, under the alias of Kemu Zaleon, casted a spell onto this book." The letters finally stopped shuffling, settling back on the cover, the title gone from 'Day Break' to 'Dear Kaby' as the book slowly opened, each page glowing with the same light. "He casted a spell that shuffled the characters in the book. Including the content and everything else."

The book was now completely open, the letter floating out of the book, the letters going from one place to another, changing every sentence and at the same time the content of the book. The Riders were amazed by the show, just like Happy and Natsu who occasionally played with the letters who kept doing what they were supposed to do despite the disturbance.

\- "The reason he suit being a writer was not only because he wrote the worst book in existence…" Explained Lucy, keeping up with the explanation. "But probably because he also wrote the best book in existence, the best book, which contains letters to Kaby-san." By the time the explanation was done, the letters were all back in the book, Kaby grabbing it with shaky hand, going quickly through the page, his eyes watering with a small smile.

\- "I never… really… understood him…" he said, his voice broken by the emotion.

\- "Of course." Answered Lucy with a kind smile. "If you understand how a writer's mind works, you'll lose all the pleasure in reading a book." The last comment made everyone smile, the tension and stress now long gone with Kaby not wanting to destroy the book.

\- "Then we don't need the reward, either." Had said Natsu sheepishly, which surprised the Melon family and Lucy, but not the Riders who explained to the dumfounded.

\- "Well, the job said we had to destroy a book and we didn't succeed so, why should we be paid ?" said Gentaro, shrugging to which the Melon tried to say otherwise.

\- "N-No, but… we can't do it that way…" they said, apparently embarrassed that they were ask not to pay them for helping.

\- "He's right…" said Lucy, also trying to convince the guy. "It's his generosity. Let's just accept it."

\- "After such nice and good words, is that greed I'm feeling in that body ? A shame, Lucy." Said Haruto, to which the blonde counter, stating that it was different. "And beside, can they really pay so much money ?" At that, Lucy looked at him like she didn't understood while the husband and wife looked suddenly tensed. "It's not even their real house. Just after we left this place, I had doubt about them so I used this." A small red flying machine-looking animal came flying, hovering next to Haruto. "I had him search everywhere in the house and there was not a single photo of them anywhere, but there were photos of another couple. Friends of yours I presume ?"

\- "I guess they had to look like people that could pay so much money." Said Gentaro after the couple nodded their head at what Haruto had said. "Well, we've got nothing to do here anymore. Let's head home !" He was already walking away with the others boys, Lucy running after them while crying about the money, whining about being able to pay her rent.

/- Later, on their way home -/

The group was casually walking along a dirt path, heading back to Magnolia, with a still complaining Lucy walking with her shoulder slumped nest to the boys.

\- "Stop sighing Lucy. It's starting to get annoying." Said Happy, earning himself a glare from the blonde.

\- "I know. But I'd love to get that money, it would have paid so many month of my rent." She sighed, thinking about the money but she also had reason to be proud.

\- "Hey, you may have not win the money, but you allowed a father pride to be recovered and a son to make peace with him. That's the greatest reward one could get, no ?" Said Haruto, which made the girl smile a little, remembering Kaby's face.

\- "He's right. You had your mind set on something and you fought for it. You're a true mage of Fairy Tail." What Natsu had said made Lucy slightly blushed, which was kind of understandable. She had been recognized by one of the most famous mages of the guild. Her smile back, she thought about the Melon family.

\- "Zekua Melon. A mage and writer so strong that his magic survived for 30 years. And since he was a part of a guild in his youth, he wrote a book about the adventures he experienced back then. I yearn for him." Without knowing it, she had just confirmed something that Natsu had some doubt about, and judging by his face, he had gone full teasing mode.

\- "I knew it…" Lucy looked at his shit eating grin without understanding. "What you were trying to hide back in your home.. It's a story you wrote, right."

Lucy had gone from straight face to shock and was now blushing in embarrassment.

\- "Oh. That does explain many thing. Is it ready ?" Asked Haruto interested in that development.

\- "NO ! And I'm not that good at it yet. Don't tell anyone about it, it's embarrassing !"

\- "Don't worry." Said Happy. "No one will read it."

\- "That's make me kind of sad, too !" she cried, running after the cat in front of a laughing Natsu and smiling Riders who were thinking the same thing. They didn't know how much they'll stay in this world, but they'll love spending time with those guys.

 **And here's for the Everlue Arc. I hope you liked it. If you have any comment or advice, please let me know by PMing me or leaving a review, I'll read each one of them. I know that the fight with Wizard wasn't that great, but I'll do better with his next. See you next time !**

 **Next time : The return of the knight. The making of a new team. Objective : Eisenwald.**


	8. Chapter 8 : The return of the knight

**Hello ! How are you guys ? I'm really happy to be here to give you this chapter. I often have doubt about whether or not my fic is going to work, but when I see the chart and the pike every time I'm posting a new chapter, it gives me reason to keep up and I love that feeling ! Well, enough chit-chat, let's get down to business !**

 **Chapter 8 : The Knight return**

A few days after returning from the Everlue job, everything was nice and calm in the guild, much to the joy of everyone. Haruto, Gentaro and Sento were sitting at a table, going through many newspaper. They still had no clue about where Shocker was and they were going through every article possible in hope of finding anything that could lead them to their enemies. But they still hadn't found anything useful. They weren't only looking at the newspaper. Emu was standing beside Lucy in front of the request board, looking for a job. Well, Lucy was looking for a job, that she really needed since she hadn't been paid after the last mission. Since the Riders had finished the repairing of their house/HQ, they weren't really in need of money for now but maybe someone had send a request about something that was caused by Shocker, but Emu hadn't found anything. There was two Riders left that weren't in the guild for now. Shinnosuke and Kouta were back in their home and were busy discussing, yes discussing, with the Shift car. Well, Shinnosuke was doing the talk, Kouta acting more or less like a mediator. That's how the Riders explained their absences to the mages who didn't asked for more explanation, even if they were a lot of them, like Natsu, who thought they were crazy : but then again, they weren't from their world, so they let it slide. But let's focus on the Request board and the ones in front of it.

\- "Hrmm… 'Search for a magic bracelet'…'Remove spell from a cursed stick'… 'Fortune telling love with astrology !?'…'Exterminating a devil on a volcano ?!' " Lucy was really amazed by the diversity of the request, something Emu shared.

\- "There's really many types of requests. I guess there are jobs for every kind of mages." Said the doctor, looking at the jobs, Nav and Warren also looking for jobs standing next to him. He sighed, not a single jobs looked like they could lead us to Shocker.

\- "If you find anything you'd like to do, let me know." Said Mirajane from behind the bar. "Since master's not here right now, I'll take care of those thing."

Emu and Lucy turned their head to the bar where indeed, the master was nowhere to be found. It also grabbed Sento's attention who left the newspapers reader.

\- "I do wonder where he is. Is he sick ?"

\- "No, he has to attend the regular meeting, so he'll be out for a while." Said Mirajane, intriguing the blonde mage and scientist.

\- "Regular meeting ?" Repeated Lucy, wondering what it was.

\- "It's a meeting where guild masters from different provinces come to report about their guilds."

\- "Provinces, huh ? Seems interesting. Is there some kind of hierarchy ?" asked Sento, Mirajane grabbing a pen from Reedus and used it to literally write in the air with it, grabbing Gentaro's attention.

\- "Hey ! It's just like my Pen Switch !" he said, almost jumping on the counter to look at the pen, comparing it to the Switch he had in his hands. Emu pulled him away but it only made Mirajane smile has she kept drawing until she finished the schema describing how the guild system works, which interested the Riders.

\- "The ten council members who have connections to the government hold the highest position in the mage world. They exist to protect the order in the mage world. They also judge mages who commit crimes." Mirajane paused to take a breath and continue. "Guild masters are right underneath them. Their job is to smoothen communication between guilds in every province and to notify the guild members about council decisions as well as bringing them together."

\- "It seems like a hard job. He really have a lot of responsibility, then." Said Sento while Emu was thinking about something else.

\- "Smoothen communication between guild, uh ? It seems like something important."

\- "And it is. If you neglect these relation then… you know."

Mira mysterious tone made the listeners suspicious. And someone took advantage of that, appearing sneakily behind Lucy, talking in a shaky and threatening voice.

\- "People from the darkness will come to get you."

\- "Hieek !" Lucy shrieked, jumping away from Natsu who laughed like a child that he managed to scare her. Emu and Sento smiled while shaking their head, Mirajane laughing slightly.

\- "He might have meant it as a joke, but Natsu is right about this darkness." The Riders frown at that as she continued. "We call whatever guild that doesn't belong to the league a Dark Guild. They don't follow the law and accept jobs such as killing and kidnapping. All of them are full of criminals or people who were fired from others guild because they committed crimes. One of the mission of the council is to find those guild and stop them."

The Riders frown even more and looked at each other. If those Dark Guild were as bad as they seemed, they could easily be used as local allies by Shocker. They'll have to keep an eye on that.

\- "Either way, why don't you choose a job already ?" said Natsu, going back to the first subject, the jobs.

\- "We chose one without consulting you last time, so it's your turn to pick, Lucy." Added Happy, flying next to Natsu. Lucy just turned away from the two with a huff, having already decided on something else than a job.

\- "Don't joke around ! We're splitting up."

Natsu and Happy just looked at her almost silently, not saying much more than 'Why ?' and it was Emu who answered.

\- "Is it that surprising ? She thought you wanted to be a team but in the end, you only needed a blonde. I'm sure that meant any blonde girls who have been enough for you."

\- "What are you talking about ? you're right though." Answered Natsu with a straight face, making Lucy shout at him but the guys ignored her as the Dragon Slayer kept on, this time with a toothy grin on his face. "Though, we chose Lucy to be in the team because you're a nice person."

This made Lucy blush slightly, even if she tried to look like she was still mad at him, but she fooled no one.

\- "You don't have to force yourself to team up with anyone." A new person had entered the conversation. It was Gray Fullbuster, another mage of the guild, sitting at a table next to the ever so shining Loki. "I heard that you did an excellent job last time. I bet you'll get plenty of recruitment offers. You defeated two mages from the mercenary guild Southern Wolves and a gorilla-like woman, right ?"

\- "Apparently, they didn't got all the information about what happened." Said Gentaro, to which Natsu added by going face to face with Gray.

\- "It was all me, ice prick."

\- "It really was you, bastard !?" said Gray, grabbing Natsu by the scarf, Natsu answering the provocation. Mirajane, as stoic and smiling about the incoming fight as ever, just looked at the scene.

\- "Gray, your clothes. Really, what are you trying to do ? Get sick ?" Emu said, Gray freaking out when he realized that, indeed, he was only wearing his underwear, Natsu adding oil to the fire, which led to yet another brawl between the two. Emu just sighed. As a doctor, he didn't like people getting hurt and seeing those two was like guessing to see which one will need first aid. But he was used to that now. As for Loki , he never paid any mind to all that ruckus, focusing on a weirded out Lucy. He had played his usual ladies-man act but Lucy didn't took the bait. The Riders, who all had a hard time supporting a guy being that insistent on a girl, would have made him stop if he hadn't by himself. As he looked down, he saw Lucy's key ring with her gold and silver key, his eyes widening instantly before taking a step back.

\- "Wooooh ! Y-You're a stellar spirit mage ?!" he asked, Emu looking at his reaction like Lucy and his riders colleagues, with incomprehension. "What a quirk of fate ! Sorry, but this is the end of us !" he finally said, running away to the door, leaving a sweat dropping Lucy behind as well as a group of suspicious Riders.

\- "What just happened ?" asked Lucy, not understanding why Loke behaved like that.

\- "Loki isn't very good at dealing with stellar spirit mages." Explained Mirajane and while Lucy said it probably implied a girl, the Riders were thinking the same thing.

 _"What is he hiding ?"_

The Riders looked at where Loki had ran off for a moment before going back to what they were doing, Emu trying to get Natsu and Gray to stop fighting like the children they probably were deep inside, but to no avail. But a few seconds later, Loki ran back inside the guild, people wondering what he was doing when they saw his face, sweating bullets and looking like he had just seen a ghost, when he finally stopped , he was standing a few feet away from Natsu and Gray who were still wrestling around, almost knocking Emu out as the doctor was still trying to stop them.

\- "Shit, Gray ! Natsu !" The two rivals stopped, without letting go of the other, turning to Loki with a scowl on their face and muttering a 'Uh ?', as if Loki had just disrupted an important meeting, but the glasses wearing mage brush that behavior away. "Erza is back !"

As if by magic, Nastu and Gray were instantly covered in sweats, eyes wide and mouth opening in a powerful 'WHAT ?' that seemed to carry surprise and …. Fear ? The Riders wondered who this Erza was but judging by how everyone was reacting, shaking to their core and sweating heavily in what looked like to be fear, it has to be one hell of fearsome man.

Oops, let's go back in time a little. Not a fearsome guy, but a beautiful young woman.

Indeed, the one who came through the door was a beautiful young woman who seemed to be around the same age as Natsu and Gray with long scarlet hair and brown eyes. She was beautiful and could have been perceived as a delicate flower. Except this flower was wearing an armor on the upper-part of her body, a blue skirt reaching just above her knees and long black boot reaching just below her knees, seemed to scare the hell out of everyone and was carrying what looked like a huge horn with one arm like a server would carry his tray. The Riders look at her with wide eyes, staying quiet as the newcomer stopped in the middle of the hall.

\- "I'm back." She said, putting the horn, that was decorated, by the way, on the ground. "Is master present at the moment ?"

\- "Welcome back !" Welcomed Mirajane who was the only one that didn't seemed fazed by Erza. "He's not here, he's attending the regular meeting."

\- "Hum, Erza-san. What is that… humongous thing ?" asked a guild member, gesturing toward the huge horn next to the redhead.

\- "Oh, that. The local townspeople decorated the horn of the demon that I subdued… It was so pretty that I brought it back as a souvenir… Will it be a nuisance ?"

The question was immediately followed by a chorus of unsure 'Not at all !', 'Of course not !' and other comment like that. Gentaro, without looking away from the redhead, got closer to Emu.

\- "Why do I feel like they won't go against her whim very often ?" whispered the teacher to the doctor, who nod his head, understanding what he meant by that. Sento, on the other side, was looking at the horn. Back when he and Shinnosuke had helped Natsu and Lucy with the Vulcan, the Dragon Slayer and stellar spirit mage had quite a hard time against the beast, and you could fit 3 Vulcans inside that horn. The physicist could only guess what the demon that once wore that horn looked like, but it clearly wasn't your run of the mill monster. Meaning that girl was probably really strong. Speaking of said girl, she took a step, now frowning, like she was about to punish someone.

\- "Anyway, I heard you've been causing trouble again. Even if master forgive you, I won't." Now the Riders knew what she was here : an authority figure. "Kana" she began with the heavy-drinker who was sitting on a table that stopped moving now shaking in fear more than ever before, with a barrel a few centimeters away from her face. " That's an inappropriate drinking posture." After that, she went to make remarks on many mages one after the others, each one of them cowering in response. "Vijeeter, if you're going to dance, do it outside. Wakaba, your cigarette butts are all over the floor. Nav, are you still hanging around the request board ? Just pick one already. *Sigh* You guys give me so much trouble. I won't say anything for today."

That last statement made the riders and Lucy look at her with a slight surprise but also with a little disbelieving glare, thinking that if this what it was when she said nothing, what could it be like when she did had something to say.

\- "What is she ? A disciplinary enforcer or something ?" asked Lucy, feeling more and more like the others about the red head.

\- "I feel like I'm back in the day, when Yuta take control of the school." Muttered Gentaro to which Sento laughed a little as Erza turned to Happy who was floating to be eye level with the strict red head.

\- "By the way, are Natsu and Gray here ?" she asked, Happy answering with an 'Aye' while gesturing toward both mages who made the Riders and Lucy almost jump in shock by the way they were acting. They were next to each other, an arm passed around each other's neck and holding their other hands together, in what looked like a friendly posture, even if they were smiling awkwardly, shaking and sweating heavily.

\- "H-Hey, Erza…" began Gray, smiling dumbly, trying to act all nice. "W*We're b-being good t-t-to each other… as always."

\- "Aye" was what Natsu simply said, as if he turned into Happy now that Erza was standing in front of him.

\- "How can someone have so much influence on somebody like that ?" had asked Emu, amazed by the complete change in attitude by the two trouble maker, Mirajane providing them with an explanation.

\- "They are both scared of Erza. Natsu picked a fight with her before and got beaten up. She beaten up Gray for walking around naked and Loki nearly got himself killed when he tried to hit on her."

The Riders and the blonde mage were amazed by that but someone among them had something else in his mind and was about to do something about it.

\- "Phew, you need to chill out and let people be and do what they want. That's how friend should behave between each other." Said Gentaro, walking to stand next to Erza, stressing out his sentence by slapping Erza's back in a friendly manner. And that made every mage present's eyes widen, looking at Gentaro as if he had just asked to be put in a grave.

In his whole life, Gentaro had spent the bigger part of his time trying to make friend with everyone. And of course, it had led him to often met with harsh people who had insulted him or brushed him and his desire to become friend away. But for the first time in his life, Gentaro was regretting acting like he always did. And it might probably be because it was also the first time someone had put a sword under his throat.

\- "Who the hell do you think you are ? And who are you ?" Erza's voice was now harder than steel has she looked like she was about to cut his head off.

\- "Gentaro Kisaragi ! The guy who will be friend with everybody !" he had said his usual catchphrase far faster than usually and without taping his fist against his chest like he always did, proof that he clearly wasn't feeling good right now. Erza narrowed her eyes, looking around her and finding many others faces before going back on Gentaro, withdrawing her sword but still looking at the new faces attentively.

\- "I see. If you're new members, I guess I can at least let it slide for now. But you won't ever touch until I've deemed you worth of that guild, is that clear ?"

\- "Crystal, sir ! I mean ma'am ! I swear to you, in the name of my group, nothing will ever get out of hand with us ! I swear it !" The others Riders exchanged glances, feeling like he might have promised a little too much. But never would have been able to guess that this promise was about to be broken sooner than they thought.

\- "STOP ! COME BACK HERE !" said a voice, coming from the small broom closet in the back of the guild, along with some kind of buzzing noises.

\- "KOUTA ! DON'T LET THEM GO THROUGH THE DOOR !" said another voice, the two being now identified as Kouta and Shinnosuke respectively, the others Riders now sweating in fear of what might happen. And alas, what they feared became reality.

The closet door suddenly burst open by Kouta who looked he was pushed through the door by a battering ram. Or many really small one since all of the Shift Cars began invading the hall, racing everywhere, passing on the tables, slaloming between the plates and glasses, drifting on the stone ground, their honks and light making them looked like huge and noisy fireflies on acids. The mages knew what those were but were still shocked since they've almost never saw them. As for Erza, she was awestruck, not moving an inch, even to look at Shinnosuke who had just got out of the closet and now looked at the Shift Cars with a sigh of defeat.

\- "If I knew they be so difficult, I would have asked to stay home instead of coming in this world."

\- "I did warn you that making them stay in that basement wasn't a good idea and that at some point, they'd want to expand their 'playground', Shinnosuke." Wisely reminded Belt but as he 'looked' around, he realized that someone was missing.

Kouta was still running everywhere, trying to grab and stop the capricious Shift Cars, without any success yet. He was so focused in chasing the Formula trio, Mantarn, Jacky and Spanner, that he didn't noticed Justice Hunter passing by his feet, the cars barrier appearing and caused him to stumble forward, straight into an Erza still paralyzed by everything that was happening, sending both of them crash to the ground. After that and a shout from Belt, the Shift Cars all came to a stop on the bar. It was only then that Kouta tried to get up and finally noticed the person he had just tackled down, the redhead looking at him dangerously, everyone bar Shinnosuke thought that this was the end of the Rider. Erza's first reaction was to kick one of her legs up, kicking Kouta in the balls, making him roll to the side, clutching his family jewels as the mage got up, instantly looking at Gentaro.

\- "Nothing will ever get out of hand, you said ?" Gentaro just shrugged his shoulder sheepishly, making Erza sigh before turning to look at Natsu and Gray who had tried to sneak away, hoping she might have forgotten them for now. "Anyway, I have a favor to ask both of you." Natsu and Gray tensed at that, but listened to her anyway. "I heard something troubling at work. I usually would consult master about this, but I regard this matter as urgent, so… I need your help. You'll come with me, right ?"

This shocked everyone more than anything else, looking at Erza like she had suddenly sprouted another head. Apparently, no one was expecting Erza to ever ask for help. This had to be something huge if she required Natsu and Gray's assistance.

\- "We'll leave tomorrow. Prepare yourself. I'll tell you about the details on the way." She then left, not leaving any other choices to the boys but to accept even though they clearly had things to say to that. The Riders felt that whatever she was asking help for might be huge, but as they were about to devise on what to do, they saw Mirajane who, for the first time ever since they became Fairy Tail mages, was shaking and genuinely shocked.

\- "Erza… Natsu… and Gray… I've never imagined this, but… This might be the strongest team in Fairy Tail."

Lucy and the Riders and barely the time to understand what that meant that Erza had come back inside the guild, heading straight to the Riders.

\- "I don't know who you all are, but you'd better stay out of trouble. If I come back and learn you've act like you own the place again, you'll taste worse than my feet on your genitals. Is that clear ?"

\- "… Is that what it looked like to her ?" said Kouta, referring to his little stunt with her as she was walking away.

\- "You know, I wonder what it would look like for you to fight with her. With all your armors and all." No one knew if Happy had said that with a purpose or innocently, but it did grabbed Erza's attention who almost teleported back into Kouta's face.

\- "In fact, I think it would be a good idea to see what you can do. So you better be at the train station tomorrow with the others." And now, she walked out of the guild for good, leaving a dumbstruck Kouta forcing his head to the side to look at Happy with a glare. But he did nothing, just heaving a sigh. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

/- The following morning -/

The train station was bustling with activity as usual, people coming and going minding their own business and trying to avoid as much as they could a couple of guy fighting on the platform. Or were they ? It was kind of hard to say.

\- "Why does that monster Erza need our help ?" asked Natsu, teeth grinding, glaring at Gray.

\- "How would I know ?" Answered Gray in the same state as Natsu, glaring at the pinkette. "Besides, if she does need 'help', I alone would be sufficient." And now, they were brawling, knocking down crates and spilling their contents on the floor under the shocked eyes of the scared passerby.

\- "You are causing trouble ! Just shut up !" Shouted Lucy, gaining the boys attention, Kouta adding a comment of his own.

\- "Are you ever going to stop fight like kids ?"

The two mages stopped their bickering to turn at the ones accompanying them, even if Lucy wasn't invited by Erza, which made them wondered why she was here.

\- "Why are you here anyway ?" asked Natsu.

\- "Because Mira-san asked me to. She said you guys might need a mediator, so I'll come." As fi the gy didn't listened to her, they began bickering again but this time, Lucy had something up her sleeves. "Ah ! Erza-san, this way !"

This made the two boys do a complete 180 and act all buddy-buddy with each other much to Lucy's own little fun. And the guys realized they were fooled. Which they clearly didn't liked. But they just let it slide, feeling their fear of working with Erza coming back, stressed out by the fact that they didn't knew what that job was about.

\- "Sorry, I'm a little late. Did I make you wait ?"

Speaking about the devil, Erza finally arrived, walking to the group while dragging a trolley were a real pyramid made of so many luggage it gave the impression that she had packed everything she owned, shocking Kouta and Lucy. Talking about the blonde, Erza came to a stop, turning to look at her.

\- "Hrmm ? I saw you in Fairy Tail, yesterday…"

\- "I'm a new member, Lucy." Lucy introduced herself with a respectful bow. It'd be better to do a nice first impression after yesterday's Riders fiasco. "Mira-san asked me to tag along. I'll try to be useful."

\- "I'm Erza. Nice to meet you. So you're the one that I heard talking about in the guild. I heard you defeated a mercenary gorilla… You're very promising."

\- "Is it a tradition in that guild to twist the facts ?" Kouta said that without thinking, Erza glaring at him, the Rider gulping in fear. "I mean, Natsu did most of the work in those jobs. But she does have talent." He finished, Erza still glaring at him, her eyes switching between Kouta and Lucy before alternatively pointing at each one of them.

\- "Hrmm. Are you part of the same group or ... ?"

\- "No, she's not."

The group knew the voice who answered Erza but were surprised to ear it here. Turning to the source, they indeed saw Sento, with Emu by his side, walking up to them.

\- "Sento ? Emu ? What are you doing here ?" Asked Kouta, taken aback by his comrades sudden appearance.

\- "We would like to join you on that job." Simply said Sento before explaining more. "You seemed like a very interesting subject so I did some research about the horn you came back with. According to what I found, it belongs to a beast powerful enough to level a city the size of Magnolia without breaking a sweat. And yet, you beat it alone and without suffering any really dangerous injuries. That do say a lot about your power. And yet, you asked for help to take care of something. So I conclude that it had to be a really serious and risky matter, risky enough to seek help from two powerful mages, according to the guild."

The mages looked at the scientist with wide eyes, for the most part surprised that he had talked about Erza as if she was some kind of scientific mystery waiting to be solved. Kouta and Emu however weren't reacting, barely rolling their eyes, used to Sento's habit of doing research about anything he found interesting enough, even if it was a human being.

\- "Did … did you really thought about that ?" asked Lucy, still half-dazed.

\- "Why yes. I'm amazing, right ? I'm the best ! I'm a genius !"

Lucy sweat-dropped seeing Sento rubbing his own ego, Kouta and Emu shaking their head as if to tell her that she shouldn't took that too seriously and just let him be for now.

\- "So you came to help us ?" asked Gray after shaking himself out of the daze Sento had sent him. "Why ? Did you think it could be too much for us ?"

\- "No, not at all." Answered Emu, answering to make sure that they didn't misunderstand their reason to come here. "It's just that we told ourselves that, if this was that dangerous, maybe it could come from our world. So we have to check that just in case."

The mages just nodded, understanding the reason. Except for Erza who seemed lost by what had been said.

\- "Wait, your world ? What do you mean ?"

\- "We will explain everything once in the train. We should already be on board, it's about to leave."

Erza simply nod, eyeing the Riders suspiciously, but doing as suggested, boarding the train who was about to leave, dragging an already nauseous Natsu with them.

/- Meanwhile -/

In a forest made of sinister looking tree stood a building that looked like some kind of rundown church. The building could have been seen as empty, but many people were actually inside the building that was far more better on the inside, even if still giving off a creepy vibe.

\- "Which guild is that woman from ?" asked someone.

\- "Dunno." Simply answered another one.

\- "She's gorgeous. Damn, I should've made a move on her." Responded the first one.

\- "You wouldn't stand a chance." Simply stated the second one.

\- "Is Kageyama back yet ?" asked another one, not paying any attention to the first two who were bickering. "It's not an easy task to break that thing seal, so it can't be helped."

\- "Don't be hesitant. Now is our chance." Said a fourth guy, a lean and tall man with silver hair held pointing at the sky on the top of his head, but falling on his face on the front. Topless, he was wearing tattoos under his eyes and on his shoulder, torso and belly, he was wielding a nasty looking scythe that was actually on his shoulder, blade pointing upward. "Now, it's time to go and do as planned. And if anyone happen to come and try to stop us…" he turned to a corner of the room. "… We will have something to take care of the bugs." Out od the shadow walked two silhouettes, red eyes shining in the dark, followed by many others pairs of eyes, still hidden by the shadow where they could be heard giving out their battle cry.

\- "Yee !"

 **And that's 8 ! I hope you enjoyed it. Now Erza is here and we are about to go down against Erigor and Eisenwald. What about the shadowy guy Erigor have by his side ? I think you already have an idea about what it is, right ?**

 **I would like you all to know that I've put my main fic on hold, to give me some time gathering idea for the second part, so I'll have more time to work on this fic.**

 **I hope you liked that chapter, don't hesitate to leave a comment, a review or a PM if you have any kind of remarks, I'll take them all into consideration.**

 **See ya !**

 **Next time : What is Eisenwald planning ? The threat of Lullaby. The monsters of Ochibana Station.**


	9. Chapter 9 : The battle of Ochibana

**Hello ! How are you all, guys ? I really hope you are all well and healthy. With one week (when I start writing this chapter) left before Christmas, I'm sure you all have a lot of things to do, probably getting stressed about the gifts and meals to plan and prepare, so I'm here to provide you with a way to, at least for some time, forget everything and take some time for yourself. I'll just take a few seconds to remind you that I'm not the owner of Kamen Rider, nor Fairy Tail and now, let's go !**

 **Chapter 9 : The battle of Ochibana Station.**

At first, the Riders so that boarding the train would be a real nightmare with Natsu and Erza's mountain of luggage. But it wasn't and for one good reason : Erza.

The train station staff were clearly motivated at first to prevent all those luggage from being boarded. At first, that is. Because even if she didn't shouted or show real anger, her aura was so intimidating that they didn't question it any further and did as Erza had nicely suggested and put the luggage in one of the cars. As for Natsu, he boarded the train by himself, the sheer strength of his fear for the redhead enough to make him overcome his motion sickness. Or at least brush it aside until he was finally seated in one of the car, the nausea coming back full force when the train finally began moving. Once they were all seated, the Riders did as they promised and told everything about their story and mission to Erza, the latter having a serious expression on her face, nodding every now and then to show that she was listening to their speech, Lucy being the only one paying attention to Natsu's wail of pain. When they were finished, Erza was silent for a few seconds, processing the informations she just received before looking back at the Riders.

\- "Warriors from another world that came here to prevent their own enemies from messing with our world, huh ?" resumed Erza, the Riders nodding in confirmation, even if the more egoistical part, the one about them coming to stop Shocker from messing with their own world with whatever they could find here, was forgotten. "If master said he'd help you, I'll also lend you an hand if I can. But you better remember that my world and the guild come first."

\- "We understand completely. We're just asking for assistance should we need it." Answered Sento, Emu and Kouta nodding, making Erza nod too. At least, she wasn't difficult to convince.

\- "Beside, I'm curious about those armor Happy said you had." Said Erza, turning to look at Kouta who was shocked for a second before remembering why she knew about him using armor, turning to Happy who was sniggering behind his paws. As he was about to say something, he was cut by another wail from Natsu who was breathing heavily, white as a sheet, looking like he was about faint at any time. And his noises annoyed Gray greatly.

\- "You're so hopeless, Natsu." Said the black haired mage, looking at his fellow mage. "Go sit somewhere else if you're gonna be annoying. Even better, don't ride on the train ! Just run !"

\- "I know it happens every time, but it does look really painful." Commented Lucy, Emu adding his own comment.

\- "I think I can always look if I can do something about it." Said the doctor, who was about to get up when he was stopped by Erza.

\- "Don't bother, I'll take care of it. Natsu, come sit next to me." Said the young woman, patting the spot next to her, prompting Lucy from changing seat with Natsu. As soon as a suffering Natsu was sat next to her, Erza smiled sweetly at him… before punching him hard in his guts, the blow expulsing all the air he had in his lungs as he lost consciousness and fell down on Erza's lap, totally knocked out, under the shocked eyes of the rest of the group.

\- "Well… It's one way to do anesthesia… I guess." Said Emu, feeling bad for the fire mage but it wasn't like he could do something now. The shock finally disappeared and they got back on a more normal discussion, Sento beginning with a more than legitims question.

\- "You know, I've never seen anyone's magic beside Lucy and Natsu at the guild. I wonder what kind you two are using ?" he said, his gaze traveling between Gray and Erza, Happy answering for the red haired mage.

\- "Erza's magic is beautiful. Plenty of her opponent's blood came out in the end."

\- "Is that supposed to be beautiful ?" asked Lucy, sweat dropping as the Riders began to question the Exceed sanity.

\- "It's nothing special." Replied Erza, not bothered by Happy comment, turning to Gray. "I think Gray's magic is far more beautiful."

\- "It is ?" Gray simply answered by putting a fist on his other open hand, magic gathering in a swirl of cold air and when he open his fist, a Fairy Tail symbol made of ice was hovering in the palm of his hand, the Riders and Lucy looking at it with wide amazed eyes.

\- "Ice magic, eh ? That's cool." They all turned to Kouta who, judging by his smile, was conflicted between laughing at his pun or dying in shame. The other just shrugged it off, Lucy staring at the ice before jumping almost out of her seat, realizing something.

\- "AH ! So that's why you and Natsu don't get along. Fire and Ice doesn't get along after all."

Gray didn't countered that version even if he was visibly annoyed by it and as the group began to debate about the duality and opposition of fire and ice, Sento stayed silent, finding Lucy's deduction not as stupid as it seemed, a memory of Blizzard and Magma and their Riders opposed personality confirming Lucy's theory.

\- "All jokes aside, I think it is finally time for you to tell us why you needed help." Said Gray, trying to brush aside the talk about his 'rivalry' with Natsu. "You aren't asking for help that often, after all."

\- "Yeah. Let me explain." Agreed Erza, finally beginning her explanation. "I was on my way back from work when I stopped by at a bar in Onibas, a gathering point for mages, when some guys grabbed my attention."

/- Flashback -/

\- "WHY ARE YOU SO SLOW ?!"

Erza, sitting alone at a table with her huge pile of luggage next to her, turned her head to the man who had just shouted, spotting said guy, who had 6 cat like mustache on his face, sat at a table with three other guy. A big one with a necklace, one wearing a striped hat and another one, with black hair pulled in some sort of ponytail making his hair look like a pineapple.

\- "Bears, don't get so angry." Said the striped hat guy, the other answering just as loudly, clearly unnerved about something.

\- "How can I not be irritated by this !? We finally found the hidden 'Lullaby', but it was all sealed up ! How'd they do that !? We can't break the seal at all !"

\- "Idiot ! You're too loud." Scolded striped hat, big guy agreeing, as somber as the other guy, Beard drinking his beer while sweating out of stress. That is until the last man finally said something to calm the situation.

\- "It's not like we can break the seal, even with more people. I'll take care of the rest, so you guys just go on and head back to the guild." He then got up, a hand up in an appeasing gesture. "Please let Erigor-san know. I'll definitely come back with the Lullaby in three days."

Erza just looked as the group began to praise their friend for knowing how to break the seal, frowning as she realized something bad was preparing.

/- Flashback end -/

\- "Lullaby ? I don't know what it is, but it has to be powerful if it's sealed." Stated Sento, wanting to learn more about it, his curiosity kicking in.

\- "There's also the possibility that it was just a regular job, like ours." Added Kouta, to which Erza nodded.

\- "Yeah, that's also what I thought and I didn't gave it any more thought. That is until I remembered the name Erigor." Suddenly, she scowled deeply, the pressure around her growing up as she got up, the train having reached their destination. "The ace of mage guild Eisenwald, 'Shinigami' Erigor. They call him like that because he kept taking up assassination request despite the fact that the council prohibits such jobs. So the guild had been ousted from the mage guild league and is now a Dark Guild."

\- "A Dark Guild !?" said Lucy in a state of shock, already sweating at the idea of fighting a Dark Guild. "Why haven't they been punished ?"

\- "They were. Their master was arrested and the guild was ordered to disband themselves."

\- "But I guess all the guild don't follow what the council order them to do, isn't it ?" concluded Emu who, just like the other Riders, was already having a bad feeling about that, looking straight at Erza as the train began going away from the station.

\- "So we're facing a Dark Guild not afraid to kill people who is in possession of a dangerous sealed magic ? What's the plan ?" asked Kouta, Erza turning to the group, her eyes shining with determination.

\- "We'll march into Eisenwald." Gray grinned at that while the Riders bar Sento nodded, Lucy sweating even more as the thought of fighting a whole dark guild was too much for her. I did said bar Sento because he was busy looking at the train, who was starting to disappear in the horizon.

\- "I'm okay with this plan, but I think we are forgetting something." They all turned at the scientist, who was still looking at the train, the others not understanding what he was talking about. "Or maybe a scarf-wearing someone would be better."

6 pairs of eyes suddenly widen as they realized what meant and that they indeed were one member short. Sweat run down their faces as they suddenly came back to life, Sento already grabbing his Build Phone.

\- "I was so focused on talking, and left Natsu in the train ! It's all my fault ! Hit me, will you !?"

\- "As tempting as this sound, I'd rather go grab Natsu. Try to find a way to catch up with us, okay ?"

The Riders nodded while the mages were confused as to what the scientist was doing, grabbing the Lion Fullbottle, shaking it before inserting it in the phone.

 _ **BUILD CHANGE !**_

Throwing his phone, it began to transform to finally became his Machine Builder, putting his helmet on as he got on, the mages looking at him dumbfounded as he began to drive away, exiting the station by using the rail to follow the train.

/- In the train -/

Just as they feared, Natsu was left alone in the train and unlike before, he was now awake and suffering a lot, his nausea back at full strength, Natsu panting and sweating heavily. But that strange display didn't stop someone from sitting just in front of him.

\- "Sir, is this seat taken ?" asked the newcomer before sitting down since he didn't get any answer. "My, you seem to be in pain. Are you okay." He then saw the mark on Natsu's shoulder, which made him smile a smile that doesn't seemed too honest to be true. "Fairy Tail. A regular guild, huh. I envy you."

Despite whatever he said, Natsu didn't seemed to mind, more busy with his dealing with his motion sickness to listen to everything.

\- "Speaking of Fairy Tail… Mirajane's famous isn't she ?" the stranger continued. "She's in magazines sometime, and she's beautiful." Still no reaction. "And I don't know her name, but I heard the new girl's cute. Do you know her ?"

This seemed to work however as Natsu, even if he was still worn out by his nausea, reacted more then before hearing him talk about Lucy, but the dude didn't seemed to notice.

\- "I noticed that regular guilds have many cute girls. I envy you. There are no girls in my guild. Would you mind sharing some." Another twitch from Natsu. "Or so I'd say."

Suddenly, he got up from his seat, kicking Natsu in his face at point blank range.

\- "Don't ignore me. That's being discriminatory to Dark Guilds."

Suddenly, as Natsu began to woke up and the guy felt satisfied to at least get a reaction out of the Dragon Slayer, they heard an engine noise just outside the train. Looking through the windows, Natsu recognized the helmet and the noises coming from one of the vehicle he was seeing in his nightmares ever since he met them in Hargeon. The other guy didn't really knew what to think, seeing the helmet disappearing outside, going to the back of the train.

\- "What the hell is that ?"

 _ **OCTOPUS ! LIGHT ! BEST MATCH !**_

The door then burst open, thrown out of its hinges and flying through the car and slamming against the door on the other side.

 _ **INAZUMA TECHNICIAN ! OCTOPUSLIGHT ! YEAH !**_

\- "Well, hello there. Picking on sick people, don't you have any morality ?" said Build, the shady guy looking at him strangely.

\- "I don't know what or who you are, but I don't have time for that shit."

Suddenly, many black fists suddenly came out of his shadow, all aimed at Sento who had no problem dealing with them thanks to the expanding tentacles of his right arm. This annoyed the guy, but not as much as what came next. The train suddenly came to a stop, Nastu falling to the ground, the black haired young man thrown out of his seat while Sento managed to stay up thanks to his octopus Half body. But the bag of the young man fell open and a creepy looking flute roll out of it. It seemed to be made of wood, with a three-eyed skull on top. The fact that it was now out for everyone to see made the shadow wielder nervous, but since the train had stopped, Natsu could finally get some action. He ignited his fist and rushed at his opponent, who raised a wall of shadow to protect himself, but a bright light coming from Sento's left shoulder countered the shadow, making them disappear in an instant, allowing Natsu to struck him hard, sending him flying trough this car and the next, landing in a pile of broken wood.

\- "Nice one, Natsu." Commented Sento, standing next to the pink haired mage who was about to answer when a voice came from the speaker.

\- "We've confirmed that the emergency break was due to a false report. We'll depart shortly. We apologize for your inconvenience."

Hearing that, Natsu then felt fear at the idea of feeling his motion sickness come back so he ran to grab his backpack and prepared himself to jump off the train when the black haired opponent, his face marked by Natsu's blow, came running back in the car.

\- "I won't let you both go ! You picked a fight with Eisenwald ! Don't think you can go away with it, you pathetic fly !"

Sento's eyes widen under his bi-colored helmet, clearly remembering the name Eisenwald from what Erza had said. Looking down at the flute, his sharp mind quickly deduced what that thing could be, but before he could do anything, Natsu grabbed him by the arm and dragged him to the window.

\- "I'll fight you outside, next time, you punk ! Let's go !"

\- "No Natsu, wait ! He is …"

Alas, Natsu didn't listened and jumped through the window of the already rushing train, dragging Sento with him, the scientist trying to reach something to grab to go back inside but failed, falling back with Natsu, both guys colliding with none other than Gray. After pulling down the emergency break at the train station, the rest of the group had taken Magical Four-Wheeled Vehicle to catch up with the train, Gray riding on the roof since the inside was packed with Lucy, Emu and Kouta, Erza being the one driving, a pump strapped on her wrist to power the vehicle. Gray, Natsu and Sento then fell to the ground, stumbling on a few meters until they stopped, Gray almost completely knocked out since he had been headbutted by Sento. As the girls and other Riders came to them after stopping their vehicle, Sento had already got up, pulling Gray quickly to his feet.

\- "Are you alright ?" asked Erza, as she came up with the others, Sento cutting her to ask a question.

\- "Erza, please I need to know something." He said quickly, trying to save as much time as possible. "Was there a black haired man within the group you saw in Onibas ? One with hair combed in a pineapple looking ponytail ?"

\- "Yes, there was one like that. It was the one who said could break the seal of Lullaby, why ?"

\- "Because he was picking a fight with Natsu when I reached him and he had a flute with a three-eyed skull on it. I'm ready to bet it's the Lullaby." Answered Sento, which shocked the group, then angered Erza.

\- "And you didn't try to get the flute back !" Feeling like his life was on the line, he answered by doing the most sensible thing. Telling the truth. And sending someone else to die by the red head hands.

\- "I would have if Natsu didn't forced me to jump out of the window."

\- "IDIOT !" Erza turned her heels to look at Natsu, slapping him hard in the same movement, sending him flying a good ten meters away.

\- "Didn't you listened to what I said ! We are after Eisenwald !" she said, scowling Natsu who just rubbed his neck while Emu jumped in to remind Erza of something.

\- "You knocked him unconscious due to his motion sickness, it's not like he could have heard anything." Emu was ready for Erza to turn and glare at him but she didn't even moved.

\- "So they are in that train, right ? Let's chase it !"

 _"She didn't even listened to me."_ Thought Emu before noticing that Lucy was shaking, a fear shining in her eyes. "Is there something wrong Lucy ?"

\- "A flute with a three-eyed skull… Lullaby… No it can't be." She said to herself, not noticing that everyone was looking at her. "I think I heard about it before… Lullaby, the magic of Death !"

This froze everyone who now looked at her with wide shocked eyes, waiting for her to explain furthermore.

\- "Lullabay is a cursed song. It put a death curse on everyone who hears its melody ! "

\- "So it's basically a weapon of mass-murder that is now in the hand of a madman who kill for a living ? What a nice combination." Said Kouta sarcastically, everyone getting back on the car to race after the train. They had no idea what Eisenwald had in mind for the Lullaby, but they couldn't let them do as they wanted.

/- Later, Ochibana Station -/

They had followed the track for a long time, coming across a station where they heard people talking about scythe welding people entering the train massively, heading for Ochibana. Preparing for the fight in the car, or trying not to die in Natsu's case, they finally reached the station were many people were gathered, a man holding a speaker standing on top of the stairs leading to the station. The mages and Riders were walking among the crowd, heading to the stairs, except for Sento. The scientist, back in his civilian clothes, had to go somewhere else to answer his phone, the rest of the group back at Magnolia trying to reach him. The 6 humans and 1 Exceed finally reached the station, Erza going to one of the staff member.

\- "What's going on inside ?" She asked, not beating around the bush to try and get information about the situation.

\- "What ? Who are you ?" answered the man she had talked to, feeling suspicious because of what was happening.

* GON * Erza suddenly head butted the guy, knocking him out and walking casually to the closest employee, asking the same exact question. Since he didn't answered right away, she headbutted him and walked to the next man, everything happening under the fearful look of the rest of the group.

\- "She only liked people who answer immediately, doesn't she ?" said Lucy, carrying Natsu on her back, Gray confirming her thought, as Kouta was sweating in fear.

\- "I know she want things to go quickly, but it's counterproductive."

After finally getting her answers, Erza led the group inside a deserted station, injured soldiers scattered here and there, looking like they tried to stop Eisenwald without succeeding. Running to the platform, they finally reached their destinations and were now facing Eisenwald, all gathered in front of the train, with Erigor sitting on the roof, all looking at the mages and Riders.

\- "I knew you'd come, Fairy Tail."

\- "So that's Erigor and Eisenwald, hum ?" Said Kouta, glaring at the group, feeling something weird coming from behind them. "What are you planning ? It's just curiosity, we aren't going back before you are all arrested."

\- "We're just fooling around. We've got no job and we're really bored." As the Dark Guild mages laughed, Erigor suddenly began to fly, showing off his wind magic. "Try to think just a little bit. What do they have inside a train station ?"

The question didn't seemed to make any sense to the fairies, but when he began to flew around a pole, Erza understood, her eyes widening.

On the pole stood 4 big loud speaker.

\- "NO WAY ! ARE YOU GOING TO BRAODCAST THE LULLABY ?!"

This shocked the mages who couldn't even imagine the unfathomable amount of persons who will die if such a thing was done, and while they were all shocked, Erigor began laughing loudly, still hovering in the middle of the train station, arms open wide.

\- "There are hundreds… no thousands of people gathering around the station." He explained, looking proud of himself. "If we turn the loud speaker volume at the maximum, the whole city will hear the melody of death."

\- "Indiscriminate mass-murder !?" exclaimed Erza, seething at the flying mage who just smiled while doing slow flip in mid-air while explaining his madness even more.

\- "We are simple cleaning up those fools who live their life enjoying their rights, not knowing that there are people who have been revoked of their rights. Living a life oblivious to the unfairness of the world is a sin. And as the Shinigami, I've come to punish them."

\- "So you are all willing to die just for that ?"

Everyone turned to Kouta who, just like Emu, looked fed up with his speech, everyone looking at them with a glare showing that they just didn't understood why they both seemed unfazed by Erigor.

\- "I mean, I don't know how Lullaby work, but I feel like the one playing it will be the only one protected from the curse. Which means that all of your 'friends' would also die." Kouta's speech seemed to have a better effect than Erigor's, Eisenwald looking at him with what looked like to be annoyance while the fairies seemed to see his points. And he was far from finished. "Furthermore, if this was really an indiscriminate mass-murder, why this city ? There are far bigger city with even more people to kill with that song so if you choose this city, it's because you have something else in mind. Am I right ?"

Erigor suddenly seemed tense and began to seethe. Apparently, Kouta just hit the target dead on. And it annoyed the Shinigami greatly.

\- "Tch, it doesn't matter if you figured it out or not, you'd have to stop me first hand and it's not going to happen."

\- "He's right. You won't go anywhere !" Kageyama, the same black haired guy from the train, whose hear seemed to have been injured, had said while putting an hand to the ground, sending his shadow straight at Lucy, not giving anyone the time to react. "You'll die without getting a glimpse of the dark age !"

\- "I knew it was you !"

All of a sudden, Natsu got up from the ground where Lucy had dropped him, his blazing hand cutting off the shadow claw that had came out of the ground, saving Lucy while glaring at Kageyama who seemed surprised to see him, while the others were happy to see him back in action.

\- "As much as I'd love to stay here and see you all get destroyed, I have a song to play, so I'll have to leave you all. Good bye and see you later in Hell !"

With that, Erigor flew away on his scythe like a witch would on a broom, leaving his smirking guildmates to take care of the mages and Riders.

\- "Natsu ! Gray ! Both of you go after him." Erza said, turning to both mages, who looked at each other before the red head turned her attention back on the Eisenwald mages. "Lucy, Emu, Kouta and myself will take care of things here." She didn't got any answer since the two guy were busy glaring at each other, looking like they were about to jump at each other throat, Erza snapping her head back at them. "Are you listening to me ?!"

\- "O-Of course !" the two had answered while reverting back into their Tamed Mode, standing side by side like they were best friend before running away, going after Erigor. No one on the other team moved except for Kageyama who fused with his own shadow and followed both mages and another one, the same guy with a striped hat than the one Erza saw at Onibas, going after thanks to the band that came out of his fingers.

\- "Oh boy. Rayure and Kage are so belligerent. I bet it's more fun to play with the girls than those guys." Said the guy named Beard, looking at the two girls in front of them.

\- "It's all for the plan. And besides, there are not only girls here. Stay focused." Said the large guy standing next to Beard.

\- "Stop with that, Karakka. They look weak as fuck. And what can two girls do ? Maybe we should catch and sell them." Said another member, lusting after the girls without any shame, like this was a normal way to act. And it made the fairies and Riders mad.

\- "How despicable." Said Erza, glaring at the group while magic shone on her hand, a sword appearing out of nowhere. "Try insulting Fairy Tail further. I won't guarantee that you'll see tomorrow."

That however didn't bothered the mages of Eisenwald, some of them summoning their own sword and rushed at Erza, who rushed at them in retaliation. But the dark mages quickly learned their place as they were all repelled by Erza who looked like she was dancing on the battlefield. Slashing at everyone coming near her, jumping, sliding, side-stepping to dodge the few blows the dark mages managed to threw her way. As she was airborne, one of those man tried to shoot her with his magic. Using long range magic against someone who fought at close range was a good idea, but not against the red head mage who, in one swift movement, change the sword for a spear, hitting the shooter hard in the ribs, shocking mages and Riders. And the show wasn't finished, Erza switching from spear to twin sword as she fell back to the ground, slicing the mages that were gathered around her landing point. Then she began using an axe, then another sword, wielding each one of those weapon with great skills.

\- "How can she do that ? Switching between weapon like that, I mean ?" asked Kouta, amazed by Erza's skill as she was plowing through her opponent.

\- "That's Requip magic." Explained Happy "Her weapon are like Lucy's spirit, stored in another dimension only her can access and she can pick any weapon inside it. But those weapon are only a part of it. Erza's greatness start here." The Exceed finished with a nasty smirk on his face as he looked at Erza who was facing what was left of the mages, a pretty large group at that. They looked confident, even if Karakka seemed to be a little bit more tense after hearing Erza's name.

\- "There's still a lot. Too much trouble. I'll just wipe you out."

Saying that, Erza began glowing as her body began shining, her armor fading, much to Eisenwald mages lustful gaze and the Riders embarrassed ones.

\- "Usually, mages use Requip to change their weapons to fight. But Erza can fight while Requipping magic Armor to increase her ability." Explained Happy as the smoke surrounding Erza start to disappear. "That's Erza's magic : The Knight !"

Looking back at Erza, she was now wearing a completely different armor, with metallic wings on her back, a long dress like skirt covering her leg with the exception of her feet who, just like her arms, were covered by a shining armor. The upper part showed lot of skin and cleavage, but the power that seemed to radiate from her was enough for the Riders who couldn't even think about looking at her like the perverts Eisenwald mages were. Beside, the swords hovering in a circle formation behind her was intimidating enough, no need to anger her by acting like a pervert.

\- "Dance, my swords." Said Erza, ignoring the comments from the dark mages as the sword ring began to spin around her like a buzz saw.

 _ **CIRCLE SWORD !**_

The circle then widen suddenly, striking all the remaining mages, well almost all of them, sending them to the ground, knocked out as Beard, who couldn't take any more of that jumped at her. But Karakka suddenly felt fear invading his body and mind as he finally remember the name Erza.

\- "Th-There's no doubt ! She's the strongest woman in Fairy Tail : Erza the Titania !" As soon as he said that, Erza had sent Beard packing with one hit, Eisenwald now down to 4 members : Erigor, Kageyama, Rayure and the shaking Karakka, who looked like he was about to faint in fear and shock.

\- "So she use different kind of armor and weapon stored in another dimension ?" recapped Emu before turning to Kouta with a small smile. "We might have found Haruto's power twin in Natsu, but you and Erza are more than similar in that way, don't you think ?"

Kouta just shrugged while Lucy, Happy and Erza wondering what he meant by that as Karakka seemed to have found his guts back.

\- "Tch, don't go thinking it's over ! We have one last ace up our sleeves !" Riders and mages looked at him, wondering what he meant or what he could do. "You all ! Come out now !"

*PEWPEWPEW* a flurry of energy beams suddenly rained down on the group, taking them all by surprise, before turning to the train where a new wave of enemies now stood.

\- "You've got to be fucking kidding me."

Kouta's sudden sentence grabbed the attention of the mages who turned to look at him and they were surprised to found the young man with an expression of genuine surprise on his face, which was also the case for Emu, both of them looking at the bunch of enemies that had appeared on the train. A whole platoon of man clad in black, with white lining around their eyes, nose and mouth and on the torso and belly, creating a zebra like pattern and around their waist was a big black belt with an even bigger gray insignia on the front of it with what seemed to be an eagle on it, holding the world in his talon. Among those guys stood two anthropomorphous monster. One with a blue body with a black cape and hat, a blue gauntlet with two white protuberance on the tip on his left arm, while his right was black and normal, his head stuck in some kind of red and white collar. The other monster was dome kind of green and cooper dragon with root-like wavy spikes on his shoulder and head, giving him a quite vegetal look.

\- "What the hell are those things ?" asked Lucy, looking at them, feeling uneasy all of a sudden.

\- "Shocker Solider." Answered Emu without looking away from the group of enemies.

\- "You mean your enemies ? So those are what they are looking like. And those two monster, they are from Shockers too ?" asked Happy.

\- "They must be acting like lieutenant here." Answered Kouta before pointing at the blue one. "This is a Bugster, the threat Emu had fought when he became a Kamen Rider. And the green dragon is an Inves, my enemies."

Shocker didn't wait to jumped from the roof and rush at the group, ready for the fight. Erza got ready to welcome then, just like Lucy who was about to grab a key when Emu stopped them, using his arm to make them know they had to stop.

\- "Don't worry, we will take care of this. And beside Erza, I'm sure you want to see what we can really do, right ?" no waiting for an answer, Emu and Kouta both grabbed and show their Driver, the Shocker soldier stopping in their tracks, apparently taken aback by the Driver appearance.

\- "Looks like they weren't expecting us." Said Emu.

\- "Yeah, which is even more concerning. But we will take care of that later. Let's go."

Putting their Drivers on, they grabbed their trinkets and began their transformation.

 _ **MIGHTY ACTION X !**_

 _ **ORANGE !**_

Under the fairies surprised eyes, the Mighty Action X loading screen appeared with a wave of pink that seems to pixelate their surrounding for a moment as blocks and bonus coins appeared everywhere in the hall. If that was already surprising, the zipper appearing out of sinner to open a hole from where a big orange looking orb came out was even more surprising.

\- "HENSHIN !"

 _ **GASHAT ! GACHAN ! LEVEL UP ! MIGHTY JUMP ! MIGHTY KICK ! MIGHTY MIGHTY ACTION X !**_

 _ **SOIYA ! ORANGE ARMS ! HANAMICHI ON STAGE !**_

\- "I'll clear this with No Continues !"

\- "This is our stage now !"

Now clad in their usual Riders gear and ready for the fight, Kouta and Emu rushed at Shocker who finally got out of their daze to attack the Rider. Emu punched and kicked the soldier that came his way while Kouta used his Daidaimaru to cut down his opponent, Erza looking at him closely, interested in his sword skill. It didn't took long for them to dispose of the soldier, leaving just the two lieutenant, each one going after their original opponent. The fairies were impressed, looking at Emu jumping on the brown block that had appeared to grab the strange coins, his power seemingly increasing with each coin he got his hands on, eventually grabbing on his Gashacon Breaker to repel the Bugster. On the other side, Kouta was manhandling the dragon like Inves, blocking his strike with his orange slice shaped sword and countering with a slash of his own, his swordsmanship being thoroughly analyzed by Erza, who looked at him intently and she had a good reason to be intrigued : it wasn't everyday that she met with someone with the, almost, exact same magic as her, even more knowing that this guy came from another world. After a few minutes, Emu and Kouta had send their opponent rolling on the ground, using that time to finish it.

Emu threw his hammer to the side and took his Gashat out of his driver, blowing on it before inserting it in the slot on his Kimewaza Slot. As for Kouta, he simply put the Daidaimaru down, burying the tip in the ground to make it stand, while he used the Cutting blade of his Driver one time.

 _ **KIMEWAZA ! MIGHTY CRITICAL STRIKE !**_

 _ **ORANGE SQUASH ! BURAI KICK !**_

Both Riders jumped, getting a few meters of the ground before diving at the two monsters that were now back on their feet. Emu directly dove at the Bugster, performing a series of kick, the words "Critical Hit" appearing with each strike, the last one sending the monster back before exploding, a big "Game Clear" being heard. As for Kouta, he was engulfed in an orange energy and passed through many orange slices, gathering energy in his right foot when he finally hit the Inves, passing through the beast, destroying it in the process. Once both monsters were destroyed, the Riders and Fairies were the only one left on the station platform, the blonde girl and flying cat coming to them.

\- "That was awesome. It was weird in a way, but it was also awesome. How does it work anyway ? Can you explain it to us or is it a secret ?" asked Lucy, while Erza walked to them.

\- "Why an orange ?"

Gaim simply looked at Happy and shrugged before turning to answer Lucy's question.

\- "We can explain it, but now is not the time. We still have to find Erigor and what he's really planning to do." He then looked even more worried, so much you could almost see him frown through his helmet. "And beside, we have to know how and why they had Shocker with them."

Just as he said that, his phone began ringing. The strange noise surprised the mages who at first looked around to find where it was coming from before looking with wide eyes at the phone Emu, who had undone his transformation, had grabbed from his pocket, answering while ignoring the look from the mages who just shrugged it off.

\- "Emu Hojo here."

\- "Emu, it's Sento. How are thing inside the station."

\- "Oh Sento. Are you still out there ? We have bad news. We'll meet you outside asap."

\- "I'm afraid you won't be able to exit the station as of now." Emu frowned at that, turning to look at the others still listening at Sento.

\- "What do you mean we can't go out ?"

\- "The station. It's trapped in a tornado."

 **And that's 9. I didn't expect this one to be that long. I've wrote more than I usually did but I hope you liked it and if you have any kind of remark or advise, just let me know via a review or a MP, I'll read them all and try to take them all into consideration. See ya !**

 **Next time : Trapped in the station. The maid is back. Racing after the Shinigami.**


	10. Chapter 10 : The deal with Shocker

**Hello everyone ! I hope you're all feeling good and that your Christmas was full of food, family moment and amazing gifts. And in a good Christmas fashion, here's what you could consider as my Christmas gift to you all. I hope you'll like it.**

 **We are going to start with a little flashback to see what Sento was doing while the rest was fighting in the train station. Here we go !**

 **Chapter 10 – The deal made with Shocker**

/- Flashback : with Sento when they reached the station -/

As they finally reached the station, they were blocked by a huge crowd gathered in front of the station, the citizen looking like they were half-scared, half-curious. The mages however had a good idea to what was happening inside. They were just beginning to walk toward the crowd when they were stopped by some noises that seemed to come from a construction site with hammering and drilling noises, which all stopped when Sento finally answered his phone.

\- "Sento here. Oh, Gentaro. Just give me a moment." Sento put a hand on his phone to talk to the others. "Don't wait for me, I'll catch you later."

\- "Okay, don't take too long." Simply said Erza as she began to walk to the station, followed by the others, Sento returning to his phone call.

\- "Okay, Gentaro. What is it ?"

\- "Well, we have some news from our friends back home." This perked Sento's interested, who listened intently while looking at the station. "First, they got to every places we know Shockers use or used as base to see if they could find anything useful. And alas, they didn't get many useful thing except for the fact that Shocker basically came to this world blindly."

\- "Do you mean to tell me that they came here without knowing what to expect ? That's reckless, even for them."

\- "Yeah, but they apparently tried many configuration on the gate before going in and they analyzed each one of them, looking for the one who had the strongest energetic signature."

\- "So they knew they could get something out of this world." Said Sento, finishing Sento's sentence. "But that also mean we won't get anything else from our world. We'll have to figure out what they are planning on our own."

\- "Yes, that seems to be the case." Sighed Gentaro before switching to another subject. "But that's not the only thing I had to tell you."

\- "What the hell ?" suddenly said Sento, his eyes focused on the train station where two man were now unconscious on the steps leading to the building.

\- "What ? Is there a problem ?" asked Gentaro, wondering why Sento said that all of a sudden, Fourze's voice bringing Sento back to the phone call.

\- "No, it's nothing, just Erza headbutting people for no reason."

\- "Wait, what ?"

\- "It doesn't matter. What did you wanted to say, already ?"

\- "Oh yeah. Kengo and the others managed to find a way to send us some help should we need reinforcement." This made Sento 's eyes widen slightly, happy by the news and also wondering how they did that. "They didn't told me how it worked exactly, but they managed to establish some sort of connection between the gate and a stone they used to create bracelet. They then give them to many other Riders who can use those to be send to us."

\- "That's great, but isn't it dangerous if we, for example, call upon someone while he is already fighting ? And how can we make them know who we need help from ?"

\- "They send us 6 remote control of some sort we can use to send a SOS to someone and make him come. It also say who is available at the moment and who isn't. That way, there's no risk of calling someone who's already taking care of something important. You can get it through the box just like for any other device."

\- "Okay, that's really great, Gentaro." Said Sento, smiling at this great news, turning on his heels, a hand on the white box on his belt. "I'll go tell everything to the others right aw…" Sento suddenly stopped mid-sentence, shocked by what he was seeing now that he had turned back to face the station. "Hum, Gentaro ? Something came up. We'll call you guys back later." And without letting Gentaro the time to answer, he hung up on him, Fourze feeling left out and not understanding why he stopped the call so brutally. But Sento didn't care, busy looking at the huge tornado that was now swirling around the station, a huge pillar of wind that forced the curious citizen to now run away, leaving Sento to be the only one getting closer to the storm, while composing another number on his phone, putting the phone against his ear waiting for the answer.

\- "Emu Hojo here."

\- "Emu, it's Sento. How are thing inside the station."

\- "Oh Sento. Are you still out there ? We have bad news. We'll meet you outside asap."

\- "I'm afraid you won't be able to exit the station as of now." Emu frowned at that, turning to look at the others still listening at Sento.

\- "What do you mean we can't go out ?"

\- "The station. It's trapped in a tornado."

/- Flashback end -/

\- "Wait just a second." Sento waited, hearing Emu press a button on his phone and hearing him call the other to get closer, the physicist guessing that he was now on speaker. "So, can you say that again, I think I misheard you. You said we are now trapped in a tornado ?"

\- "It's just as I said, a huge whirlwind is preventing everyone from entering. And I have a feeling it will also stop you from going out."

\- "It's probably Erigor's wind magic." Said Erza, now back in her usual attire.

\- "And it also confirm my theory about them not wanting to broadcast Lullaby." Said Kouta. "But I'm still wondering why this station and not another one. Nor why they made the train derailed. " Both end of the line stayed silent for a moment until Sento finally whispered.

\- "Unless they planned to block the station." He muttered, the mages and doctor wondering what he meant as the line went silent once again for a few seconds until Sento spoke once again. " I'm not mistaken if I say that the train is the fastest way to travel here, right ?"

\- "No, it is. We use train to convey food, people, any kind of materials…"

\- "And reinforcements. Just give me a second." This stopped Erza, whose gears went into overdrive, but still missing a piece of the puzzle, a piece Sento was about to gave her. "I know what's their objectives. I just checked with an inhabitant. This city station is the second to last of this part of the railroad. The only station after this one, the terminal, is in the city of Clover."

Everyone on the other end of the line gasped, realizing what this implied.

\- "The target are the guild master gathered at the annual meeting !" Erza suddenly grabbed the phone, literally ripping it away from Emu's hand. "Listen to me. If we are stuck here, you have to go and stop Erigor before he can get to Clover."

Of course, Sento agreed but before he could hung up, Kouta added something that made the task even more important.

\- "Sento. They are working with Shocker !" The line went silent for just a second, letting Sento process what he just heard has Kouta continued. "There were a Bugster and an Inves here with them and some Shocker soldiers and they clearly weren't expecting us to be here. Once you'll reach Erigor, you have to know why he had those guys with him."

\- "Don't worry about it, I won't forget this. I'm going after him." Sento was about to hung up when he realized something, his voice sudden return making Kouta slightly jump in surprise. "And I suggest you find the guy who undid the Lullaby seal. That could help you. See you later." With that, Sento finally end the call, turning to the railroad that was going out of the storm-covered station.

\- "Well, if I have to catch up with a flying man, I might as well fly too."

 _ **TAKA ! GATLING ! BEST MATCH ! ARE YOU READY ?**_

\- "HENSHIN !"

/- In the station -/

Kouta gave his phone back to Emu after they finished the call with Sento, both Riders looking tensed.

\- "You really seemed nervous. Is that because of those Shockers guy ? They didn't seemed that dangerous with the way you dealt with them." Said Happy, not understanding why the Riders were so worried when the monsters weren't here anymore.

\- "It's not about their strength, at least not for now." Answered Emu who just like Kouta was back in his civilian clothes. "Judging by the way they were surprised to see us, they didn't expected us to be here, which means they had another reason to team up with Eisenwald. We have to know why since it could help us understand what they are trying to do in this world."

\- "Anyway, we have to find that Kageyama." Finally said Erza, sighing slightly out of tiredness, the fight plus the magical four-wheeled vehicle having drained more magic and strength than she though. "Sento is right, if he can lift the seal on Lullaby, he can probably dispel the tornado trapping us here."

\- "Alright then, let's go find him and the guys." As they were about to leave the platform, they were interrupted by Gray who came running from the upper part of the station.

\- "Erza ! Everyone ! We have to go ! They are targeting the old man and the others guild masters !"

\- "Yeah, we know that ! Tell me, did you fight with a guy who control shadow ?" asked Erza, which took Gray by surprise, even if he was already when she said they already knew the plan.

\- "No, I fought a guy who used some kind of bands. Why would we need the other guy though ?" he wondered.

\- "Because we are trapped in a giant tornado Erigor put around the station. This guy can probably dispel it. Where is he ?" said Lucy, worried for the master, each second passing signifying that Erigor was getting closer to Clover.

\- "He probably went after ash for brains. But we have to be quick, or else the masters are done for." Answered the ice mage to which Emu answered back.

\- "Sento is still out there and got after Erigor and I'm sure he'll be able to at least stall him long enough. Let's not waste any more time, we have to find Natsu and that Kageyama."

/- With Natsu -/

\- "ERIGOOOOOOR !"

Natsu was yelling all around the station, looking for Eisenwald ace looking in every room he saw, destroying the wall with a flaming kick instead of using the door that was basically just next to him. A show that the shadow man, who was watching him from the roof where he was merged with his own shadow, looking at Natsu with a bead of sweet running down his temple. After some time however, Kageyama had enough waiting and came out of his shadow, kicking Natsu on the back of his head, sending him crash in a wall, the fire mage going out of the rubbles, feeling his anger rising up.

\- "You again !"

\- "I think I got the general idea of your magic. You increase the destructive power by flaming up a part of your body. Pretty unusual, I'd say." Said Kageyama with a smirk. Natsu however seemed torn between two desires.

\- "I really want to punch you, but It's not the time for that ! I want to punch you but I don't have the time to deal with you ! Where's Erigor !?"

\- "If you manage to defeat me, maybe I'll tell you." Said Kageyama in a mocking way, putting a hand on the floor, his shadow stretching toward Natsu who just jumped to dodge a shadow punch, Kageyama seething at that. "You're quick. But you won't be quick enough to dodge that !"

 _ **OROCHI SHADOW !**_

A bunch of shadow made snake suddenly emerged from the mage shadow and rushed at Natsu. But much to Kageyama's surprise, Natsu didn't flee nor got destroyed. Instead, he managed to punch each one of the snake, destroying them all, which shocked Kageyama who was too surprised to dodge what came after that. Natsu punched him with a fire fist before grabbing him by his jacket to threw him at the top of a wall before unleashing a stream of fire from his mouth at the other mage, the explosion resulting from the attack shaking the whole building.

\- "Natsu !"

The Dragon slayer turned around, forgetting for a moment the beaten shadow mage in front of him to look at his friend, who came running at him.

\- "Huh ? What's going on ? What are you all doing here ?" he asked, not getting an answer from Erza who just walked past him to grab and talked to Kageyama, her sword on his throat, leaving the explanation to Kouta.

\- "Long story short, Erigor's objective is to kill the guild master at Clover." This caused Natsu's eyes to open widely in anger. "And he trapped us within a huge tornado and that guy probably know how to stop it. Luckily you didn't knock him out."

\- "I want the magic wall of wind to be nullified at once. You'll gain a new cut every time you say no." Erza's threat was more than serious, Kageyama eyeing the sword getting close to his face with fear, Emu watching the scene with uneasiness, his doctor instinct not really liking the idea of torturing someone to get him to do something. But as Kageyama was about to agree, he suddenly spat blood and got limp in Erza's hand. Dropping to the ground, the rest of the mages and Riders saw a sword in his back and Karakka's upper body sticking out of the wall. They didn't had to be geniuses like Sento to understood what happened.

Karakka tried to kill his fellow guildmates. As Erza, Gray and Emu jumped on Kageyama, trying to keep him awake, Natsu eyes were on Karakka.

\- "Aren't you… his nakama ?" his said quietly, but loud enough for the big guy to hear and try to flee by phasing through the wall like a ghost, as Natsu's eyes were now filled with fury. "Aren't you nakama from the same guild ?!" He then jumped at the wall which he destroyed with a fire punch, knocking Karakka's out in the process. Around Kageyama, Gray and Erza were shouting at him stay awake until they were shoved aside by Emu, both mages shocked by his behavior.

\- "What the hell, man ? We have to save him you stup…"

\- "I'M A DOCTOR !" Emu's shout stopped Gray dead in his track. "I'll try to save him but I won't to anything with you shouting like madmen in my ears !" Once they had all calmed down, he grabbed a first aid kit he had inside his vest, something he always had on him in case of emergency like this one. Emu took Kageyama's vest of his body, looking at the wound to see what .

\- "Well I have some good news. His survival rate is quite high. He can be saved. The sword missed the vitals and just grazed the spine." The mages sighed in relief at that.

\- "Will he be able to neutralize the wall of wind ?" asked Lucy, Emu suddenly a little less optimistic.

\- "I don't know if he'll be able to quickly enough." He said with a professional look in his eyes. "I'll first try to save him. We'll see how it will go after that." Emu then began to work, disinfecting the stab wound with an antiseptic then used some surgical wire and needle he had in his first aid kit to sew the wound close that he wrapped in bandages to prevent the wound from reopening to quickly. Once it was done, he also took care of his others wound to increase the chance of him waking up as soon as possible, Kageyama now out cold but alive. Alas, the doctor wasn't that optimistic regarding him waking up soon.

\- "So he won't wake up, huh ?" noted Gray, a sour look in his eyes.

\- "Even if he did, he probably won't have enough strength to do it. We have to find another way."

Once that was said, they all walked to the entrance of the station, now facing the raging wall of wind, that made them unable to exit. Well, it didn't stopped Natsu from trying, rushing at the wall only to be repelled as if he had been struck by the shockwave. As Natsu kept trying to go force his way through the wall with Lucy begging him to stop, Kouta turned to Gray.

\- "Hey, maybe you can try and froze it ?" he suggested to the ice mage who just shook his head in answer.

\- "I would have already done that if I could do it. And can't one of your armor be strong enough to do it ?"

\- "To be honest, we've never tried to do something like that before. But I guess we can try." Answered Kouta, grabbing the Suika Lockseed as Emu grabbed Maximum Mighty X, but before they could use it, a shout stopped them in their tracks.

\- "I said stop it !" Lucy had apparently got enough of Natsu's reckless behavior in trying to force his way out of the tornado and had grabbed Natsu who stopped to turned and look at her, heaving a sigh and muttering a 'Fine' that clearly showed that he hated being powerless. That's when Lucy came up with an idea.

\- "Wait ! What if we try to go underneath the tornado ?!" This made everyone looked at her with a slight hope in their eyes as she turned to the Riders. "Well, I don't think any of our magic can do such thing, but you all look like you have many kind of armor, isn't there one who can dig a tunnel ?"

This time, the hopeful gazes landed on the Riders who were biting their own lips, realizing something.

\- "Well, yes some Riders have that kind of power. But both of us have no such thing. That could have worked if it was Gentaro or Haruto, but…"

\- "AAAAAAAAH !" They all jumped out of their skin as they Happy shouted for apparently no reason, his eyes wide in realization, as if he just remembered something important, the flying cat turning to Lucy. "Lucy, I just remembered the thing I was going to tell you about !" he then proceed to take his little bag of his back, looking inside of it, some fish being pulled out of it before he finally got what he wanted.

A golden key with the symbol of the virgin constellation on it.

\- "That's Virgo's key !?" shouted Lucy seeing the key the cat now had in his paw, the blonde pinching his cheeks. "You shouldn't be taking someone else's key without permission."

\- "No, Virgo herself wanted you to have it."

\- "What are you all talking about ? We are all wasting time here !" said Gray, annoyed by the little show while Kouta seemed to remember something.

\- "Wait. This Virgo is a spirit that was used by that Duke you fought, right ?"

\- "Huh, yes. How do you know about that ?" asked Lucy, wondering how he heard about it.

\- "Gentaro told us about it." Answered the fruit Rider. "He also told us she could move underground like a mole or something like that."

This sparked everyone interest as they understood what that meant. With those powers, they could go out of their jail by going from below it.

\- "I see ! Good job Happy !" said Lucy with glee, forgetting her previous annoyance she felt toward the cat. "Why didn't you mention that earlier ?"

\- "Maybe because you were busy pinching his cheeks ?" muttered Emu, kind of annoyed by her sudden change of heart. She didn't mind though, grabbing the golden key and calling upon the spirit without losing any more time.

\- "I am the person who connects the road to the stellar spirit world. Thou… shalt respond to the calling and pass through the gate."

 _ **OPEN, THE GATE TO THE VIRGIN : VIRGO !**_

\- "How may I help you, mistress ?"

And in a puff of smoke, the spirit of the virgin appeared with a slight bow, in the same outfit as the one she wore when they first met her at Everlue's mansion. But there was one slight difference. No, scratch that, she was basically a whole different person, much thinner and smaller than before. Basically, she was now what a normal person would call cute.

\- "You lost weight." Simply said Natsu at the spirit, as if he didn't though of anything else.

\- "Lose weight ? More like she's a totally different person !" shouted Lucy, at a lose of words from what was happening as she turned to the spirit. "Y-Your appearance…" she trailed off, letting the pink haired girl explaining.

\- "I'm a loyal stellar spirit of my owner ; I work in whatever appearance you'd like me to."

\- "Well, it's all nice and all, but we are in kind of a rush, so…"

\- "Yes, of course !" shouted Lucy, being remembered of the situation by Emu's comment, so she turned back to the maid. "We don't have time ! Can we make the contract later !?"

\- "As you wish, my mistress."

\- "Don't call me mistress !"

\- "Then how about 'your Highness' ?"

\- "Rejected !"

\- "How about 'Princess' ?"

\- "That sounds fine."

\- "I think I did say that we were in a rush, didn't I ?" reminded Emu, putting an end to the two girls pointless dialog, the spirit finally doing what she was called for, literally diving into the ground, digging the much needed tunnel in the process, opening a way out of the tornado. As they began to enter the tunnel, they turned to see Natsu and Emu picking Kageyama's up, which the others didn't understand.

\- "What are you both doing ?" asked Gray, not knowing why they'd bother with him.

\- "I won't feel right if he dies after fighting me." Simply said Natsu, a determined look in his eye.

\- "And as a doctor, he is like my patient and I'm not leaving him go while I'm not sure he is completely healed."

The other mages and Rider looked at the two guys with a proud look in their eyes as they all began to proceed in the tunnel to, after a quick walk, finally reach the other side, now free of the storm. As they finally were outside, they heard Kageyama, who was awake and laid down on the ground, a satisfied look on his face.

\- "You…You might have found a way out, but there's no way you'll catch up with Erigor now… We won…"

\- "I wouldn't be so sure, Kageyama." Said Kouta, helping Lucy out of the hole. "Don't tell me you didn't realized that there's one of us that's missing ? You should remember him from the train with Natsu, hum ?"

Kageyama frowned, realizing that if that guy was right. He didn't saw the bi-colored armored guy when they were in the hallway were Karakka stabbed him. He gritted his teeth but managed to find a comeback.

\- "Even if he can catch up with Erigor, he won't stand a chance."

\- "Wait. Where are Happy and Natsu ?" Lucy wondered, not paying any attention to Kageyama who, just like everyone else, was wondering about that. They were here just a few seconds ago.

\- "What ? Did they are already gone after them ? Just how fast is that cat ?" wondered Emu, amazed by how fast they were able to fly away. They couldn't even see them anymore.

\- "Really fast. Let's not waste any more time. We have to catch up to them." Erza ordered, the group heading to the magical vehicle, hoping to reach their friends before anything bad could happen.

/- With Erigor, about 15 minutes ago -/

Erigor was standing on a railroad on a bridge that cut through a ravine of some sort, towers of rocks surrounding him on all part. He was looking straight ahead, in the direction of his objective.

\- "Clover town, where the guild masters gather… It's getting close." He said to himself as wind began to gather at his feet. "Since I've recovered most of the magic power I used up when creating that magic wall of wind, I should speed up." The wind at his feet then push him off the ground, making him hover in mid-air. "Those geezers who took away our jobs and rights… Just wait and see. I'll kill you all with the melody of the Lullaby ! It's Shinigami's purge !"

But just as he was about to fly away to Clover, a shadow suddenly loomed over him, making him look upward, only to see a bird of some sort, a strange orange halo around the silhouette that he thought was the sun hidden behind it at first. Thought it wasn't as it was revealed to be a flock of birds made of an orange energy that suddenly rained down on him, sending him back on the ground.

\- "What the hell ?" he asked himself as the form landed on the rail, acting as some sort of wall between Erigor and Clover, was revealed to be much more human than he thought at first, but in a shape that made the mage wonder aloud. " What is that thing ?"

\- "Tenkuu no Abarenbou. HawkGatling. My flying BestMatch. Cool, isn't it ?" asked Sento, taunting the mage as he stood up to face an angered Erigor.

\- "You're one of those flies, isn't it ? I wonder how you managed to escape my Wind Wall, but those useless cannon fodder are going to feel my wrath after I'm done with the old geezers."

\- "Don't be too hard on them, I wasn't in the station in the first place. And I think you meant fairies, not flies." Said Sento with a laugh in his tone before loosing it suddenly, glaring through his mask at the mage. "But I do have some question about what you have in your 'troops'."

\- "Huh ? What the hell are you talking about ?" Erigor asked, trying to understand where he wanted to go.

\- "I'm talking about those weird monsters my friends are fighting back at the station." Answered the scientist, Erigor now seeing what he was talking about. "Where did you found them and why work with them ?"

\- "I don't know why it's that important to you, but I could tell you since you won't be alive long enough to tell anyone else." Said Erigor with a taunt before giving Sento his much awaited explanation. "I don't know who they are nor where they are coming from, but they came to them a few days ago. They knew we had the Lullaby and they asked us to give them some explanation on what it was. Of course, we tried to fought them, but they some really weird powers and threaten to destroy the Lullaby if we didn't did as they told. So we told them our plan and they proposed to help us by giving us those creature to help us and in exchange, we'll let them do some research on the Lullaby. Well, I'm probably going to get rid of those once I'm done with the old geezers, but I guess you don't have to know more of that."

Sento didn't need to know more, he had what he wanted. So Shocker wanted to do some research on the Lullaby ? That wasn't good. But if they could stop Erigor and get their hands on the flute, it would solve both the life of the masters and stall Shocker's plan.

\- "I see." Simply said the Rider as he grabbed some Fullbottles. "Well, thank you for the informations, now, I have three reasons to stop you." As Erigor stayed silent, looking at Sento with squinted eyes. "Firstly, as a Kamen Rider, I can't let Shocker get their hands on such a dangerous thing, so I'll take it with me. Secondly, as a Fairy Tail 'mages', I won't let you go and harm our master, or any other guild master. And Thirdly, as a sane person, I won't let you kill anyone for such a selfish reason."

\- "Selfish ?" That word seemed to finally get a reaction out of Erigor. "I'm only getting back at those old geezers who rid us of our rights. I'm doing it for the guild."

\- "No you aren't. Because there's nothing unfair in what happen to your guild." Sento didn't beat around the bush and his words clearly unnerved the wind mage. "By doing assassination jobs despite the rules, you became criminals and as such, had to be punished. Which means that your quest for revenge is just a pretext to just go and quench your bloodlust. You're nothing more than a crazy psycho and I'll stop you here and there."

Erigor was now really furious, grinding his teeth and literally growling at the Rider, the wind blowing furiously around him, Sento not moving an inch, two Fullbottles in his hands.

\- "I see you really want to get killed. Very well, you shall be the first one to perish by the Shinigami's hand."

\- "We'll see." Simply Answered Sento by showing the two Fullbottles at Erigor. "Now, shall we begin the experiment ?"

 _ **NINJYA ! COMIC ! BEST MATCH ! ARE YOU READY ?**_ "BUILD UP !" _**SHINOBI NO ENTERTAINER ! NINNINCOMIC ! YEAH !**_

Now clad in his yellow and purple armor, grabbing onto the 4Koma Ninpoutou, he rushed at Erigor who just swung his scythe at the Rider. Both weapon came in contact, sparks flying as both weapon grind against each other, the two fighter trying to land a hit on the others, Erigor being the first one, kicking Sento in his chest, sending him back and giving him an opening. But Sento wasn't finished yet.

 _ **BUNSHIN NO JUTSU !**_

All of a sudden, just as Erigor scythe was about to reach its target, three other Sento appeared, the one on the ground disappearing in a puff of smoke. The others Sento attacked him at the same time, but strangely, it didn't worried Erigor who just smirked as wind blew once again.

 _ **STORM SHRED !**_

Erigor called upon a flurry of wind-made blade that suddenly rained down on the three Build, not a single one of them being able to dodge everything, the two clone disappearing as the original was throw to the ground.

\- "You aren't worth the effort. I have more important matter to take care of. So disappear."

 _ **STORM BRINGER !**_

A powerful tornado suddenly appeared under Sento, sucking in Build who was swept up in the sky. As he was spinning wildly in this cyclone, he could see that Erigor was about to fly away, so he decided to try something else. Erigor turned his back to the tornado and began to fly away when he heard something familiar coming from the storm.

 _ **ROSE ! HELICOPTER ! BEST MATCH ! ARE YOU READY ?**_ "BUILD UP !" _ **JOUNETSU NO SENPUKI ! ROSECOPTER ! YEAH !**_

Using his Batrotor Blade, he managed to exit the tornado and flew down to Erigor, turning the crank of his Driver along the way.

 _ **READY, GO ! VORTEX FINISH ! YEAH !**_

Now in Sento's hand, the rotor began to cover itself with the vines from the Rose side of the armor, the blade spinning quickly as he came close to Erigor, slashing him on the back in an explosion of turquoise and vermillion. Erigor now back on the ground, Sento once again land in between the dark mage and the city, Erigor standing up without much difficulty, despite being injured by the attack. And talking about the attack.

 _"Hum ? It look like he wasn't that affected by the finish. Maybe our powers aren't as strong against mages. I'll have to investigate that."_

\- "You really are an annoying fly." Spat Erigor, unnerved by Sento's persistence, as he began to hover over the ground. "Besides, what you just called a 'finish' didn't do that much damages. You should just give up. You'll never beat me."

\- "If I'm alone, that is." This made Erigor tilt his head to the side in wondering. "I mean, if my calculation are correct, and they always are, the reinforcement should come soon."

As Erigor opened his mouth, he was stopped, feeling something heading their way at an unbelievable speed. Turning his head toward said incoming unidentified object, his eyes widen in surprise.

\- "This… is…. Happy's… MAX SPEED !"

Erigor had no time to dodge as Natsu suddenly land a flaming drop kick on his face with the strength and speed of a torpedo, dropped by Happy who managed to close the distance between them and the flying mage in a matter of a few seconds. The strength of the blow was such that Erigor was sent, once again, back on the train track, Natsu landing near him while Happy, completely tired up by the race, fell down, only to be caught by Sento.

\- "Wow, I heard you were fast, but you exceeded my expectation and calculation. Nicely done." Praised the scientist as Happy simply whispered a tired 'Aye' before being set on one of the surrounding rock, away from the fight. Erigor was just getting up, turning to Natsu with his veins showing on his neck and face, clear sign that he was pissed off.

\- "You… How can you be here ? I thought I ordered Karakka to kill Kageyama ?"

\- "We didn't needed him. We had another way." Answered Natsu with a smirk, igniting his fists. " But now that I'm here, I'll defeat you, you gentle breeze bastard ! Now come, I'll burn you along with that flute."

However, if Erigor was angered and annoyed by Natsu's presence, he wasn't out of trick in any way. Doing some hand gesture, he sent a strong wind at Natsu, one that left some cuts on his arms as he tried to protect himself. However, Erigor intended objective was reached when Natsu was blown of the bridge, falling into the deep darkness of the canyon depth. But Natsu wasn't done either. As Sento was about to grab another Fullbottle to help his friend, a hand made of fire grabbed the side of the track, pulling Natsu back on the bridge, surprising the Rider and mage.

\- "What was that ?" Sento wondered aloud.

\- "I can change the type of fire I use. This one is a more solid kind of flame. Good thing I tried it out." Explained Natsu as he set his feet on fire. "Isn't it cold when you're naked ? Why don't we heat things up a little ?"

Suddenly, using the fire on his feet, Natsu dashed forward and violently struck Erigor with a punch to his stomach, sending him back and getting an opening to strike once again.

 _ **FIRE DRAGON'S CLAW !**_

With a flame covered foot, Natsu kicked Erigor in the head, and while the latter was on the ground, nursing his head, the first tried to hit him once again, this time with a fist, but Erigor jumped out of the way, sweeping Natsu's feet with a gust of wind and did the same hand gesture as before against Sento.

 _ **STORM BRINGER !**_

The same kind of tornado appeared around Natsu, sending him flying and spinning like a top in the air, giving Erigor the possibility to kill Natsu with his scythe, but that would have happen if he didn't forget someone. Build, using his Batrotor, appeared in front of the wind mage, taking the blow for Natsu, the scythe only graving his armor.

\- "Did you forgot about me ? Forgetting to take a variable into consideration is a mistake one should never do."

\- "Thanks Sento. Now get down !" thanked Natsu as he took a deep breath, Sento crouching while Erigor seemed to be surprised by what he was seeing.

\- "Is he really gonna shoot flame from his mouth !?"

 _ **FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR !**_

As the stream of fire exploded out of Natsu's mouth, Erigor took flight once again, floating above the two fighters.

\- "Hey ! Stop fleeing and fight seriously, will you ?!" roared Natsu, as Sento seemed more reserved.

\- "I feel like he didn't show his full potential, yet." Theorized the scientist. "And I feel like we'll what he's really made of soon."

\- "Indeed. I must admit that I underestimated your strength and abilities a bit. Let's fight seriously now."

 _ **STORM MAIL !**_

Wind blew once again, the wind this time gathering around Erigor. And after a few seconds, Erigor was clad in his own armor, or at least it looked like an armor, made of wind. Natsu's didn't look impressed by this change while Sento was more cautious. Erigor then dived at them, burying his feet where they stood, just a split second after they'd jumped out of the way. Natsu then tried what he knew best, a fire-coated fist sent straight at his opponent. But when the fist came in contact with Erigor open hand, the flame on Natsu's hand were blown away, like a candle in a storm. And no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't do anything to reach him anymore.

\- "I see. This Storm Mail blows wind inside out." Realized Sento, Erigor confirming his thought by smirking through his wind armor.

\- "Yes it is. So it doesn't matter what you do, pink fly. Flames can't win against wind." Natsu sneered at that while Sento took a step toward the wind mage.

\- "Maybe they can't. But I wonder if it will also work against that."

Sento swung his right arm at Erigor, a flurry of black thorn projections being fired at him, but Storm Mail wasn't just a flame-dousing armor. It also surrounded Erigor with a strong wind, like a typhoon, that blew the thorns away.

\- "It won't work. You now can't win against me ! DIE !"

He then sent a whole lot of air blade at the two guys who were barely able to dodge the attacks, and every time they tried to reach and attack Erigor, they were repelled by the powerful wind. After some time, Erigor decided to stop this fight by calling upon his strongest spell.

\- "Take this ! Soaring wind magic that cuts up everything : Emera Param."

\- "Emera Param ?!" this voice came from Happy who had finally woke up, grabbing upon the track to don't be blown away. "You'll be chopped into bits if you get hit by that !"

\- "Die ! USELESS FLIES !"

Alas, Happy's advice couldn't be used as Erigor unleashed the strength of his spell, the sudden gust of slicing wind destroying the track and blowing both fighter away, who were out cold on the ground, Sento now out of his armor. Happy was worried for his unconscious friend while Erigor look satisfied with the outcome, even if he was slightly impressed.

\- "NATSU ! SENTO ! WAKE UP !"

\- "Not bad, you're still in one piece. You're pretty for a young mage." Said Erigor as he turned to walk away. "Don't worry. I'll send the geezers over to your place soon enough. With the Lullaby's melody, or course."

\- "Yeah, as if."

Much to Erigor's horror and Happy's happiness, Sento had spoke from the ground as he and Natsu got up, battered up but alive and still ready to fight, Natsu taking his now shredded vest off.

\- "If you want the old man's head, fight us fair and square." He said, his body covered in cuts as he ignite his fist once again to rush at Erigor. "If you're not courageous enough to fight, don't even bother !" But just like before, he was sent away by Erigor's wind. This sent his anger and frustration skyrocketing, his whole body covering in flame as he vent off his emotions on a steel rail.

\- "Why can't I get close to you !? I DON'T GET IT !"

As he was bending the steel, as if twisting the rail could gave him an idea on how he could beat the mage, Sento got up, his Sparkling Fullbottle in hand when he felt something weird with the way wind flew around him.

\- "Hey, Natsu !" This grabbed the Dragon slayer and Riders attention who turned to look at the Exceed, who was looking at Natsu, waving his paw in a 'give up' way. "Impossible. You can't win, Natsu. Let's leave it to Gray."

\- "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT !?"

This, of course, angered Natsu even more, the steel around him melting even more but that's also when the weird wind around Sento became even stronger than before. Turning his head to Erigor, the scientist then noticed that the Storm Mail was becoming more and more clearer. In fact, it was disappearing.

\- "But of course ! Why didn't I thought of that before ?" he said to himself as realization dawned upon him. "The air, heated by his flames, is creating an ascending current and a zone of low pressure that suck the winds toward him. Wait… Suck ? Why didn't I think of that before." Putting his Sparkling Fullbottle back in the white box by his waist, he grabbed to other Fullbottle as Erigor was now truly panicking.

\- "My Storm Mail ! He really sucked it away ?!" he shouted in disbelief. "Such an incredible heat magic like this one… Does a Dragon Slayer user still exist ?!"

 _ **LION ! SOUJIKI ! BEST MATCH ! ARE YOU READY ?**_ "HENSHIN !" _**TATEGAMI CYCLONE ! LIONCLEANER ! YEAH !**_

Turning to Sento, Erigor saw that he was wearing another armor, a cyan and gold colored one, proving that he was ready to fight to, his hand turning the lever of his driver. Realizing that this could end badly for him, he tried to flew away.

\- "HEY ! Come back here ! I'll take you dooooown ! "

\- "Don't worry. He won't go far away." Said Sento as he let go of the lever.

 _ **READY, GO ! VORTEX FINISH !**_

Using the Long Range Cleaner, he began to suck Erigor toward him, holding him in place, much to Natsu, Happy and Erigor's shock.

\- "Nice one, Sento !" Said Natsu, still covered in flame. "Now I'll finish him off."

\- "How about doing it together ?" he said As his Gold Lio Gauntlet began to shine. Both guys were now ready to strike, Nastu jumping at Erigor.

 _ **FIRE DRAGON'S SWORD HORN !**_

Natsu came like a rocket at Erigor, his head crushing his stomach as the wind mage gasped for air as the flames almost explode against him, sending him flying, charred up but not completely out cold. Still sucked in by the Long Range Cleaner, Erigor was coming close to the rider who threw his right arm at the wind mage, an energy lion head being send at Erigor, the lion head biting the mage, exploding upon contact, the wind mage getting send flying away, landing hardly on the ground, now finally out cold.

\- "See, Happy ! I did beat that guy !" said Natsu, his back turned to Happy and a now unarmored Sento.

\- "Aye. You did a great job, Natsu the Salamander."

\- "And what did you say earlier ?" continued Natsu, now turning to look at Happy with a quite angered face.

\- "Us cats have a really terrible memory…" this made Sento snicker a little bit as Natsu came closer to them, holding Erigor's head in his hand.

\- "Didn't you say something like I wouldn't be able to defeat this guy, so Erza Blah, blah, blah ?!"

\- "Wow, his memory is worse than a cat, it would seem." Muttered Sento as he and Happy smiled at him. "But hey, in the end, we won. I think that's what really matter, isn't it ?"

\- "Oh well…" simply said Natsu, wiping the blood from his face. "But how did my last attack hit him ?"

\- "Because you're amazing, Natsu. " said Happy before Sento could open his mouth but looking at the now laughing and proud Natsu, he decided to let it slide. Now was not the time to try and make him understand the principle of heat and ascending current. As they all shared smile and laugh, they didn't noticed the dark smoke that came out of Lullaby's skull as the flute laughed eerily.

 **And that's it for this chapter. I hope you liked it. Next time, it's going to be the last part of the Lullaby arc with the same Lullaby giant, but also the first use of this new device to call some temporary reinforcement. Who's going to be the first one ? You'll have to read to know. See ya ! Oh, and with the new year's celebration coming up, I'll probably be late with the next update, but by only a few days normally so don't worry, I won't forget you.**

 **Next time : Makarov's words. The Lullaby real form and Shocker plan. In need of some help.**


	11. Chapter 11 : Demon and Shocker

**HAPPY NEW YEAR ! I hope you're all good and that you had a great time waiting for this new year and that 2019 will be great for you. As for me, well, everything was cool, even if it made me a little late on the update. But it doesn't matter. Enough talking about me, let's get to it !**

 **Chapter 11 : Demon and Shocker**

Natsu, Sento and Happy were all waiting for their friend after they had finally beaten Erigor, still in the post-fight daze, when they finally heard a rumbling noise.

\- "Natsu ! Guys !"

Hearing Lucy's voice, they turned to see the 4-wheeled magical vehicle, driven by Erza, with Gray, Lucy, Emu, Kouta and Kageyama in the back. As the newcomers looked closely at them, they saw the beaten Erigor on the ground, the fairies sighing in relief while Kageyama's reaction was one of utter surprise.

\- "N-No way ! You have defeated Erigor-san ?!"

\- "You guys are late, we already took care of him." Said Natsu, turning to the others, his arms crossed on his chest as the others exited the vehicle, Lucy helping Erza whose magic had been drained by the car.

\- "You know, when you get a desperate win against such an opponent, you're only making Fairy Tail look bad." Said Gray, walking up to Natsu who only sneered.

\- "Desperate ? How ? It was an easy win. Right, Happy ?"

\- "I know nothing." Answered the cat, much to the mage annoyance, annoyance that strengthen due to Sento.

\- "I think that it would have been a tad more complicated if I didn't helped in stalling him until you find a way to exit the tornado."

\- "Anyway, good job to you. Now, the masters are safe." Said Erza, calming the tension that was building between the fire and ice mages. As for Emu and Kouta, they walked up to Sento.

\- "So, did you learn anything about why they had shockers with them ? " the question also grabbed the attention of the mages, who were curious about that, except Natsu who didn't knew about Shocker teaming up with Eisenwald, Gray having learned about it in the car.

\- "Wait. Isn't Shocker your enemy ? What are you talking about ?" asked Natsu, at a loss for words.

\- "They were some members of Shocker back at Ochibana working with Eisenwald." Explained Kouta to a nodding Natsu. "And we asked Sento to try and get answer while stopping Erigor. So ?" he then turned to the scientist who resumed what he knew.

\- "Well, they knew for Lullaby and proposed to help Eisenwald in their plan as long as they could do some research on the flute once they were done with it."

\- "Research on a dark magic item that dangerous ? It can't be good." Said Emu, to which they all nodded.

\- "Well, since we are here, we should go to Clover and see the masters." Said Erza, straightening herself. "We have to report what happen and see what we should do about that flute."

As soon as she said that however, they were pushed aside by the car that Kageyama had took control of, a shadow hand grabbing the Lullaby as he sped away, much to everyone shock.

\- "You were careless, flies." He laughed with a mad grin. "The flute… The Lullaby is in my hands ! Serves you right !"

\- "What ! That bastard ! How could he ! We even saved him !" roared Natsu as his body suddenly went up in flames.

\- "Shit ! Without any vehicle, we won't reach Clover in time !" shouted Erza, fear filling her mind as she racked her mind to find a solution, which came from the Riders.

\- "No, we have a means of transports." Said Kouta as he grabbed a white Lockseed with a pink flower, Emu a yellow Gashat and Sento his phone and the Lion Fullbottle, the three of them activating their trinkets. Kouta opened his Lockseed which unfold to form his Sakura Hurricane, Emu activated the Bike Gamer, inserting it in the Kimewaza Slot, the Yellow bike appearing in front of him, and Sento, just like when he ran to get Natsu after they forgot him in the train, called upon his own bike. The three Riders got on their bike, helmet in place, calling to the others.

\- "Come on ! We can't waste any more time !"

Erza, Gray and Lucy rushed to the Riders, joining Kouta, Emu and Sento respectively, getting on their bike, Natsu still unmoving, looking at the bike with his face getting greener at each passing seconds.

\- "Hum, you know what, I'll just walk. I'll meet you there. I mean, there's no need for all of us to stick together all the time, right ?" The Riders and mages looked at him with a 'are you for real ?' expression on their face as Sento decided to solve the issue with a simple but effective solution.

 _ **OCTOPUS ! TANK ! ARE YOU READY ?**_

This was the last thing Natsu heard before he was abducted by pink octopus tentacle that wrapped around him and lift him off the ground, as the Riders sped off, heading to Clover, as screaming then sick Dragon Slayer floating alongside them. If the mages took pity of Natsu, that didn't last long, their minds now focused on the task at hands : stopping Kageyama.

/- Clover -/

In Clover Town, the regular meeting of the Guild Master was still in full swing, even despite the night that has now fallen on the city, their building being the only one who still had light coming out of the window. However, just outside the building stood Kageyama who was catching his breath after driving up to the city as fast as he could, and now, Lullaby in hand, he was ready to do what Eisenwald had worked for in the last few days.

"Good, the regular meeting isn't over yet." He said to himself, looking at the light filled building. "The Lullaby's melody can reach them without any problem from this distance. The time has come, fu fu fu…"

But before he could even lift the flute to his mouth, he was stopped by a hand landing on his shoulder from behind, making him jump out of surprise, and maybe a little fear. Anxiously, he slowly turned his head, only to be poke in the cheek by a finger. Not expecting that, he jumped away from the hand, only to end up facing Makarov, sitting on the car as he laughed like a child.

\- "FuHyaHyaHyaHya ! *Cough Cough*" interrupted by a sudden coughing fit that seemed to bring him back to Earth, his whole body was now shaking, sweat running down his face. "No, No, It's not the time for me to do this. I've gotta hurry and find out where those three went. Otherwise, a town might disappear !" he said to himself, almost wheezing his words out of stress. Ever since he learned from Mirajane in a letter she had send that Era, Gray and Natsu where teaming up, he was afraid about the destruction they might cause. "You should go back, too. To the hospital."

Kageyama was sweating bullets, having recognized the old man as the Fairy Tail master and for him, this was an opportunity to get rid of him, as well as the others masters, so he tried something.

\- "Erm… Will you… Listen to one song ? The hospital won't let me play it." He said, grabbing the Lullaby, Makarov looking at him strangely.

\- "That's a creepy flute." He said, before agreeing to the proposition. "Well, alright. I'm in a hurry, so only one song, okay ?"

\- "Sure." Said Kageyama with a smile as inside, he was jubilating, he had won. He put the flute on his mouth, but as he was about to play, he suddenly felt something stopping him, his mind replaying some scenes from the past. First came memories from his Eisenwald companions.

"Legal Guilds are all so lame ! … Their abilities are so low, but they're so proud of themselves ! … This is our revenge on the world of mages that locked us up in the darkness and took away our lives ! We'll kill all the guild masters around here for a start !"

After those memories, that made him frown a little bit, came those from the Fairy Tail members he met recently, namely Lucy, Gray, Erza and Natsu, in that order.

"Your rights will never be returned if you do that ! … you should all live your lives more positively… Kage ! We need your help ! … Aren't you nakama from the same guild !?"

As he seems to be struggling, the Riders and mages finally reached the city, seeing Makarov just in front of Kageyama, who had the flute on his lips. They were all about to jump on him to make him stop, well, with the exception of Natsu who was still recovering from the forced ride he took thanks to Sento. However, they were stopped by a small bald man wearing makeup, who shushed them.

\- "Shh ! The best part is coming up. Just watch."

\- "Who is he ?" wondered Lucy, Erza answering by addressing the said man.

\- "Blue Pegasus Master !"

\- "My, Erza-chan, you've grown." Said BP Master, the Riders looking at him strangely.

\- "So that guy is a guild master ? Well, he doesn't really look one." Muttered Kouta as Emu slapped the back of his head not finding that really nice. Looking back at Kageyama, they saw that he was struggling even more, Makarov looking up at him with a neutral expression on his face.

\- "what's going on ? Hurry already." He said, inviting him to play. Of course, the mages tried to jump in to stop him, but another master stopped them, a smile on his face.

\- "Just stay quiet. This should be interesting."

\- "And you are ?" asked Sento, the hat and collar wearing mage turning to him but before he could answer, Natsu grabbed Sento by the collar.

\- "You ! You'll pay for that trick !" he threatened, only to be slapped in the back of his head by Lucy, telling him to shut up as the hat guy finally got a moment to answer.

\- "I'm Quatro Cerberus Master, Goldmine. Now calm your pink haired friend down, shut up and watch."

\- "Now." this time, Makarov was looking dead serious, encouraging Kageyama as he still hadn't play the flute, struggling more and more with each second. This last call made him put the flute back on his lips.

 _"Play… I just need to play it. Everything will change after that !"_

\- "Nothing will change."

Makarov sudden words took Kageyama by surprise. It was as if the master, who by now had lost his neutral expression to adopt a more solemn one, had read his mind.

\- "Weakling will stay weak forever. But weakness is not evil, since human beings are weak creatures to begin with. Alone, you feel nothing but insecurity; that's why we form guilds. That's why we have nakama. We walk together in order to live a strong life. The clumsy ones will run into more walls than the others and it may also take them longer to get there. If you believe in tomorrow and put yourself out there, you can naturally obtain your strength. That's how you'll be able to smile and live strong, without having to depend on such a flute, of course."

Those words struck Kageyama hard, realizing that Makarov knew all along that he couldn't do it. Letting go of the flute, he fell to his knees in front of Makarov, his will to kill now gone, admitting his defeat. Looking at the scene, the mages of Fairy Tail were all smiling, alongside the Riders who were impressed by the old man.

\- "Wow, he know how to give a speech." Said Emu, as amazed as his colleagues by what they just witnessed, which was an old man getting rid of the killing intent of someone with words only. They then followed the mages, who were already running at their master.

\- "Master / Jicchan / Jii-san !" shouted the mages as they get close to Makarov, who was surprised to see them here.

\- "Nuwah !? Why are you three here !?" he asked before noticing the riders and Lucy. "And you're not alone ? Why so many people ?"

Once the surprised had gone by, they were all congratulating the master for what had happen, Natsu even patting his head while congratulating him, which tend to gradually annoy Makarov. They were all smile and happiness, but it wouldn't last. Sento then saw the Lullaby still laying on the ground. He grabbed it and was about to go back to the others when he noticed something.

\- "Hum, guys. Is it normal for a flute to smoke in your world ?"

This grabbed everyone attention as they saw that indeed, a purple smoke was coming out of skull of the flute he was holding. A sight that was creepy enough like that, but what happen next was even creepier.

\- "Kakaka. You mages have no guts." Said a deep and heavy voice coming from the skull, even more smoke coming out of it. "I can't hold it any longer. I'll just eat you all myself." Sento finally let go of the flute as the smoke was forming a huge shape and materialized into some kind of wooden monster whose bottom part was progressively passing from smoke to solid form. "Let me consume your pitiful souls…"

\- "What is that ?!" Wondered Kouta in shock who, just like everyone else, didn't expected the creepy flute to transform in an even creepier monster.

\- "W-What's going on ? How could a devil come out of a flute ?" stuttered Lucy, her whole body shaking while looking at the monster.

\- "It's the devil from the book of Zeref !" Answered Goldmine, sweat running down his temple." That devil is the Lullaby itself. It's a living magic. A creation of Zeref."

\- "Zeref !? You mean Zeref from the ancient times ?!" asked Gray, who was just as uneasy as everyone else.

\- "Wait a second. Who's that Zeref ?" asked Emu, voicing the question the Riders all had on their mind.

\- "Dark mage Zeref. The most atrocious mage in the history of magic." Answered Bob, Blue Pegasus master with a hand on his face. "I never imagined that this adverse legacy from several hundred years ago would reappear." The Riders looked at each other, hoping that this was the only thing that Zeref created, but they were soon interrupted by Lullaby's cavernous voice.

\- "I'm starving to death so I'm gonna eat your souls. Now… Whose soul should I enjoy first ? I've decided. ALL OF YOURS !" The devil then opened his mouth, ready to devour everyone's soul but as soon as he did, and without giving the Riders the time to react, Erza, Gray and Natsu all rushed at the demon, Erza requipping into her Heaven Wheel armor, using the swords in her hands to deeply cut the devil ankle, causing him to close its mouth to grunt in pain as Natsu began climbing up its leg like a giant bean stalk and kicking its face with a flaming kick, knocking its head to the other side, much to the others masters surprise.

\- "He blew away the devil's body with just a kick ?! Is he really a mage ?!"

\- "Well, he is, but not the usual kind." Said Sento, answering the masters without really paying them any mind as he watched as the devil turned back to look at Natsu, who was standing on his shoulder, like he was looking at an annoying bug.

\- "How impudent !" said the devil before unleashing from his mouth a whole lot of magic bullet. Natsu easily dodged them by jumping to the side, but the bullets then kept going, heading to the masters, Gray appearing in between the old men and the imminent threat, his right fist in his left open hand.

 _ **ICE MAKE : SHIELD !**_

\- "An ice-alchemy mage ?" said one of the master as the others began to run away.

\- "He won't make it in time ! We'll get it !"

But just like everyone in Fairy Tail, Gray wasn't your run of the mill alchemy mage. And it was proven as a big shield of ice shaped like a flower appeared in a flash, taking everyone by surprise, Makarov grinning as proudness shown on his face.

\- "Wow. So this is what his magic look like in a fight, huh ? Color me impressed." Said Kouta, impressed as Sento was more intrigued by something the masters said.

\- "Alchemy Magic ? It's o type of magic, I suppose. But what does it mean exactly ?"

\- "It's a type of magic that gives 'shape' to the magic power." Explained Happy as Sento simply nodded. But Happy wasn't done yet. "And takes it away as well."

Wondering what he meant by that, the Riders, but also Lucy who apparently didn't know much more than them about this kind of magic, looked at Gray whose hands were now stretched in front of him, palms to the monster, as magic gathered around his hands.

 _ **ICE MAKE : LANCE !**_

A dozen of ice spears suddenly bursted out of the magic gathered in his hands, striking the devil hard. But the spectators clearly didn't expected to see what they saw when the cloud of smoke and ice fell down. A huge chunk of the devil had been ripped off, Lullaby stumbling a little because of this wound.

\- "Wow ! Now that's what I call a critical hit !" exclaimed Emu, a big smile on his face as Lucy looked at him weirdly, Sento and Kouta simply rolling their eyes at Emu's gamer side that appeared suddenly. Either way, Gray's attack was also the opening the knight and dragon were waiting for to attack.

 _ **REQUIP : BLACK WING ARMOR !**_

Erza changed her armor, now wearing a black one with large wing on her back, a simple sword in her hand. She then fly to the devil as Natsu, still hanging on Lullaby, ignite his two hands, putting them together as he jumped at Lullaby's head, the flames merging into a shining one.

 _ **FIRE DRAGON'S BRILLIANT FLAME !**_

 _ **ICE MAKE : LANCE !**_

The three mages attack hit the target at the same time, Lullaby getting shredded by the ice spears, cut in half by one sweep of a sword, his head being consumed by a sudden explosion of flames. In the seconds that followed the assault, the devil lost its balance, falling down to the ground, crushing the regular meeting site under its weight. This performance of the mages shocked everyone, except for Makarov who was still grinning proudly at his 'kids' who were now standing among the rubbles, the Riders looking at them in shock and amazement.

\- "Mirajane was right. This might very well be Fairy Tail strongest team." Said Sento, the others nodding in approbation. But as the three mages walked back to the others, Lucy and Makarov praising their performance, they were all stopped by another slightly mechanical voice coming from a nearby hill.

\- "Well, that was definitely interesting." Everybody turned to see a group of strange looking persons, or maybe beasts, that looked at where Lullaby had landed. The Riders, Lucy, Happy and Erza were the only one who knew who those guys were, the girls and cat knowing since they saw the same black clothed guys at Ochibana. Among the same kind of guy now stood a old looking man wearing a silvery piece of armor with green eyes, his helmet looking like some sort of insect head and what looked like a Driver on his waist. This was Shadow Moon, a Shocker general. "This living magic sure is something we should look into."

\- "Who are you !?" shouted one of the masters, grabbing Shocker attention. "What do you want ?"

\- "Who I am doesn't matter. As for what we want, it's for you to stay put as we go and work on that Lullaby. We have some project for it."

\- "You won't go anywhere, Shocker ! Not as long as we are here !" announced Erza, a sword in hand, pointing it at the group who just looked at her in disdain.

\- "You are overestimating yourself." He said as he walked down the rubbles, followed by the foot soldier. "That devil was far too weak so don't think destroying it will impress us. As for that living magic, it might be weaker than we expected, but it was meant to be a test, so it doesn't matter."

He then suddenly stopped in his tracks, his brain catching up what the red head had said, realizing that she said something she shouldn't have : their name. With this revelation, he turned to the redhead, in need of answer. "How can you know who we are ?"

\- "That's because we told them."

That's when Shocker finally noticed three familiar looking guys among the mages, with even more familiar belt around their waist. Realizing who they were, he took a step back in shock, his men doing the same while 'Yeeing' in surprise.

\- "What ? Kamen Riders ? How is that possible ? What are you doing here ?"

\- "What do you think ? We followed you through that same gate you used." Said Kouta, fidgeting while toying with the Orange Lockseed.

\- "That being said, I think I figure out your plan, or at least a part of it." Said Sento, rubbing his chin as a tuft of hair sprung into life. "You are looking for dark magic you could use against us, isn't it ?"

Hearing the armored man groaning under his helmet gave Sento the answer he was waiting for, the Shocker Rider-like soldier not losing his calm and temper.

\- "So you really want to be a pain even outside of our own world, huh ?"

\- "Well, you should know by now that we exist to stop your kind of guy, so don't be so surprised." Said Emu, Gashat in hand.

\- "Tch, whether you're here or not doesn't matter. We won't stop at anything to get rid of you, even if this mean wrecking this world in the process !"

This slightly unnerved the mages, Erza, Natsu, Gray and Lucy looking like they were about to attack until Emu stopped them with a gesture of his hand.

\- "Don't. We'll take care of that. If they want to spread chaos in this world, then I'll change this world fate !"

\- "Well said, Emu." Said Sento with a smile as he grabbed his two main Fullbotlle. "Now, shall we begin the experiment ?"

 _ **ORANGE !**_

 _ **RABBIT ! TANK ! BEST MATCH ! ARE YOU READY ?**_

 _ **MIGHTY ACTION X !**_

\- "HENSHIN !"

 _ **SOIYA ! ORANGE ARMS ! HANAMICHI ON STAGE !**_

 _ **HAGANE NO MOONSAULT ! RABBITTANK ! YEAK !**_

 _ **GASHAT ! GACHAN ! LEVEL UP ! MIGHTY JUMP ! MIGHTY KICK ! MIGHTY MIGHTY ACTION X !**_

As the guild master were shocked by what they had just witnessed, the fairies just looked with interest as Shocker just looked as angry as before, if not even more, as they began to attack. The Riders jumped into action too, fighting off the wave of Shocker soldier that came to them. This wasn't really a fight, but the sheer number of soldier keep them busy for a moment. Emu and Sento kicking and punching at the soldier continuously, not even breaking a sweat, Sento even switching to a PandaSoujiki Trial Form to raise the challenge a little. As for Kouta, he was fending off against sword armed soldier with his Musou Saber and Daidaimaru, Erza looking at him attentively, unable to deny that he knew how to fight with a sword. His swordsmanship intrigued Erza, but Kouta didn't even noticed her, too busy slicing the soldier as they came. Once they were all done with the soldier, they turned to Shadow Moon, who drew his own sword to defend himself. However, fighting against three Riders at the same time was impossible, even for him. The riders played with him for a moment before they deemed it was time to finish it. And they let Gaim do the honor, the fruit Rider combining both his Daidaimaru and Musou Saber, creating the Daidaimaru Naginata and placing the Lockseed on the Musou Saber.

 _ **LOCK ON ! 1 ! 10 ! 100 ! 1000 !**_

The Musou Saber covered with an orange aura, Gaim, firing two energy slashes at Shadow Moon who was trapped inside an orange sphere, shaped like an orange. Then, the Daidaimaru side of the Naginata also shone with an orange energy and Kouta rushed at the trapped opponent, slicing him in half, the Shocker lieutenant disappearing in an explosion. After some time, Kouta and the Riders got back to the mages, those who didn't know about the Riders looking at them with wide shocked eyes.

\- "What the hell is this sort of magic ?" asked one.

\- "This looked like some kind of Requip Magic, but I've never seen anything like that." Said Goldmine.

\- "It's a little complicated. I'll explain later." Answered Makarov, also a little surprised by what he saw since he's never seen the Riders fight. The fairies began to congratulate the Riders, but Erza had something else in mind, walking straight to Kouta.

\- "Fight me."

Everyone turned to the redhead and the Rider, no one expecting something like this to happen so suddenly. As for Kouta, he was as shocked as everyone else, looking straight at Erza as if he never saw her before.

\- "Hum, no."

\- "Well, not immediately. This will have to wait until we are back at the guild, but I've never seen anyone handling a sword like you are. So I'm curious to see what you can really do." She said, crossing her arms while Kouta just stuttered.

\- "W-Well, I get your point, but I don't…"

\- "We better be going and head home then. I think we all need some rest." Erza said, turning around, leaving a dumbfounded Kouta behind him, who slowly turned to the others.

\- "I've never agreed to that, isn't it ?"

\- "Yeah, but it doesn't matter. You'll have to do as she said, now." said Gray as he walk to Kouta, placing a hand on his shoulder. "It was nice knowing you."

\- "You could be a little more compassionate, you know."

As the mages and Riders were about to go home, Shadow moon reappeared, beaten up and standing next to Lullaby, a metal container in his hands.

\- "I didn't expected to fight anyone here, but I'll do have some things to do. Luckily, it could also get us definitely rid of you." With that being said, he opened the container and empty the contents on the devil. A strange gray substance that seemed half-liquid, like some sort of slime, began to cover the Lullaby and before everyone's eyes, the wooden monster began to swell and became much bigger than before, standing up and roaring loudly, the mages surprised and horrified by what they were seeing, and the fact that the parts destroyed by the mages attacks were now repaired, replaced by some kind of metallic implants.

\- "What the hell is that, now ?!" shouted Makarov who, just like everyone else, Riders included, didn't expected that.

\- "Those nanobots really do wonders." Commented Shadow Moon, answering Makarov without even looking like he answered him. "Now let's see. Lullaby, jump !" Neither the Riders nor the mages expected that to work, and it didn't, however, it didn't seemed to bother Shadow Moon who just huffed. "Well, I guess we have to work on that part. Anyway, I have some places to be, so I'll leave you with that devil. Have some fun !"

With that said, he shot a kind of laser with his sword at Lullaby before finally leaving the scene, his attack enraging the cyborg devil who looked to vent of his anger on something and since the mages and riders being the only one here, they made the perfect target. But of course, they would never be destroyed without a fight, Gray being the first one to attack, his hands stretched forward.

 _ **ICE MAKE : LANCE !**_

Just like before, a flurry of ice spears rained down on the giant but much to Gray's shock, Lullaby was far less hurt by the attack, the spear barely grazing its body, the Riders noticing that this was due to the mechanical part of the devil that had moved to reduce the damage.

\- "It would seem like those nanobot also act like a shield." Said Emu as he dodge a punch from the monster with some mages. "But they are still robots right ? Maybe they have a limit in power. If we can force them to their limits, it might lose its protective abilities."

\- "That could work, but how can we deal enough damage to that thing ?" asked Kouta, under cover with Lucy and Goldmine. "Where are the Sentai when we need them ?"

\- "We may have no Sentai, but we can have a giant." Answered Sento. "I think it's time to test our new gadget."

Hearing him talk about a new gadget, the Riders and mages turned to him, only for him to pick something from their trinkets box. This new device was some kind of remote with a screen and some sort of scroll wheel with a red button. Scrolling through different kind of symbol, he stopped on one and pushed the button. Suddenly, a Dimension wall like portal appeared, like coming out of the device where a countdown of about 5 minutes appeared, beginning as soon as a men stepped out of the portal. Well, what the mages assume was a man, since he was covered in a green armor with a helmet that resemble to a grass-hopper head.

\- "Kamen Rider J ? Oh, I see. This thing allow us to call upon some friends, isn't it ?" said Emu as he walked to Sento, looking at the device.

\- "Indeed. Besides, it also show who can be called. But it's only temporary. We have about 5 minutes."

\- "Well, he better go to work quickly then. J !" Kouta called the other Rider who turned to him.

\- "I know. I'm here for that monster, right ? I'll try to weaken it as much as possible." He said, turning to Lullaby, ignoring the stares from the mages around him.

\- "Hum. And why do you think he can fight that thing ?" asked Natsu in wonder, finding that new Rider kinda plain next to the other.

\- "Because he have a kind of power only a few Riders have."

 _ **JUMBO FORMATION !**_

Much to everyone surprised, beside the Riders of course, J began to grow until he was 40 meters tall, standing head to head with the Lullaby who looked at him with a throaty growl that even shook the ground. The Riders then began to attack the giant beast, the two giants facing off, J keeping the upper hand all along. He was hitting so much the upgraded devil that the nanobots in Lullaby were used non-stop during the fight, so much that after some time, the nanobots didn't have enough energy to keep up with the hits and protect the demon. When the 5 minutes limit came to an end, J decided to end this with one final attack.

 _ **JUMBO RIDER PUNCH !**_

J's fist covered in red flames and struck Lullaby in the face, sending the devil stumbling backward, the robotic part of its body emitting sparks, sign that it had suffered too many damages and a few seconds later, the Lullaby exploded, or at least the mechanical part of it, but the explosion also blew the wooden part, the devil finally disappearing, the robotics parts destroyed and the rest of the devil going back to its usual flute shape. As for J, since his time was up, a Dimensional Wall appeared next to him, slowly approaching him, the Rider turning to his colleagues.

\- "Well, look like my time here is up for now. I'll report to the others about what is happening here. Stay strong. Good luck."

\- "Yeah, good bye."

And the Rider was finally 'absorbed' by the DW (Dimensional Wall), leaving behind him a shocked contingent of mages, surrounding the Riders. But not all the mages where surprised, some just had questions.

\- "Was that one of your friend ?" asked Gray.

\- "Yes. Since he is one of the only Rider who can turn into a giant, I think this could be nice to call him since it was also the perfect occasion to test our new gadget." Explained Sento, now out of his armor, just like the other Riders. The masters all had some questions, turning to Makarov to get some answer.

\- "Well, that was weird and we have no idea what happened, but we owe Fairy Tail one." Said Goldmine, much to the joy of Makarov, who laughed like a fool, acting nonchalantly but deep down loving the fact that they owe something to him.

\- "Don't worry about it ! Fhyahyahyahya…hya…hya… *GASP* !" All of a sudden, Makarov stopped laughing, looking at something behind the other masters, who turned to see what it was as Makarov tiptoed away from his colleagues, everyone now seeing what made him lose his desire to laugh. Now that the commotion was over, they could all focus and realize that the regular meeting site was now completely ruined, much to everyone shock, which forced the Fairy Tail mages and Riders to do the only thing they could do in such case : run away.

\- "GET THEM !" roared the other guild masters, chasing the mages, Natsu being the only one laughing at that.

\- "Master, we are really sorry… We've disgraced you." Said Erza, hanging her head as she ran alongside her friends.

\- "It's all right; I don't think they'll invite me again any way." Answered Makarov. As for the riders, they were running while thinking about what happened.

\- "This is bad guys. I fear that staying with them too much will make us as destructive as they are." Shuddered Kouta, imagining what it would be if back in their world, their fight became as destructive as here.

\- "I don't think that's the main problem here." Said Emu. "Just in case you forgot, Shocker find a way to combine their technologies with magic."

\- "Yeah, this is bad. But…" a tuft of hair suddenly rise on Sento's head as his scientific curiosity appear once again. "..This mean that we can probably do the same and use it for our own gain. I'll have so much research to do once we will be home ! But as for now we have to flee."

The mages, still busy running away, turned their head when they heard the familiar rumbling noises coming from the Riders bike.

\- "Need a ride ?" they said as the mages and their master got on the bike, Natsu being forced by Lucy, as they sped away into the night, away from Clover, their mind focuses on the future and what was waiting for them.

 **And done ! I hope you liked it. The next chapter will be a lot more different than the canon, with a little more things happening at the council. See ya !**

 **Next time : Armors showdown. Erza's arrestation. Meeting with the council.**


	12. Chapter 12 : Showdown & meet the council

**Hello guys ! I don't have a lot to say today, so I'll be quick and just thank you all for your support and reviews. All of that is really important for me since it show that people like what I'm doing and it's really gratifying. Well, let's get to it then !**

 **Just one small thing. I have to remind you all that I'm following the manga, not the anime (even if I might take a thing or two from the anime if I need or want it) so Erza doesn't have the Strawberry armor she used in episode 219.**

 **I ain't Fairy Tail nor Kamen rider owner, I'm just using them and the credit goes to their rightful owner.**

 **Chapter 12 : Showdown and meeting the council**

/- Era -/

\- "Even if Eisenwald is now out of order for good, the main problem hasn't been solved yet."

The air in the council meeting room was thick with tension. Ever since the terrorist attack attempted by Eisenwald at Clover and the release of the Lullaby, fear and doubt had made their ways up to the higher-ups of the mage world. The council had met quickly after that to take action according to what took place in clover and once again, Fairy Tail was about to be part of the equation.

\- "There are still tons of illegal guilds out there." Said a old bearded mage to his fellow councilmen, all seated around a big round table. "We should just root them altogether. It's intolerable if anyone would embezzle Zeref's magic again."

\- "But Fairy Tail, the one guild that we've been so annoyed with showed and saved the day." Suddenly said a young man, by far the youngest male around the table, with blue hair and a red tattoo over his right eye. Next to him, a beautiful brunette added her own comment.

\- "That's right, Sieglein-sama. They took down one guild with only a handful of mages." She chuckled as the other councilmen only gritted their teeth in annoyance, since they couldn't deny that fact, even if it pained them to do so.

\- "You don't want to admit the truth, and I understand perfectly why, but the facts are there." Said the one now identified as Sieglein. "If the guild masters were killed by the Lullaby, things would've been much worse. I'd even dare say that some of us might have been fired if it happened."

This of course raised an uproar among the councilmen, who didn't like what the blue haired mage was implying.

\- "Don't be silly !" Shouted the same bearded councilman, hitting the table with his fist. "Are you gonna bring up the matter of responsibility here !?"

\- "That's out of the question !" fumed another mage, a old man with a striped shirt and cat-like ears on his head. "We've already tearing our hair out over their reckless behavior !"

\- "You should just stopped complaining and show them some appreciation." Calmly replied Sieglein, trying to calm his fellow councilmen. But they weren't finished with Fairy Tail.

\- "Whether they had been a pain or not before, what happen in Clover tend to prove that they are hiding something." Said another mage, a woman named Belno, wearing a purple turtle-neck and whose sandy blonde hair were tied in a ponytail that dan out in a series of spikes. "According to what the master that were in Clover, among the Fairy Tail mages were three young men that seemed to possess a kind of magic never seen before, very close to Requipping apparently, but also allowing them to summon giants. Besides, there was also a group of mysterious people, led by a man in silver armor that managed to transform Lullaby into an even more dangerous beast. Whatever this is, we need to get answer and know what this is all about."

\- "Yes, this is indeed preoccupying, but let's do everything in order. We first need to show that we are the one in charge." Said Sieglein once again. "Let's send a platoon at Magnolia. I have an idea on how to kill two bird with one stone."

/- Magnolia -/

An incident as big as this one was sure to a lot of noises. And it did. Eisenwald's terrorism attempt at the regular meeting site instantly became big news and it didn't took long for the whole country to know about what happen. And some people couldn't help but find it exciting that they had been involved in such a big incident, and that was Lucy's case. As of now, she was in her little apartment, sitting at her desk, writing a letter that recounted everything that happened, from Erza asking for help up to the arrestation of all the Eisenwald members with the exception of Erigor who was still missing. Finishing her letter and sealing it off with wax, she heaved a sighed as she got slightly away from the desk.

\- "A great, suspense-filled adventure is fun and everything. But nothing beats relaxing at my own home." She said aloud as she stretched her arms above her head, not expecting any response. But of course, she did received one.

\- "Yeah, I agree. By the way, 70.000 Jewels for an apartment like this is really cheap." Turning her head, she realized that it was Gray, who was sitting in one of her armchair, wearing only his trunks, as if he was home, with Nastu standing near him, eating what looked like to be biscuits, probably taken from one of her kitchen cupboard, greeting Lucy with a wave and a grin. "You really found a nice place, Lucy."

\- "TRESPASSERS !" She cried as she jumped and 'Lucy Kicked' Natsu in the face, sending him flying across her room, turning to Gray, doing the same thing to him. "AND DON'T TAKE YOUR CLOTHES OFF IN MY HOUSE !"

\- "Hold on… You've got it all wrong !" said the ice mage as he got up. "I already took my clothes off before I came in."

\- "You pervert icicle." Muttered Natsu, just loud enough for Gray to ear him.

\- "What did you say, ash for brain ?!" he roared as he lunged at him, another fight beginning between the two, Lucy still glaring at them.

\- "WILL YOU TWO STOP THAT !?"

\- "Well, I shouldn't be surprised. And Gray, saying you took them off before didn't make it any better, you know." Said another voice coming from Lucy's right, the blonde reacting immediately.

\- "GET OUT OF MY HOUSE !" she roared as she threw a kick to the newcomer, but she only kicked the air, surprising her and the two boys who stopped fighting as they looked closely and saw a small red bird with a ring of some sort on his chest and next to him a small burger-like robot with a flat rectangular head whose eyes seemed to shed some light.

\- "Guys, let me introduce to you the PlaMonsters Red Garuda and the Foodroid Burgermeal. First one's Haruto and the other is mine." Said the familiar voice coming from the Burgermeal, Lucy, Natsu and Gray getting closer to it, the latter asking in an unsure voice.

\- "Gentaro ?"

\- "Yep, that's me. I wanted to try that new voice feature Kengo made for the Burgermeal so even if I knew you two were going to get her, I had the perfect occasion."

\- "And the flying red bird ? Is there any particular reason you used it ?"

\- "Burgermeal is kind of slow, so…" Gentaro's answer trailed off, but Lucy got the message. But she also got something else.

\- "Wait, get me for what ?" she turned to the boys, who only frowned at her.

\- "What ? Don't tell me you forgot about what's happening today ?"

It took some time to Lucy to remember, but when she did, her eyes widen as she gasped, realizing what was about to happen back at the guild. Kouta was about to face Erza, the Rider more or less forced to do it since Erza didn't exactly asked him if he wanted to and since she wasn't the kind of people to take refusal that well, Kouta had no choices. So Lucy grabbed her keys and whip and followed Gray and Natsu out of her apartment, heading for the guild, the PlaMonster and Burgermeal climbing on their shoulders, and they all ran to the guild, hoping they didn't start without them.

/- In front of Fairy Tail Guild Hall -/

\- "So, still feeling good about this, Kouta ?"

Kouta looked up to meet Kana's eyes, a smirk on her face as she was squatting in front of a board, counting the money she had in her hands. Kouta wasn't the self-loving, ego-maniac kind of guy, but he couldn't help but feel disappointed when looking at the betting pool managed by Kana. Basically, everyone was betting against him.

\- "Well, that shows that you all trust Erza and that you're confident in her strength." He said, looking at the board, not a single bet on his side. However, some people didn't made any bet, like Makarov or Mirajane, for example, the latter because she didn't felt like it and the former because he knew better than to bet against someone who was from another world and on someone he didn't knew much about. "But maybe you shouldn't have bet that much."

\- "Why ? Are you saying you can beat Erza ?" said Max as he came up to him, followed by some others members of the guild. "You don't even know what she is really capable of."

\- "And you don't know anything about him, either." Added Sento as he walked up to the group, standing next to Kouta with Gentaro and Shinnosuke. "Makarov, Lucy, Erza, Natsu and Gray are the only one who saw him fight, and even them didn't see much."

This shut up many of the mages, realizing that they were right. But that didn't stop them from rooting for the Titania.

\- "We might not know a lot about him, but Erza's is the strongest female of the guild and one of the strongest overall." Said Levy with a sorry expression on her face. "I don't think your friend can beat her."

\- "We aren't saying that he can." Replied Belt-san from his usual spot at Shinnosuke's waist. "But one shouldn't be as definitive as you are. There's still a lot you don't know about us, just like we don't know everything about you."

\- "It's just like in science." Continued Sento. "You can't conduct an experimentation with so many unknowns." As the mages thought about that, the three latecomers finally arrived, joining their friend as the PlaMonster and Burgermeal jumped to their rightful owners, Haruto and Gentaro deactivating them.

\- "Well, if it isn't some of the strongest team in Fairy Tail. What took you so long ?" said Gentaro, Gray picking up only the first part of the sentence.

\- "Strongest team ? What do you mean ?"

\- "Well, you, Erza and Natsu. You're the strongest team in Fairy Tail , right ?" said Lucy, pointing at gray who just smirked.

\- "Don't talk nonsense ! Where did you get that idea ?"

Gray suddenly felt something behind him, turning around to face with a smiling Mirajane who slowly turned around, putting her hands on her face as she began to shake, like she was sobbing, which made Gray suddenly feel bad. And it wasn't Shinnosuke that would help him feel better.

\- "You made her cry."

\- "S-Sorry, Mira-chan. I-It was you ?"

\- "Can I have your attention, please ?" The master's voice boomed, surpassing everyone's voices, successfully catching their attention. "The fight is about to start. Will the fighter step inside the ring, please ? And remember, no one outside of the fight can intervene, am I clear ?"

Everyone nodded as Kouta sighed, stepping out of the crowd and positioning himself in front of Erza who looked at him with a confident smile.

\- "Before we start, can you remind me why you wanted to fight me out of everyone ?" he asked, feeling like he need to be remembered of the reason why some people had taken his measurement to build a coffin.

\- "Seeing you all fighting at clover, combined with the fact that you aren't from this world, is what triggered my curiosity. And if I want to fight you is because you seemed to know your way around sword and it's been a really long time since I've fought with someone that good with sword." She ended her explanation with a smirk, looking at Kouta with a deadly glare. "Now, let's not waste any more time and let's do this." She then requipped, now wearing her Morning Star Armor, a sword in each hand, ready to fight as Kouta grabbed his Orange Lockseed.

\- "Well, let's do this then." He simply said as he open his Lockseed.

 _ **ORANGE !**_

As the Zipper appeared out of thin air above him, every mages with the exception of Erza, Gray, Natsu, Lucy, Happy and Makarov were shocked by what they were seeing, shock that only grow when the hole opened, showing a forest on the other side as the Orange Arms appeared.

\- "What is that ?"

\- "HENSHIN !"

 _ **LOCK ON ! SOIYA ! ORANGE ARMS ! HANAMICHI ON STAGE !**_

The mages, who though they had seen enough weirdness from Kouta, fell on the ground in surprise when the orange fell down on his head, the Ride Wear appearing before the sphere unfold, forming the armor Lucy and the others had seen him use at Clover. He then grabbed his Musou Saber and Daidaimaru, putting one on his shoulder, pointing the other at Erza.

\- "This is my stage now !"

\- "Begin !" said Makarov and the fight finally began. The two fighter's swords clashed against each other's, neither of them taking the upper hand. They slashed, parried, dodged so swiftly they almost looked like they were dancing. As they were starting things slowly, testing their opponent, Happy had something really important to say, probably the main question that came to one's mind when seeing Kouta fight.

\- "Why does he look like an orange ?"

\- "I normally should explain a lot to answer that question, but I'll make it quick." Said Shinnosuke. "Originally, Lockseed are fruit from another dimension called Helheim that became Lockseed when picked up by someone carrying the same kind of Driver as Kouta."

\- "So you all have different kind of theme for your powers ?" wondered Gray, standing arms crossed next to Sento.

\- "Yes, indeed." Answered the scientist as he began counting with his fingers. "His motives are Fruit and samurai, mines are science, chemistry and industrial manufacturing. Emu is themed after video games, Shinnosuke's are cars." Sento didn't paid attention to Natsu as he hiccupped in disgust as soon as he heard the word 'car' and kept on. "Haruto is magic and finally, Gentaro is a space and astronaut Rider. But there's also Rider who take their power from ghosts, animals, time, etc. There's a whole lot of Riders with unique powers."

The mages simply nodded as they turned back to the fight as Erza and Kouta kept slashing at each other's, no one landing a good hit on the other. They were now locked in a stare contest, swords grinding against each other's as the look at the others from the space between the blades, their eyes only a few inches apart.

\- "I were right, you really are good." Said Erza with a smirk as she kept her blades locked against Kouta's ones as many others suddenly appeared around her. "I think it's time to get serious, don't you think ?"

\- "Well, since you asked so nicely." Kouta simply nodded as he swiftly pulled on the Barrett Slide and pulled the trigger of the Musou Saber, Erza forced to take a few step back as the bullet connected with her armor, surprising the red head.

\- "WHAT ?!" shouted the public as they gazed at Gaim, now holding his Musou Saber like a gun, the barrel smoking slightly.

\- "Is that sword also a gun ?" wondered aloud Bisca as she stared at the weapon. As for Erza, she was frowning, more disappointed at herself than anything else.

\- "Hm. You got me good, I won't deny it. But now, it's time to kick it up a little." She said as she ran at Kouta, her sword following her. Realizing what might happen, Kouta grabbed another Lockseed, taking the Orange off his Driver, replacing it with the new one.

 _ **BLUMENBLATT !**_

 _ **SOIYA ! MELON ARMS ! TENKA GOMEN !**_

Erza's swords all clashed with Kouta, the strength of the blows lifting a big dust cloud, surrounding the young man as he took the hits dead on.

Or did he ?

As the dust fell down, it was revealed that he had changed Arms just in time, the orange armor now replace by a light green one, a green and gold shield raised in front of him that took most of the damages. As people gasped seeing Kouta survive this attack, he ran at Erza, his Musou Saber in one hand, the shield in the other as Erza smirked and got back into the fight. Kouta and Erza kept up for a few minutes but soon, Kouta used an opening in Erza's defense and slammed the shield hard against her, sending her rolling on the ground, shocking the onlooking mages and giving Gaim the time to prepare a finisher.

 _ **MELON SQUASH !**_

Kouta then threw his Melon Defender at Erza, the knight locked inside fruit shaped energy as Kouta's Musou Saber began to glow with the power of the Melon Arms, slashing et Erza, creating a massive explosion that forced people to cover their face. However, as the smoke resulting from the explosion disappeared, it was revealed that Erza was still standing. Not unscathed, but far less than what the Riders would have though.

\- "Wow, she's tough." Said Gentaro as Sento hummed next to him.

\- "She is, but this also could be due to the fact that being from another world, our power could be less effective against mages."

Whether it was Erza's toughness or the Riders reduced firepower, the fact was that Erza was still up for the fight, and looking as fierce as before, if not even fiercer.

\- "You all really are something else. I'll do some wardrobe change too."

 _ **REQUIP : FLIGHT ARMOR !**_

As Erza changed into her cheetah themed armor, armed with two swords, she took her stance, Kouta doing the same, and when they rushed at each other's, Kouta understood that it was a bad idea. This armor gave Erza a huge boost in speed, giving her a certain advantage against Kouta who couldn't' do much, trying to counter her blows, only to end up failing miserably, her speed being to much to handle for him.

 _ **SONIC CLAW !**_

And Erza wasn't finished, using her speed to slash at Kouta from every angle possible, the Rider being attacked from all side, the strength of the blow being too much as he was sent flying backward, landing on the ground with a thud. He picked himself up from the floor as Erza came to a stop, but still looking ready to strike at the right moment.

"She's fast. I have to see how much." He thought as he grabbed a red Lockseed, putting it on his Driver and initiating the transformation.

 _ **SOIYA ! ICHIGO ARMS ! SHUSHUTTO SPARK !**_

As soon as the zipper appeared in the sky, the strawberry shaped and colored Arms got out of the hole, going down and replacing the Melon Arms, Kouta now wearing his red armor, his Ichigo Kunai in hands. He gripped them tightly, ready to fight, but he was met with something unusual. Erza had stopped moving looking at him with wide eyes as she seemed to shiver at the sight in front of her.

\- "Hrmm, Erza ? Are you okay ?" asked Kouta, feeling a little worried to see the seemingly unmovable Erza looking so "vulnerable" as her voice reached him, stuttering and … blushing ?

\- "Is… Is that a…. strawberry armor ?"

\- "Uh, yes ?" answered Kouta, sweat dropping under his helmet, not understanding why this seemed so important to her, the other Riders sharing the feeling as the Fairy Tail mages seemed to understand what was happening. As soon as he had confirmed her thought, she fell to her knees, tears running down her face, crying as Kouta looked at her, his arms dangling limply by his side, shocked by her reaction.

\- "A strawberry themed armor. I just can't fight that. It's so… so beautiful." She said in between sobs, sobs that seemed to be a mix of extasy and despair. "I want to fight him more but can I really scratch this beauty ?" she lift her head to look at the armor one more time, the struggle fully visible on her face as she shook her head. "NO ! I can't do this ! Screw that fight !" she then literally jumped on Kouta, grabbing his Driver firmly, Kouta being pulled out of his daze as he tried to pry Erza of his waist.

\- "WHAT THE HELL ?! What are you doing ? Let me go !" he shouted, shaking his body and stepping away from her, or at least trying to and failing as she stayed glued to his belt, on of her hands gripping the Lockseed.

\- "I WON'T ! I NEED THAT ARMOR ! GIVE IT TO ME !" she cried as tears still ran down her face, determination painted all over her face that was now just in front of the lock. Which was more than embarrassing for Kouta since it clearly looked like she was latched to something else.

\- "I CAN'T GIVE IT TO YOU, EVEN IF I WANTED TO ! AND LET GO OF ME, IT'S FAR TOO EMBARASSING !"

As the two struggle against each other in a whole new kind of fight, the others looks at them with big sweat drops on the back of their heads, the Rider trying to understand what was happening, or more precisely why Erza was acting like a child.

\- "What the hell is wrong with her ? She looked like someone who would need therapy." asked Emu, clearly worried for her as she was acting like a drug addict that was having a fit of dementia.

\- "Erza have a small obsession on armors and strawberry." Explained Mirajane with a smile, being by the way the only one who wasn't weirded out by what was happening. "It's nothing to be worried about."

\- "As a doctor, I'm sorry to say that this does worry me." Answered Emu, pointing at Erza who managed to lay Kouta on the ground, now straddling him as she pulled on the Lockseed as hard as she could, Kouta trying to get her off him. "This is worse than an obsession."

Suddenly, as Erza and Kouta kept struggling, something unusual happened. The Strawberry Lockseed began to shine so bright that it blinded everyone, forcing mages and Rider to cover their eyes when an explosion came from the Lock, sending Erza and Kouta away from each other, the Lockseed ripped off the Driver and sending flying before falling down to the ground next to the others Riders who looked at the Lockseed who seemed different. The Lockseed had changed, the code 'LS-06' on it replaced by a 'MLS-ES6', a pair of sword crossed behind the strawberry, the light grey part of the lock now red. But it only last for a second, the Lockseed retrieving its usual shape after just a second. The Riders and mages that saw what happen looked at the trinkets that was now in Sento's hand, with the same question in their head.

\- "What the hell was that ?" Gentaro said, voicing the question they all had in their mind at the moment, his answer coming as a tuft of Sento's hair suddenly sprang to life.

\- "I don't know, but I'm dying to study that phenomenon."

\- "Well, I hope I'm not disturbing anything important." Everybody stopped when they heard that voice that no one knew, turning to find a weird man, half-frog, half-human, with a bag worn across the shoulder and a tall hat. "Nobody move. I am a messenger from the council."

\- "The council !? / A messenger !? / In this place !?" said Levy, Droy and Jet respectively in shock.

\- "None of you are fazed by his appearance, huh…" stated Lucy sweat dropping.

\- "I do think what that guy look like doesn't matter right now." confirmed Shinnosuke, looking at the messenger. " And I'm sure he is here because of the Eisenwald Incident."

\- "With charges of damaging property and 11 other crimes from the Eisenwald terrorism incident the other day," began the messenger, reading his official documents, confirming what thought the police officer. However, he was has surprised as everybody else with what came next. "Erza Scarlet has now been put under arrest."

\- "WHAAAAAAAT !?"

/- Later inside the guild -/

Saying that the Fairy Tail mages wood was down would be the understatement of the century. After learning that Erza was put under arrest, they could do nothing but watch their friend being handcuffed and taken away by the messenger, and here they were now, sitting in the guild, sulking in silence. Well, almost in silence.

\- "LET ME OUT ! LET ME OUT OF HERE !"

\- "Natsu, be quiet." Said Mirajane, whose smile has disappeared, just like everybody else, looking at Natsu, who had been transformed into a small lizard and trapped inside a glass turned upside down n the bar. "You'll act reckless if we let you out."

\- "I won't ! I mean, let me get back to my original form !" answered the Salamander from inside the glass, Mira lowering her head to look at him closely, not believing a single word he said.

\- "Then you'll go and try to rescue Erza, won't you ?"

\- "I won't ! Who cares about Erza !?"

\- "The opponent is the council, so we can't do anything." Said Gray with a sigh "As long as they say it's black, it become black. Nothing we can say will change that."

\- "I'm surprised however." Said Shinnosuke, who was sitting at a table with the Riders. "From what I know, this guild have always caused a lot of problem, so why taking action now and arrest Erza ? I mean, she's far from being the worst when it came to damaging property."

\- "Something's fishy is going on." Muttered Lucy before she suddenly got up from her seat, slamming her hands on the table. "I just can't leave her like that ! Let's go and testify for her !"

\- "Have patience child." Said Makarov, sitting on the bar as always. "No matter how fast we try to get there, it'll be too late anyway." Lucy tried to protest, just like Natsu who kept shouting and asking to be freed.

\- "Are you sure you want to come out ?" as soon as he said this sentence, Natsu stopped complaining, suddenly shaking slightly which made everyone look at him, wondering what was happening to him, but it only made Makarov smile. "What's up, Natsu ? Cat got your tongue ?"

\- "I did nothing." Said Happy out of nowhere before Makarov suddenly blasted Natsu out of the glass and in a puff of smoke, the lizard disappeared, giving his form shape back to …

Macao.

\- "EEEEEEEEHH !?" was the global reaction across the guild as the fire mage rubbed his head with a sheepish smile.

\- "Sorry… I was indebted to Natsu, so I transformed into a lizard so I could pretend to be him." He explained, the other realizing what it meant, everybody freaking out, thinking about what Natsu could to once he was at the council. But Makarov silenced them all.

\- "Sit quiet, guys. Just wait patiently for the outcome."

\- "While I agree about the idea of staying here and wait, I think this is the perfect occasion for us." Said Mr Belt as Shinnosuke got up. "We would like to talk to the council about Shocker. You see, I wouldn't be surprised if Shocker tried to attack, or even bribe, the council. SO I think they should at least know of the danger. Beside, I'm sure you wouldn't mind if we stop Natsu before he does something stupid like fight his way to the council to beat them up, don't you ?"

Everyone turned at Makarov who was apparently imagining what would happen if Natsu really did that and despite his trust in his children, he couldn't help but shiver in fear at what the council could do to the guild if Natsu did something so stupid. And furthermore, they couldn't take the risk of seeing the council fell into or by Shocker hand.

\- "Very well. If you really need to go, we'll give you a map to find your way to the council. Levy, if you could go and find a map, please ?" he said to the little mage as she nodded and ran to find the map. However, he still had a question. "Alas, I'm afraid you'll be too late to stop Natsu." This made Shinnosuke smirk as he walk to the door.

\- "I wouldn't be so sure about that." He said as a skidding noise could be heard just outside the building, Shinnosuke opening the door to reveal Tridoron, a door open, ready to go. He grabbed the map given to him by Levy and entered his car, speeding away, the mages silently hoping he could stop Natsu from doing something stupid.

/- Sometimes before, at the Fiore Branch of the council -/

Back in her usual armor and handcuffed, Erza was walking down on the long always of the council, led by the same messenger that came to arrest her in Magnolia. The walked in silence and alone until they finally were disturbed by a man who was waiting, arms crossed, leaning against a pillar. A man with blue hair and a red tattoo over his right eye. A man Erza seemed to know really well.

\- "Sieglein." She seethed through clenched teeth as the messenger fell to his knee in a split second.

\- "Long time no see, Erza." He said, his body sizzling like a bad television screen. "Put your guard down, this is just a projection, even if my real body is in this same building. The council is all here. They wanted to show they weren't joking at doing what should be done."

\- "I see… So this was your doing. What nonsense." She said, still unnerved by his presence. But it only made him smirk even more.

\- "That's unexpected. I even spoke on behalf of you guild. But the geezers feared they might be held responsible for what happened so they needed a victim to take the blame. But if I'm here, it's for something totally different." He then took a few step toward her and leaned in to whisper in her ears. "Never tell the geezers about 'that'. It's for your own good."

Erza suddenly shut up after that. She was still glaring at him, but she didn't said anything else as he took a few step back.

\- "So… I'll be waiting for you behind the door. As a member of the council." And his false body finally disappeared, leaving Erza alone with the messenger who was still on the ground kneeling, raising his head to look at Erza.

\- "You know… Someone so important…"

\- "He's evil." Simply answered Erza still glaring at where Sieglein stood a few second before, the messenger finally getting up to escort her to the court room. Once inside, she was placed in front of the council members, Sieglein being part of it, as they all stared at her with sour expression. Another person, hidden in shadows, was sitting above the council, presiding the trial.

\- "We'll now start the mage trial." Said the frog guy, no sitting under the council, following the procedure. "Defendant Erza Scarlet, please take the witness stand."

She did as she was told, standing in said spot as she got ready to hear what she was accused of.

\- "Defendant Erza Scarlet. Concerning the terrorism incident t Eisenwald the other day, you are suspected of destroying part of Ochibana station, Ryushika Canyon's railway bridge, and an entire mansion in Clover. According to the witness testimony… The culprit is a female mage in armor, and…"

*BOOM* A big explosion cut the shadowed man speech as part of the court room wall exploded, chunk of stone flying across the room, lifting a cloud of smoke. And from inside the cloud, they could hear someone shouting.

\- "I'm the armor mage ! Arrest me if you can !"

A man voice coming from a Natsu trying to make himself pass for Erza. He wore a redhead wig, the same kind of armor and skirt as her, but since he did nothing for his face, that some of his hair was showing from underneath the wig, that he was shouting with his own voice and that he had fire coming out of his mouth, it was a total fail. The only thing he managed to do with that was to shock everyone, anger the council even more, with the exception of Sieglein who find that really amusing and make Erza sigh out of tiredness.

\- "I'm Erza Scarlet ! Tell me what I'm guilty of ! Make sure it's even more important then the guild masters lives !"

Silence followed this embarrassing show as the one in charge of the trial only sighed, Erza shaking in anger by Natsu's side who was grinning like an idiot, sure he did something good.

\- "P-Put them in jail."

\- "We… We're very sorry…" said Erza in shame, as Natsu was clearly not sharing the feeling.

\- "Erza ! You don't have to apologize ! W-Wait, I mean I'm Erza !"

Soldiers came into the room and send the two mages to the jail just as they were told, Erza following them without a word while Natsu had to be dragged out of the room, kicking and shouting like a madman. Once they were out of the courtroom, the council members were all sharing the same feeling : tiredness and anger.

\- "Just when I thought this guild couldn't be worse than the already were, they came and raise the bar even more." Sighed one of them. "How reckless can they be ?"

As they began to debate about what they should do or not do about Fairy Tail, they were interrupted by a voice no one among them knew.

\- "Hum, hello ?" They all turned to see Shinnosuke standing among the rubbles of the court room door looking around, looking around him as if he was looking for something. Or for instance, someone. "I'm looking for Natsu Dragneel, but I guess that I missed him, haven't I ?"

\- "Great. Another one of them. As if it wasn't already too much." Said one of the council member to which Shinnosuke answered calmly.

\- "I can only guess that this busted up door is due to Natsu. But I didn't came here just for him." He began before taking a deep breath after he was sure everyone was listening to him. "I'm here to warn you about a danger. Some really dangerous and ominous people are planning something bad with this world."

\- "Danger ? Our WORLD ? What are you talking about ?"

\- "It's really complicated, but I'll try to make this quick." Said Belt-san, the council shocked out of their mind when they realized that the voice came from the young man belt. "We came from another world looking for our enemies, an organization called Shocker. We don't really know what they are planning, but we think they are probably trying to get their hands on strong magics to then modify them in order to use them against us back in our home world. But they won't hesitate to spread chaos in your world to reach their objectives. They might even try to buy people from this world, helping them in exchange of whatever they want and need for their mission."

The council was looking at them with narrowed eyes, processing everything they had just been told. For them, this seemed pretty far fetched and under normal circumstances, they would have send him to jail for saying such lies. However, they still had in mind what happened in Clover and the fact that witnesses said they saw a strange man in armor transforming the Lullaby in a creature that was half-mechanical, half-devil and that he was beaten by three mages from Fairy Tail with strange belts and armors, which seemed to be also the case for this guy.

\- "This seemed to be a pretty far-fetched story. Why should we trust you ?"

Just as he said that, the roof of the room exploded, the rubbles and stone chunk falling down to the ground in a dangerous hail that forced Shinnosuke to jump to the side to avoid being flattened out by the big pieces of stone. Following the stones came down a squadron of Shocker soldier lead by some a large armor wearing guy with a sickle laser gun who introduce himself to the council, not noticing Shinnosuke.

\- "Greetings, council members. Let me introduce myself. My name is Schwarian, representative of the great Shocker organization." He said, not realizing that the term 'Shocker' made the council member frown a little while side eyeing Shinnosuke. "I am here with a deal for you. We came from a really faraway place with a lot of technologies you've never seen before and we are ready to lend them to you. Of course, that would be if you're ready to help us too."

\- "And what kind of help are we talking about, here ?" asked the leader of the council, his eyes squinting even more.

\- "Some help in finding what we need for our project. For example, the Lullaby you have in your possession. Hand it over, and we'll discuss about the rest of the deal."

*BANG BAM BANG* As soon as his sentence ended, he was answered by three powerful explosion that send him and his men flying to the other side of the room. As for the council, they were all standing up, a hand stretched at where the group was standing just a few seconds before, proving they were the ones who blasted them away.

\- "Fools ! If you need help in finding those kind of items and powers, the only thing you'll get from us is a death sentence. Now go back to where you're from or we won't be as nice next time."

\- "It's a shame, really." Came the voice of Schwarian from the cloud of smoke as he walked out of it with his men, surprising the council by the small amount of damages they had undergone. "But if don't want to help, we'll have to take those informations by force."

\- "That's strange. How can they have suffered so little damages ? This weren't our strongest spell, but it should have done more than that ?" wondered Belno as Shinnosuke walked up to the council, placing himself between them and Shocker, shocking the latter.

\- "That's because we came from another world. Your magic isn't as effective against us, even if the same can be said about our power who aren't as powerful when used against people from your world. Let me take care of them. Let's go, Belt-san !"

\- "Okay, _**START YOUR ENGINE**_ !"

He triggered the transformation sequence, grabbing the Shift Speed Car and inserting it in the Shift Brace.

\- "HENSHIN !"

 _ **DRIVE : TYPE SPEED !**_

\- "Let's go for a ride !"

The council looked attentively as the Rider rushed quickly at the Shocker soldier, taking care of them. He punched and kicked his way up, plowing through their rank like nothing. When he was faced with a group of shooter who opened fire on him, he decided to adopt a slightly defensive approach.

 _ **TIRE KOUKAN : DREAM VEGAS !**_

Using his Drum Shields to protect himself from the shots, he rushed at the long range fighter, taking care of them easily now that he was at close range. His blows send them all together, which was perfect for a Shift Car like Vegas.

 _ **VE-VE-VEGAS ! HISSATSU ! FULL THROTTLE : DREAM VEGAS !**_

The drums all fused together, slightly deforming Shinnosuke's body as they all began to spin like a slot machine, before stopping on 3 sevens, which send a flurry of coins at the group, destroying them all. Shinnosuke turned his head to the rest of the group who was rushing at him, the policeman grabbing another Shift Car.

 _ **TIRE KOUKAN : FUNKY SPIKE !**_

He welcomed the soldier with his back turned to them, the tire sending a flurry of spike at them and he turned around, rushing at them to finish this off, alternating between close range with his feet and fist and mid-range attack using Funky Spike. After some time, the soldier were all destroyed, leaving only Schwarian who didn't seemed good with the idea of fighting a Rider.

\- "This isn't the end Riders. You'll all be destroyed before you'll even realized it !" he threatened before making a run for it, but Shinnosuke was not okay with that.

\- "Oh, no. You aren't going anywhere !"

 _ **TIRE KOUKAN : SPIN MIXER !**_

Now armed with the concrete shooting tire, Shinnosuke shot at the fleeing robot, the quick-drying cement mix stopping the robot dead in his tracks, his feet stuck to the ground. As he struggles do free himself, Shinnosuke got ready to finish it.

 _ **TIRE KOUKAN : MAX FLARE !**_

 _ **FL-FL-FLARE ! HISSATSU ! FULL THROTTLE : MAX FLARE !**_

As he triggered Max Flare Full throttle, 4 pairs of wheels appeared around Schwarian, slowly closing on himself as Tridoron suddenly came inside the courtroom, racing around him. When the wheel totally closed on him, Schwarian was sent to Shinnosuke who jumped on the still racing Tridoron, the car making him go kick repeatedly the robot in a pinball like manner, his kicked covered in fire thanks to Max Flare. With the final kick, Shinnosuke got through the robot, skidding to a stop as the robot exploded, Shinnosuke getting up after some time.

 _ **NICE DRIVE !**_

And with that, it was over, Shinnosuke walking up to the council.

\- "See ? I didn't lied about them existing or being a threat."

\- "Indeed. Those guys seemed dangerous." Said Sieglein with a smile that Shinnosuke didn't liked, but he said nothing. "But I think you were there for something else than warn us about those Shocker, right ?"

\- "Yes, I came to try and stop Natsu from doing something stupid. I mean, it's not like Erza was going to be punished, right ?"

The council looked at Shinnosuke with interest, the Rider apparently guessed correctly.

\- "Indeed. We just wanted to display our authority and to make sure we can keep Fairy Tail in check. She wouldn't have been send into jail or anything. But Mr Dragneel decided otherwise."

\- "He came to 'correct' in his own way what he thought was an injustice. You can't really blame him for that." Said Shinnosuke. At that, the head of the court room seemed to be thinking deeply about something as he finally took a decision.

\- "Well, I guess that we owe you one for getting us rid of those Shocker persons. We'll free them both, but I hope you'll keep them in check, mainly Mr Dragneel. We don't want to deal with another destroyed city."

\- "We'll try to keep him in check. But I can't really promised anything. Anyway, I can only ask you to keep an eye open for Shocker. They'll be ready to do anything to get what they want." Said Belt-san. "We trust that you can do what have to be done to stop them. But since they are from another world, they will always be far more resistant to your magic. If you found out about something, we'd like you to warn us."

\- "We'll have to think about all of this, but we'll let you know about our answer. From now, we'll escort you to get your friends so you can all get back. "

Shinnosuke bowed to the council members, following the same frog guy that escorted Erza. As he was about to leave the room, he looked back to the court room to see that Sieglein was still looking at him with a dark smile, Shinnosuke looking at him, at bad feeling in his guts telling him that this guy meant bad news. But for now, he had to get Natsu and Erza's back and return to the guild, things had to be discussed with the guild.

 **And that's it. I hope you liked it. Don't forget to review if you liked it or if you have any kind of remarks or advice for what could happen next. See ya !**

 **Next time : The second floor. Leaving for a forbidden job. The cursed island.**


	13. Chapter 13 : S-class jobs

**Hello guys ! First of all, I would like to thank you for the support. I appreciate that a lot. There's been some reviews on the last chapter, mainly about Erza and her hysteria over the Ichigo Lockseed. I meant to make her act like that, playing on the fact that she LOVES strawberry and armors, this Arms being the ultimate fantasy for her in a way. But some of you may have noticed something after the fight, something that I'll began to introduce in this chapter and that will bring many new things. I also want to say that I won't change that much the story, I'll mainly add new fights and scene revolving around the Rider and Shocker so I can keep some scene like in the cannon if I liked them and at the same time gave me some space to add my own things.**

 **I also need to say something important. One of you made a review about someone who post a story saying he adopted this one. It's not. I've never put that story for adoption and even if I did, he never asked me for the right to do it. He's basically stealing my work as it is right now. If he had made some real change to my chapters, I would have said nothing, but he did almost no change. So I'll keep an eye on him and I'll trust you to don't fall into a trap.**

 **I hope you'll like what I have in store for you ! And for the time being, let's focus on the current chapter.**

 **EDIT : I just changed the names of Luxus and Mistgun to their real names, Laxus and Mystogan. I were had by the scans I use as a support for this fic (on MangaReader if you're curious, it's not an advertisement, just letting you know)**

 **Let's do this !**

 **Chapter 13 : The second floor and the cursed island**

\- "The air is way better outdoors ! It's really the best ! FREEEEEEDOOOOOM !"

\- "I should have let him stay in prison." Sighed Shinnosuke.

The Rider was rubbing his forehead, the fire mage hyperactivity tiring him and the others mages of the guild greatly. Natsu couldn't stay in place ever since they've been brought back from the council. He was running everywhere like a madman, a pint full of fire beer in his hand and the bump he had on his head didn't seemed to bother him. Yes, a bump. After he and Erza have been released from jail, with the council making it clear that they better stay out of trouble if they didn't wanted to go back, they head outside and that's when they remembered that if Shinnosuke came, it was with his car, and of course, Natsu began to protest, not wanting to go inside what ha called a demonic vehicle, saying he'd rather take the train instead of that. But of course, neither the Rider not the knight wanted to deal with his bullshit so Erza knocked him down with a big wooden hammer she brought out with her Requip. They then threw an out-cold Natsu on the backseat, Erza riding shotgun as Shinnosuke sped up, trying to reach Magnolia as fast as he could, before Natsu woke up since he knew he would puke in his car if he woke up while he was driving and he'd rather die than see that happen.

\- "Well, at least the council accepted to free them without making too much of a fuss." said Lucy, trying to be a little more positive with a small drop of sweat on the back of her head.

\- "They would have all the right to make a fuss with what he did." Said Shinnosuke, looking at his coffee. "In my world, breaking in a court room during a trial wouldn't be pardoned as easily as that."

\- "Speaking off your world, where's Belt-san ?" asked Mirajane from the other side of the bar. "I rarely saw you without him."

\- "He's back home with Sento and Kouta." It was Haruto who answered the question, walking to the bar. "They are investigating what happened after Erza and Kouta fought."

\- "What happened exactly ?" asked Makarov, like always sitting on the bar, turning his head to the two Riders just like the blonde and white haired mages. "I guessed that something happened judging by your faces, but I still don't know what. Is it bad ?"

\- "Not according Sento, anyway." Began Shinnosuke. "When Erza fought to rip Kouta's Ichigo Lockseed off his belt, they were send away from each other by an unknown force that…"

\- "Unknown ? I thought it was some sort of defensive mechanism against thieves who would try to steal your stuff." Said Lucy, eyes wide.

\- "No, it really was something that took us by surprise." Answered Shinnosuke as he took back where he was interrupted. "So as I said, this shockwave send them away from each other and the Lockseed flew and landed next to us. But the Lockseed had changed. He wasn't exactly the same as before and after like 3 seconds, he returned to its original shape. They're trying to understand what happened and they are at it ever since we discovered that."

\- "It was about time you and Belt-san came back, by the way." Said Haruto with a small smile as he looked at the policeman. "I don't think Kouta would have survived if he was left alone with hyper-Sento a minute longer."

\- "Hyper-Sento ? What's that, now ?"

\- "It's just the name we use to talk about Sento when he's going mad about something he found interesting. Like, for instance, this Lockseed change." Explained the wizard as he picture Sento rambling without even stopping to take a breath, writing down at light speed on his white board with Belt-san making some remark on his work and Kouta standing next to them, either about to fall asleep or dive under a bus. "But Sento's enthusiasm is understandable. There's a high chance that it's Erza's magic that change the Lockseed and if that's verified, then that would open a huge number of possibilities, but also be a way to discover how Shocker did to upgrade the Lullaby and then counter what they might try next."

The mages nodded, understanding the importance of such a thing for them. However, while he was nodding, Makarov suddenly felt tired and he knew what it meant as he turned to look at the door with a slight scowl on his face, which Mirajane noticed.

\- "What's wrong, Master ?"

\- "Nothing, just feeling sleepy…" he answered, his head bobbing slightly. "It's him."

As soon as he said that, the mages in the guild hall began to fall asleep, some lucky members laying on tables while others fell straight to the ground. Once everyone was asleep, a tall man entered the silent guild hall, heading straight to the bar. He was carrying a wooden staff and his whole body was covered by a dark mantle, hiding his face and body from everyone.

\- "Mystogan." Simply said Makarov as the mysterious mage walked to the Request Board and took a job without saying a word, going to Makarov to get a validation of the quest.

\- "I'm leaving." He simply said as he stood in front of Makarov. However, they both got surprised when someone broke the silence. Which was shocking since they should be the only one still awake.

\- "See ? I told you this experiment would succeed ! I'm amazing ! I'm the best ! I'm a genius !"

\- "I agree that this could be a major breakthrough, but we still have some test to do before we can say for sure that it could work, Sento."

Mystogan and Makarov turned their head to the old broom closet, seeing Sento coming out of it, a tuft of hair high in the air, sign that he was highly enthusiast about something, walking into the guild with Belt-san in his hands. Behind them stood Kouta, who looked like he was about to pass out, leaning against the wall for support.

\- "I need an aspirin." He whined as he nursed his head.

\- "After spending time alone with those two, I would be surprise if you didn't asked for one." Said an amused Haruto as he pointed at the scientist who was still muttering about what they discovered. They finally noticed that something was off, looking at the guild hall only to see that everyone was deep asleep with the exception of Makarov and Mystogan, whom they've never saw before.

\- "what's happening here ?" asked Sento, now back from his science induced ecstasy. "Why's everyone sleeping ? And who's that ?"

\- "He's Mystogan, one fellow member of the guild. However, don't want to be seen by the others so he make them sleep whenever he come by." Explained Makarov, the other nodding until Mystogan broke the newly installed silence.

\- "And who might you be ?"

\- "Oh, that's right, you don't know. I'll explain."

Makarov then proceed to explain who the Riders were and why they were here, the mage nodding as he listened to the master explanation. As he explained, Mystogan understood why they weren't completely affected by his Sleep Magic. Once he had finished explaining, Mystogan turned his head to the Riders.

\- "It seems like you have a big task at hand. If I ever found something that could help you, I'll send you a letter. I'm off." He then began to walk away, only to be stopped by Makarov.

\- "And lift this Sleeping Magic !" Mystogan didn't stopped, he simply began a countdown as he walked to the door.

\- "Five, four, three, two, one…" He reached 'one' at the exact moment he exited the building, disappearing from sight and as soon as he disappeared, everyone woke up immediately, except for Natsu who was the only one who kept snoozing off. As they woke up, they all realized what happened.

\- "This feeling… Was it Mystogan ?" asked Jet as he shook the sleep out of his body.

\- "That punk !" exclaimed Droy, rubbing his eyes with one hand. "His Sleep Magic is strong as hell !"

\- " Mystogan ? Who's that ?" asked Lucy, being the only one oblivious about what happened.

\- "He's one of the candidate for the position of strongest mages in Fairy Tail." Answered Loki who was standing next to her, looking straight ahead, before jumping 5 meters away when he realized he was that close to her, giving Gray the opportunity to complete the description.

\- "No one know why but he hates to be seen so whenever he come to pick a job, he puts everyone to sleep. Because of that, no one ever saw his face beside the master."

\- "No, I know it as well." A new voice grabbed everyone attention, even if it was really new for Lucy and the Riders only, the others mages already knowing who it was, but were surprised nonetheless. Up on the second floor of the guild, leaning against the railing was a young man with spiky blonde hair, a scar on the right side of his face across his eye. His ears were covered by some sort of spiked earmuffs. " Mystogan is really shy. Don't question it too much."

\- "Laxus ! Fight me !" shouted Natsu, suddenly awake, standing on a table, but Laxus didn't seemed fazed. He even looked amused.

\- "You can't even beat Erza, you won't stand a chance against me." This, of course, unnerved Erza, people trying to calm her down, as Laxus had another remarks. "I'm the strongest. So come up there if you can."

This seemed to make something snapped inside Natsu as he rushed to jump to the second floor, only to be slammed to the ground by Makarov sized-up fist.

\- "You can't go to the second floor, yet." He simply said before looking up at Laxus. "You too, Laxus. Stop it."

\- "I'll never give Fairy Tail's strongest position to anyone else. Not to Erza, not to Mystogan. Not even to that geezer. I'M the strongest !" with that being said, he left, leaving a tense atmosphere on the hall who stayed silent for a few second before they finally go back to their usual activities.

\- "Is it official, though ?" asked Gentaro to Erza. "That he's the strongest, I mean ?"

\- "He is really powerful for sure, but saying he's the strongest is wrong. Nothing have been proved and we can't say for sure who's the strongest."

\- "But why did the master stopped Natsu from going to the second floor ?" wondered Lucy, Emu and Kouta listening to Mira's answer.

\- "It's because the request board on the second floor has far more difficult jobs posted, compared to the first floor. They're S-Class jobs."

\- "S-class ? You mean more dangerous tasks, with a lot of risks ?" muttered Emu.

\- "Yes, the slightest mistake can lead to your death on those jobs. That's why only S-class mages can do those jobs, and there's actually only 5 mages able to do those jobs, including Erza, Laxus and Mystogan."

\- "Hmmm…"

The girls and Emu turned to Kouta who seemed to be thinking about something.

\- "Is there something wrong Kouta ?" asked Mirajane.

\- "It's just that… I wondered what would happen if those S-class jobs implied dealing with Shocker ? We aren't qualified to do them, but as Kamen Riders, it's our jobs to deal with them."

\- "I see what you mean." Said Makarov. "Let me check the detail and what we've received about the S-class jobs recently. I'll tell you about it tomorrow."

\- "That would be nice. Thank you." Said Kouta as he and Emu bowed their head. After that, life started again in the guild hall as everyone talked between them, as if what happen with Mystogan and Laxus never happened. But they'd better not get used to those calm time, because they'll soon find out that nothing can be calm forever in this guild.

/- That night -/

Lucy was walking home after a whole day spent at the guild, Plue walking by her side as she was walking on the edge of the paved road, two guys on a boat asking her to watch out for her step. But Lucy didn't mind them, her mind focused on everything that happened at the guild that day. Because between the fight Kouta versus Erza, the latter arrestation, Mystogan and Laxus, it had been one hell of a day.

\- "I've heard of Mystogan and Laxus before." She said, talking to herself. "Fairy Tail really is a great guild. But I wonder who that geezer really is. Anyway, if I don't want to be left behind, I'll work even harder and that will start tomorrow !"

She cheered herself as she opened the door to her apartment only to discover that someone decided to get stronger starting tonight, but in her own home.

\- "Welcome back."

\- "KYAAAAAAAAH !"

Lucy shrieked as soon as she saw Natsu, sitting on the floor topless doing crunches with Happy pumping iron next to him, both sweating heavily. Lucy was at first shocked at stayed a few seconds not moving, unable to stop herself from admiring the Dragon Slayer sculpted body, the blonde blushing slightly at the sight before finally reacting like she always did in those kind of situation : with violence.

\- "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE ?!" she roared, jumping and crushing Natsu under her feet, the Dragon Slayer losing his breath for a moment as Lucy pointed at the door, stepping off Natsu. "Go exercise at your own place !"

\- "What are you talking about ? We're a team so we have to train together." Answered the pink haired mage as he began to do push-ups, Happy mimicking him. "We have to get stronger to defeat Erza and Laxus."

\- "I don't care about that ! Just go home, already !" she said, crying in despair when Natsu finally stopped, his eyes looking at the ground.

\- "I've decided…" he said as he looked up to a scowling Lucy who waited for the end of the sentence she knew she wouldn't like. "We'll do an S-class job, Lucy !" and boy was she right to be afraid because this was far from being a joke since Happy showed her the said job, a big S stamped on the paper, making the blonde shudder and jumped away in fear, and for many reason.

\- "Wait ! How did you get your hands on that ? Did you stole it ?! We're not supposed to go to the second floor, we'll get in trouble because of that !"

\- "Since it's our first S-class mission, I took the cheapest one." Explained Natsu putting his vest back on, not caring for what Lucy had to say. "It's still 7.000.000 Jewels."

\- "That's not the problem ! We aren't qualified for such kind of mission !" she said, sitting down at her desk, her head resting in her hand. "You really are too reckless. This won't make anyone approve of us, you know. We'll only get punished. You can go if you want, but I'm not going."

Both mages looked straight at each other eyes for a moment, both of them showing they won't changed their mind no matter what the other will do. Seeing this, Natsu just turned away from the blonde to Happy.

\- "Tch, let's go home, Happy." Said Natsu, he and the cat leaving Lucy's apartment by using the window, much to the blonde annoyance who just heaved a sigh when they were finally gone, her stress going down many levels, until she noticed that the paper was still in her room, her stress going back to her full force.

\- "WHAT !? They forgot the paper ?!" she asked herself, sitting down on the ground, holding her head with both hands. "Nooo ! Now it'll will look like I stole it ! What am I gonna do !?"

As she asked herself that question, her eyes drifted back to the paper, stopping on the reward, noticing something that she failed to notice before. Next to the 7.000.000 stood a small text, showing that this job was worth more than just money. Along side the money, they offered something else, something that greatly interested Lucy who suddenly grabbed the paper to get a better look at it.

\- "What ?! You get an Ecliptic Zodiac Gate Key as well !?" She stayed silent for a moment, looking at the job offer before turning her head to the side, a happy look on her face before she ran to her door, having taken a decision.

\- "Natsuuu ! Happyyyy ! Wait for meeee !"

/- The following morning -/

At the guild, the morning began just like any other, people talking between themselves, about jobs, laughing heartedly and basically having a great moment. The Riders were busy either talking with other mages, like Gentaro who cultivated his friends network, his usual handshake now a common occurrences among the mages, or talking between themselves about Sento's recent discovery, a discovery that could change everything about their mission in this world. However, they were stopped by Makarov.

\- "Excuse me, young men, but I have some news for you." Said Makarov, finally out of his office where he had spent most of the morning, looking through the documents he had received recently. "Looking at those updates, I discovered that one of the S-class jobs might now be linked to your main mission." This grabbed the Riders attention as they all stood to listen at what the master had to say. "A few weeks ago, some people said they saw strange people getting on a boat at night in Hargeon and heading to a place called Galuna Island. We don't have much information but they said most of those men were wearing black suit with big black belt with a big grey insignia on it." The Riders nodded and frowned, recognizing this description as Shocker Combatmen.

\- "And this island is linked to an S-class job, isn't it ?" asked rhetorically Haruto, eating a plain sugar donut. "Can you really let us do it ?"

\- "Well, you are a tightly knitted group and Kouta hold his own greatly against Erza even if the fight was short lived. So I do trust you can do it. So I'll let you do it, but here's the deal. If somehow, you have trouble, don't be afraid to come back here, we'll happily lend you an hand." They all nod, agreeing to the deal, which made Makarov smile. "Very well then. I'll go fetch the request for you."

However, as he walked to the bar to take a sip of his beer before heading to the second floor, Mirajane's voice interrupted everyone in what they were doing.

\- "Oh no ! Master ! One of the requests on the 2nd floor is missing ?!"

Makarov did a spit take, shocked out of his mind by what she just said, just like everyone else in the guild who looked at the barmaid who was standing in the stairs. However, an explanation on this disappearance came from Laxus, who was sitting at a table on the second floor a smug smile on his face.

\- "Oh yeah. Yesterday, I saw a cat stealing one of the jobs. A flying one, to be more precise."

\- "Happy ? Then this means that Natsu and Lucy also are responsible ?!" said one of the mages, voicing the shock everyone was feeling right now. "I knew they were reckless, but not that much…"

\- "They broke a major rule of the guild. They'll get expelled as soon as they come back. Right, geezer ?" said Laxus, glancing sideways at Makarov who just frowned as the blonde continued with a sinister smile. "But I doubt that they're coming back alive. An S-class job with their pathetic skill is suicidal."

\- "Laxus ! If you knew about this, why didn't you try to stop them !?" asked Mirajane, standing next to an uncaring Laxus, an hand on her hips.

\- "I thought it was just a thieving cat running away with a piece of paper. I had no idea it was Happy and that Natsu would run off with the S-class job." This explanation didn't sit well with Mirajane whose face now sported an unusually dangerous expression as she glared at the mage who was just amused by that. As for Makarov, he was really beginning to worry.

\- "This is bad. And what job did they took ?"

\- "The one at Galuna Island." Answered the barmaid, her eyes never leaving Laxus, glaring at him as downstairs, Makarov gasped.

\- "The what ?! Laxus, go and bring them back !" ordered the old man but as expected, Laxus didn't care.

\- "Don't be ridiculous… I have another job to take care of. There isn't a single mage that can't take care of his own stuff, right ?" he said, finishing with what was basically one of the guild's motto, Makarov not buying any of this.

\- "Who else but you can force Natsu to come back ?!"

As soon as he shouted that, the characteristic noise of a chair scraping against the ground was heard as Gray suddenly got up from his seat, grabbing the master attention.

\- "Jii-san, that's an unforgivable insult. I'll bring them back." He said and as he was about to walk to the door, an hand landing on his shoulder stopped him.

\- "Do you mind if we give you a lift ?" it was Haruto who was smiling at him. "There's apparently a great chance that Shocker is close to this island, so we'll go and see what we can find and you can come with us to drag those three back here."

\- "Deal." Said Gray with a smile as Makarov walked up to them.

\- "Remember our deal, boys. If this job isn't linked to Shocker, you come back and tell us. And if they are mingled in this business and you need some help, don't hesitate to call for reinforcement." The Riders nodded, as they grouped to decide who will go. Up on the second floor, Laxus was looking at the Riders with a scowl, 'tsking' before sitting back down, muttering under his breath as Mirajane side-glanced at him as she walked down to the bar.

\- "So, are we all ready ?" asked Gray from the front door, turning to the Riders to see that Kouta, Gentaro and Haruto were walking up to him.

\- "Yes we are." Answered Kouta as he threw his Sakura Hurricane Lockseed in the air, Haruto putting one of his ring on, a _**CONNECT, PLEASE**_ being heard as a magic ring appeared, the Machinewinger coming out of it. As for Gentaro, he grabbed a white switch with a bike on it, pressing the button on top of it.

 _ **MASSIGLER ON !**_

The switch then began to shone as the Machine Massigler formed around it, much for Gentaro's pleasure.

\- "This new switch is neat ! Let's go !"

They then got onto their respective bike, Gray getting on Gentaro's one as they rode into the distance, hoping to stop their three reckless companion before it was too late.

/- Hargeon -/

\- "Uwaah, it's been a while since we've been here ! That's where we met, right ?"

\- "Yeah, but it's not important right now."

The two young mages were standing in the street of the city, in front of the port that was previously destroyed by a certain fire Dragon Slayer. Now as good as new, it was once again as lively as a port should be.

\- "All right. We first have to find a ship that'll take us to Galuna Island." Lucy's proposition was completely logic and normal, however, it didn't fit well with someone else.

\- "A ship ? No that's impossible ! We're swimming there." Said Natsu, sweat already dripping down his face at the mere though of being in a boat.

Of course, Lucy's put that crazy idea aside, there was no way that they could do it. However, she was little by little feeling that it could be easier to swim to the island than to find someone ready to bring them here. The island was feared by every sailor in the town, not a single one of them wanting to get close to it.

\- "I don't know what you guys think to find there, but no sailor wants to go near it. Even pirates avoid that place." Said the last man they asked, a man with strange eyes covered by a long mantle.

Now seated on a small wall near the ocean, Lucy was sighing, wondering what they could do after so many refusal while Natsu was stretching to go to the island swimming despite the fact that this old man said that it was impossible due to the sharks.

\- "*sigh* What can we do ?" wondered aloud Lucy, before turning to a stretching Natsu. "And stop stretching, already ! We aren't swimming !"

\- "But how else can we go there if we have no boat ?" he said, his mind already dead set. "So it's swimming then."

\- "Or you also could go back to the guild."

Both mages and their Exceed friend jumped in fear, hearing a new voice coming from behind them, turning around to see that it was Gray who was smiling at them.

\- "Gray ? What are you doing here ?"

\- "And you dare ask that question, Natsu ? Really ?" turning around once again, Lucy and Natsu found three Riders standing in front of them. "He was brought here to bring you all back. But we can also do that if needed. You might still avoid expulsion if you go back now."

\- "And if Erza find out, then you might as well write your will now." added Kouta with a sneaky smile.

The word 'expulsion' worked on Lucy and 'Erza' worked on Happy, but not on the hothead who got into Gray's face like always.

\- "I don't care. I'm going to show them what I'm made of. So there's no way I'm leaving now !"

\- "Master's orders ! I'm going to bring you back even if I have to use force ! Don't whine if you get hurt !" threaten Gray, ice covering his arm as Natsu countered, igniting his fist, Lucy jumping in to try and stop them but at the exact moment the Riders were about to jump in too, they were interrupted by the old man from before.

\- "Wait. Are you mages ?" This grabbed the boys and girl attention as they looked at him. "Are you… here to stop the curse ?"

\- "Yeah ! / Well, kinda… / I won't let you !" were Natsu, Lucy and Gray's answers as the old guy stayed quiet for a moment before inviting them onboard. This shocked the group and Natsu used that opportunity to knock Gray out, dragging him inside the boat.

\- "What are you doing ? Why are we taking him with us ?" asked Lucy, not understanding what Natsu wanted to do with that.

\- "If he goes back to the guild, Erza will be the next to come." He explained before lifting his head to the Riders. "And what do you plan to do ?"

They looked at each other, before they all sighed in resignation.

\- "Well, since it began as a normal job, magic is bound to be playing a role on this island and we already saw that our power aren't that great against magic." Admitted Kouta, the mages smiling when they realized that they might let them go.

\- "So you're coming with us ?" asked Lucy, the idea of having three Rider with them giving her a greater feeling of safety.

\- "Yes, but if we deemed this to be too dangerous, we are taking you all back to the guild whether you like it or not. And before you said anything Natsu…" Gentaro said, interrupting Nastu as he was about to talk, showing a red and yellow switch. "I have way to fight you should you resist. Is that clear ?"

\- "It doesn't matter, anyway. Get on !" said the Dragon Slayer, looking at the horizon. "To the S-class island !"

/- 1 minute later -/

\- "Urp."

Natsu's enthusiasm disappeared as soon as the small left the dock when his motion sickness came back to haunt him. He was now leaning against the side of the boat, his head hanging down with his arms in the water, trying to keep his diner inside. As for Lucy and the Riders, they were seated near the back of the boat with the old man, surrounding a tied up Gray that had now woke up.

\- "I'm getting this creepy feeling… of anxiety." Said Lucy, shuddering slightly, seating in front of Gray who, to say the least, wasn't happy.

\- "You dragged me along and now you're talking like that ? And you …" He said to Lucy before turning to the three Riders, not liking this situation one bit. "I thought you also came to stop them, not let them go."

\- "Well, as we told them, we already know our power don't work that as good as usual against magic and since magic is bound to be present on this island, we thought we'd need some help." Explained Haruto, Gentaro following suit.

\- "And beside, I'm sure you're like us when it comes to what Laxus said. This could be a great opportunity to prove him wrong."

Gray frowned, understanding the logic behind the Riders choice of needed mages to help them but not liking the idea of being brought along forcefully. As for Kouta, he turned to the old man to ask a question in had in mind ever since they left the docks of Hargeon.

\- "Say, mister. Why did you let us on your boat when you learned we were mages ?"

\- "My name is Bobo and I once lived on that island. But I escaped from that cursed place."

\- "What kind of curse are we talking about ?" asked Haruto, Bobo staying silent for a moment, his eyes shadowed before looking back at the group.

\- "Misfortune will befall you, if you so to that island. Can you guys really get rid of this curse ? This demonic curse." He finished his sentence by pulling his mantle off, revealing his hidden left arm which had nothing human. It looked more like a demon arm with long and pointy fingers, the upper part of his arm half-transformed, as if the mutation was stopped halfway. This shocked the mages and Riders, realizing that the curse was something bigger than they expected. However, they didn't had time to contemplate that any longer. On the horizon, an island appeared, grabbing Bobo attention.

\- "There it is. Galuna Island."

They turned to the front of the boat, looking at the island that appeared on the horizon, sticking out of the night skies. The Riders weren't that impressed, the island looking rather normal to them.

\- "Hey, old man. Is there anyth…" Gentaro's sentence died in his throat when he turned around only to find no old man. He had disappeared from the boat, leaving the Riders and mages alone on that small boat.

\- "What ? Where did he go ?" Wondered Lucy aloud, instinctively looking at the sea with Gray and the Rider.

\- "Did he fall ?" asked Gray, Happy diving in the water, looking around quickly but when he came back up, he found nothing.

\- "He's not here."

\- "Where is he then ? He can't just disappear like that ?" said Kouta before noticing something wrong with the water. "Hey ! What's happening, now ?"

The boat began to rock even more as the water seemed to gather behind the boat, forming a huge tidal wave that began to suck in the boat, towering over them and ready to sink them all.

\- "WE'RE GOING TO SINK !" shouted Lucy in fear as she grabbed Natsu, trying to stay grouped with her friends.

\- "UNTIE ME, YOU DUMBASS ! I'LL DIE IF I STAY LIKE THAT !" shouted Gray, struggling against his bind as Gentaro and Haruto sprang into action.

 _ **SHABADOOBI, TOUCH HENSHIN ! SHABADOOBI, TOUCH HENSHIN !**_

 _ **3 ! 2 ! 1 !**_

\- "What the hell are you doing ? Now's not the time for that !" roared Lucy, the Riders looking at her. You could almost feel the 'what do you think we're doing' face under their helmet.

\- "Leave this to us." Said Gentaro, grabbing the handle of his Driver as Haruto put his blue ring on.

\- "HENSHIN !"

 _ **WATER, PLEASE ! SUI-SUI, SUI-SUI !**_

This was the last thing they heard when the wave finally fell down on the boat, crushing the small embarkation and sending everyone down under, the sea coming back to it's usual state of complete calmness, as if nothing ever happen, the fate of the fairies now up to the depth. Meanwhile, on the cursed island, a group of cloaked people were gathered around a magic circle, chanting around a magic circle, with two groups looking at them, one composed of four people lead by one tall mysterious guys wearing a cape and helmet, the others being a small squadron of black clad people, both group smiling as their plan was reaching their final phase.

 **Here it is ! I hope you all liked it. Don't forget to review any comment or advice you might have, I'll read them all and try to use them all. Thank you for reading and see you next time !**

 **Next time : The cursed island. "Please, destroy the moon". Deliora, the demon trapped in ice.**


	14. Chapter 14 : Galuna, its moon and demons

**Hello guys ! I hope you're all right and that everything's good for you. No sickness or anything bad. As for me, I'm all good and your review are really nice to read. Talking about review, I wanted to say something about a review made by Nickle2bird about my miss spelling of Luxus and Mistgun, saying they were called Laxus and Mystogan. I'm using the Fairy Tail scan's from MangaReader as a support (not an advertising) and on those scan's, they are called Luxus and Mistgun (or at least they are from what I've read so far). But Laxus and Mystogan being the real one according to Fairy Tail wikia, I'll correct it since I want it to be true to the official manga in term of name.**

 **That being said, let's get down to business.**

 **Chapter 14 : Galuna, its moon and demons**

The night was quiet on the nice little coast of an equally calm and quiet island in the middle of the sea. In contrast, the shipwreck of a small wood boat that was getting washed ashore by the sea told a completely different story, going in contradiction with that peaceful setting, story which was highlighted by the fact that suitcases and backpacks stood among the shipwreck. However, nothing even remotely human or alive could be seen on the white sand beach.

However, this wasn't going to stay quiet on this beach, because two silhouette suddenly emerged from the water, both wearing armors, a white for one of them, a blue and black for the other. Wizard and Fourze walked to the beach, with a limp for Fourze who was trying to walk with the quite cumbersome Screw Module on his left leg. His Hand Module was also active, dragging Natsu out of the water while carrying Lucy on his left shoulder, his right arm covered with the Flash Module he needed to see correctly on those dark waters. As for Haruto, his Water Style gave him everything he needed to go and save Gray, who was still bound since the others had no time to free him, Kouta and Happy, carrying both human under his arms, the Exceed in one of his hand. Once on the beach, they put all four of them down, Gentaro and Haruto also undoing their transformation before siting on what was left of the boat, waiting for the others to wake up. And they didn't had to wait too much for that to happen.

Lucy felt like she had someone banging her head with a hammer as soon as her eyes opened. Nursing her head, she took a moment to understand where she was. Spread on the sand, some leaves caressing her legs and the sound of waves crashing on the rock of the shore, she was quick to clear her mind and realize where she was. Sitting up, she looked around, seeing the wreckage and also remembering what had happen.

\- "This is…" she began to said before looking around frantically. "Is everyone ok !?"

\- "Yes we are." Answered Haruto, gaining the attention of the blonde who turned to see the Riders seated next to the rest of their group, as they all began to stir awake.

\- "Ugh, that was one hell of a ride." Groaned Kouta as he sat up, rubbing his head as he looked around. "Looks like that tidal waved brought us exactly where we wanted to go."

\- "WOW ! Are we there !? Are we on Galuna Island !?" asked Natsu excitedly, waking up suddenly, as if he never was out cold, getting up and going straight to get his backpack, Happy flying alongside him, as awake as he was.

\- "That still is strange." Wondered Lucy a hand on her chin in a thinking pose. "First that arm, then this demonic curse…"

\- "And we still have no idea where that old man disappeared to." Added Haruto. "It would seem that there is a lot of mysteries we have to solve about this place."

\- "Don't worry about that ! Let's go explore !" said Natsu excitedly, as always followed by Happy, The Riders and Lucy following suite before being stopped by Gray.

\- "Wait. I'm coming with you guys." This took the group by surprise who looked at him with wide eyes.

\- "Hey. What's with the sudden change of heart ?" wondered Kouta, smiling nonetheless.

\- "It'd irritate me if flame brain get to the second floor before me. And if you guys get killed or expelled, then that'd be boring. " he explained with a smirk, which made everyone else smile and smirk at that. However, something had to be taken care of before. "But if I could be freed from those things, it would be better."

\- "Already on it." Said Gentaro, stopping Natsu who was about to cut Gray's bind, turning to the space themed Rider who had Potechokin in a hand, the Scissor Switch in the other, putting the latter inside the Foodroid, activating it as he waddled to Gray, freeing the ice mage. Now free, he walked to the rest of the group as they began to walk inside the dense forest that covered the island, heading to a small village supposed to be on the island, its mayor being the client that sent the request to the guild. After a few minutes, they finally reached their destination and saying their were surprised would be one hell of an euphemism. They were standing in front of a huge fence made of wood that was at least 12 meters high, the gate as tall as the wall itself. However, if that wasn't intimidating enough, a sign was nailed to the gate, with the words 'KEEP OUT' written in big bold letters.

\- "I've seen evil stronghold that were more welcoming than that." Commented Kouta as he stared at the door, wondering what could justify a fence that huge on an island like this one.

\- "Keep out… What kind of village is this ?" wondered Gray, not thrilled at all by this kind of first impression.

\- "Excuse us ! Could you please open the gate ?" shouted Lucy, trying to get an answer from behind the wall, without any success alas. However Natsu had another idea.

\- "This sucks. Let's break it."

\- "Does it always have to come down to destruction with you ?" asked Haruto, turning to Natsu who looked at him with a slight glare, Lucy sighing at Natsu's antics. However, they quickly forgot it as two men appeared on top of the gate, looking down at the mages and Riders.

\- "Who's there ?" asked one of them, gaining everyone's attention.

\- "We're from the mage guild Fairy Tail… We saw your request, and …" Lucy began her explanation before being interrupted by one of them.

\- "Fairy Tail ? We know nothing about you guys accepting our request."

This cause Lucy to tamer, searching for her words, now nervous and afraid that she might say something she shouldn't and create even more trouble. However, Haruto came to her rescue, walking to stand by her side.

\- "There has been some problem back on the continent. We sent you an answer but it probably never reached you."

\- "Hum, okay." Said guard 1, apparently buying this made up story. "However, if you're really from Fairy Tail, show us your symbol."

Which they did without saying a word, their marks clearly visible. The two guards looked at it attentively before turning to the other, talking about what they just saw.

\- "They look real." Said guard 1. However, guard 2 had something else in mind.

\- "Strip the girl."

\- "WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH THIS !?" shouted all the mages, not liking the pervert bit they had just witnessed from the guard who quickly excused himself.

\- "Sorry, I got carried away. Get in, we'll get the mayor."

As soon as he said that, the gate began to open, sliding up and revealing the village hidden behind the fence. It was a nice looking village with houses made of wood, bamboo and leaves. There was fences made of ropes separating the houses from each other's and some high platforms to keep an eye on any danger that might come from the forest. The fairies walked inside the village, stopping once they've reached the central plaza of the village. In front of them stood people covered by robes and hood, hiding their whole body with the exception of their eyes. In front of the group stood a man with a stick like cane in his hand, with a moon on the tip of it, probably the mayor.

\- "Thank you for coming here, mages. I'm Mocha, the mayor of this village." He said, welcoming the mages. "I'm sorry if this seems sudden, but please take a look at this. Everyone, take of your robes."

The villagers behind him did as they were told and once the robes were off, the fairies could see that they all suffered the same kind of mutation than the old man that took them to this island. The mayor had a mutated arm as did some others, some had a mutated leg or even horns on their head.

\- "Awesome sideburns !" exclaimed Natsu, everyone sweat-dropping at his comment as Kouta slapped him behind his head.

\- "That's not what it's about right now."

\- "Did it surprise you ? Everyone on this island, be it humans or animals, are affected by this curse."

\- "Are you sure it's a curse and not some kind of disease ?" asked Gray, a little bit sceptic about this island.

\- "I've shown this to many doctors, and they all said that there is no such disease." Answered the mayor, lowering his mutated arm. "Also, the 'magical power' of the moon has something to do with how we look."

Hearing the words 'moon' and 'magical power' in the same sentence grabbed Haruto and Gentaro's attention, both being closely linked to the moon one way or another.

\- "The moon's magical power ?" they wondered at the same time, making the mayor explain a little more of their situation.

\- "Ever since ancient times, this island had accumulated moonlight. This made the island so beautiful that it shined like a moon. But a few years ago, the moonlight suddenly started to turn purple."

This took the fairies by surprise, not expecting such a revelation.

\- "Purple !? I've never seen the moon like that." Said Natsu, as surprise as everybody else. However, his comment didn't seemed to surprise the mayor who kept going.

\- "People from the mainland all say that… But in reality, the moon did turn purple on this island… After the purple moon showed up, our bodies began to change."

And as if on cue, as soon as he said that, the moon came out from behind the cloud and just like the old man had just said, it was indeed purple, shining upon the island. And soon after, all the villagers began to cry and twist in pain as they body began to change under the stunned gaze of the mages and Riders. And when it finally was finished, they now looked like complete demons.

\- "Wow. Now, that's what I call a transformation. And I know what I'm talking about." Said Kouta, looking wide eyes at the now demonic looking villagers who seemed apologetic.

\- "Sorry if we scared you. When the purple moon is out… Our bodies change into these ugly demons. If this isn't a curse, then what is it ?"

The fairies stayed silent, looking at the defeated faces of the villagers turned demons, some of them even crying at their fate. This pained the mages and Riders, and what the mayor added didn't help to alleviate the strain.

\- "When the morning come, we all turn back to our original forms. However, recently, there had been some of us who didn't change back and lost their soul." Lucy gasped at that as the males frowned even more, not liking the situation one bit. "So we decided to kill anyone who'd lose their soul and turned into a real demon."

This shocked everyone. This was a really radical way of dealing with the problem and they feared that they may have made the wrong choice with this. And Natsu was the first to let them know that.

\- "Kill them ? Even if there's a chance they might change back to their original form ?! Why ?!"

\- "If we'd let them live, others might get killed by those demons. And even if we'd lock them up, they'd just break out and escape." The mayor then fished inside his robes and, tears forming in his eyes, pulled out the photo of the same old man that brought them here. "That's why… I had to kill my son as well. My son, whose soul became evil…"

Of course, learning that the guy that brought them here was supposed to be dead explained why he suddenly disappeared. This was probably a ghost and this tensed the mages and Gentaro. As for Haruto, he was as surprised as the others, but looking at them and at their situation, he couldn't help but finding a lot of thing in common between their history and his. A moon changing people into monsters was something he was all too familiar with. This made him think about all the people who suffered that fateful night. He clenched his fist as he made himself a promise : he'll find a way to help this people, whatever that will cost.

\- "I acknowledge you as famous mages. Please save our island…" asked the mayor as he hung his head, tears falling to the ground as he body shook. "If this keeps on going… Everyone… Will lose their soul… And turn into demons…"

\- "This won't happen. I'll make sure of that." Said Haruto, grabbing everyone's attention as he put his hand on the old man shoulder. "Hang on to hope, I'm sure there is a way to solve this." He finished with a smile, convinced that there was a way out of this situation.

\- "There's only one way to get rid of the curse…" began the mayor as he lift his head up to look at the mages. "Please destroy the moon."

Or maybe they shouldn't be hopeful if THAT was the only solution to their problem. They all gasped in shock, completely speechless.

/- Later -/

\- "I guess accomplishing this quest is just impossible, after all." Sighed Kouta as he slumped in a chair.

After they had learned what the villager wanted them to do, they had been led to one of the village hut, offered by the villager for them to spend the night. However, the mood inside the hut was far from bright and cheery.

\- "I have to agree on that. There's no way we can destroy the moon." Said Gray, topless once again as he looked at the moon through the window as Lucy closed it.

\- "But that's what the request is about. We have to find a way." Said Natsu firmly making Lucy huffed as she crossed her arms.

\- "Not necessarily. This solution come from the victim's point of view. Their judgement might be biased by their desire to put an end to that situation."

\- "I have to agree with that." Haruto agreed as he got up from his chair. "The moon on the mainland has never been purple, which means that if the moon is purple, it's because of something on this island."

\- "This means we'll have to go explore the island to find what's really happening to the moon and the villagers." Finished Gentaro, liking this idea a lot more than destroying the moon. He would kill himself before even scratching the moon, no matter the world.

\- "Well, we'll see about that tomorrow. Let's just sleep tonight !" said Natsu as he jumped on his 'bed', followed by everyone else, completely beat by everything that happened this evening. As the moon was illuminating the island in a purple light, in the middle of the jungle, the same group of persons clad in robes were once again praying around a magic circle, circle that seemed to shone with the same purple light, unaware that tomorrow, things were going to change for them.

/- The next morning -/

The sun was barely showing in this early in the morning when the mages woke up. They quickly left the village to go and explore the island, to hope and found the origin of this curse. As things were right now, they were walking in the forest, more or less aimlessly, looking for anything that might help them and until now, they found nothing that could really help them.

\- "It's tiring. We've been walking for 1 hour already and we still found nothing but trees, trees and trees." Complained Gentaro, looking behind a tree only to find even more trees.

\- "I agree, but it's not like we can do anything about it." Said Lucy, even if she agreed about the tiring part, rubbing her legs when an idea came to her mind. "Hey, isn't one of you able to fly ? You too, Happy ! Fly around there to try to find something !"

\- "Aye !" said Happy as he flew around while Gentaro and Haruto both transform.

 _ **3 ! 2 ! 1 !**_

\- "HENSHIN !"

 _ **HURRICANE, PLEASE !**_

 _ **GYRO ON !**_

Both Riders took off after the cat, Gentaro carrying Haruto since he could only hover with Hurricane. He could have used Hurricane Dragon, but he wanted to save his magic. Beside, he wasn't ready to show his Dragon to Natsu, knowing his reaction will probably be out of control. As they looked around, they finally saw something.

\- "Hey, guys !" the mages looked up at the Riders as they heard Gentaro shout at them. "There's some sort of building made of stone, south-west from where you are ! This could be a great start, don't you think ?"

\- "Yes it is. Come down, we'll go to….*rustle* "

Lucy was interrupted by a rustling noises that came from somewhere around her, the three mages readying themselves when all of a sudden, a huge mouse wearing some sort of maid outfit appeared out of the trees and bushes, looking down on the mages who were shocked by this sudden appearance.

\- "What the hell is that mouse ?!" shouted Gray in surprise as he took his usual fighting stance, Natsu doing the same, Lucy grabbing one of her key and Kouta his Orange Lockseed. But before any of them could anything, the mouse blow some sort of smoke out of her mouse, but instead of smoke, it was a stinking cloud that made them lose their concentration, dropping to a knee as they coughed heavily.

\- "It stinks ! What's that smell ?" wondered Lucy as she turned to see Natsu who looked like he was about to pass out. "Aaaah ! Natsu's nose too sensible for this ! We have to get out of there !"

As soon as she said that, the mouse began chasing them, the four youngster running for their lives, the humongous rodent destroying everything in her way as she ran after them. They ran for a few minutes when something finally put a stop to the pursuit.

 _ **CHOINE, KICK STRIKE ! SAIKO !**_

 _ **GYRO HOPPING LIMIT BREAK ! RIDER GYRO HOPPING KICK !**_

After seeing their friends being chased down by the huge rat, Gentaro and Haruto flew down from where they were, closing on the ground a few meters in front of where the others were heading, correcting their trajectory to then head straight at their friends. Being dragged by the Gyro Module, Gentaro then put himself on a crouched position, his left leg pointing at the group as Haruto did the same, hovering with his wind that also gathered on his feet. They then pass through the group to strike the mouse at the same time with a double kick, the strength of the attack, using the spring from Hopping and the swirling wind of Hurricane send the rodent flying away, before crashing down in the forest with the loud crash of trees breaking under her weight. The others stopped running to turn at their friends who landed next to the group after sending the beast flying.

\- "That was cool !" said Natsu, eyes wide as Kouta tried to look where the mouse had landed.

\- "I concur. This was one hell of a kick." He said, letting his arm fall down to his side. "So now what ?"

\- "Well, we've reached our destination." Said Lucy, pointing at the building the boys had noticed before, who was now in front of them. "Let's head inside. We might found what's happening here inside."

They all nodded at that and walked the rest of the way to the entrance of the building, who was in fact a really old temple, whose walls were crumbling and where nature was beginning to take back her rights. However, it still was a huge spacious place that surprised the fairies.

\- "Well, talk about a huge temple." Said Kouta as he looked around, trying to see something in the darkness. "If only we had some lights."

\- "Say no more !"

 _ **FLASH ON !**_

 _ **LIGHT, PLEASE !**_

Gentaro's big flashlight appeared on his arm, shedding light on the otherwise quite dark places as Haruto did the same with his Magic Ring. This proved to be really useful as they could finally see some marks on the walls which immediately got their attention.

\- "Look, there are some moon-shaped marks, here." Said Haruto as he pointed his light ring at a wall where a moon was graved. "It seems like this place could be where this problem of purple moon will be solved."

\- "Probably, beside, this island was originally called Moon Island." Added Gray which seemed to prove even more Haruto's point and made Lucy think.

\- "Moon Island and moon's curse. Now moon shaped marks. There is definitely something going on here."

\- "Hey, Lucy ! Look !" suddenly said Happy, showing her a bone he picked from who now where.

\- "What are you ? A dog ?"

\- "This place is shabby." Said Natsu out of the blue, grabbing everyone's attention as he looked at the floor. "Is the floor even sturdy enough ?" He wondered as he began to stomp repeatedly on said ground, as if to test its solidity.

\- "Natsu, could you please stop. You said that it was shabby yourself. What if something really happen ?" said Kouta as he walk to Natsu, Haruto and Gentaro putting a ring and switch on just in case something really happened.

And happened, it did.

With one last stomp, Natsu's foot broke through the ground. However, since luck never seemed to be on their side with those kind of problem, the ground cracked and broke down all around Natsu, the floor lurching under the whole group as they began to fall into a deep hole that was hidden under the floor.

\- "YOU IDIOT ! Happy ! can't you do something !?" Roared Lucy as she turned to the cat, hoping he could save them. However, he was too busy strangling on the bone he picked before. "YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO EAT THAT !"

They then all fell for what seems forever, even if in reality, it was only for a few seconds, the landing being as sudden and hard as the fall began, the group being lucky enough to land on the rubbles that fell with them.

\- "Wow, that was violent." Said Natsu as he sat up. "Are you all okay ?"

\- "You can't ask those kind of question when you're the one who provoked it !" shouted Gray.

\- "Why didn't I transformed ?" whimpered Kouta as he rubbed his shoulder which took most of the fall.

\- "Happy's in danger ! Due to something else, though." Said Lucy as she opened Happy's mouth and put her arm in it, trying to grab and pull out the bone he managed to swallow. "Wait, where are Haruto and Gentaro ?" She said, looking around and not seeing them. They did wonder what happened to them when Kouta finally realized where they were.

\- "*sigh* Don't tell me they did it again…"

Seeing the mages turned to him with curious expression on their faces, he just pointed a finger to the roof and when they looked up, they couldn't believe what they saw. In a tribute to the day their came to this world, Haruto and Gentaro where slowly falling down, Haruto using his Hurricane style he still had on as Gentaro used his Parachute Module.

\- "I envy you all. A free fall is such a great experience." Mused Haruto, smiling shamelessly.

\- "WHY DIDN'T YOU HELPED US !" shouted the mages as Kouta barely sighed in annoyance, not believing that they pulled the same trick as did last time.

\- "Why would we do that ? You're alive, aren't you ?" said Gentaro, ignoring the others as they looked like they were about to strangle them. "But I wonder why there's such a cave under a temple."

\- "You're right. We should look around to see if there's anything hidden here."

Following Kouta's proposition, they all began to walk, exploring the long tunnel, the mages quietly following, still glaring at the two now untransformed Riders for what they did. The walk however wasn't as long as they thought it would be, quickly ending in a large cave and what was inside froze them in their track.

Towering over them stood a gigantic monster, trapped in an ever bigger mass of ice. Mouth open, it looked like the creature had been frozen suddenly. If surprise, shock and fear could be found on the faces of everyone on the group, one of them reacted quite differently. Indeed, Gray was the only one to voice his surprise, but not like the others could have expected.

\- "Deliora !?" Everybody turned to him as he shouted this name, as his face began to distort as it began to show panic. "No way ! How can Deliora be here !?"

\- "Deli… ? You know what this is ?" Wondered Natsu, asking Gray the question. However, he was ignored as the ice mage was losing his cool more and more with each passing seconds.

\- "Impossible ! It can't be here ! It's… "

\- "SHUT UP !" roared Kouta as he suddenly grabbed Gray by his collar, putting an end to his rambling. "Now calm down and tell us. What is that thing and why do you know it ?" Gray calmed down and took a few deep breath before explaining.

\- "This is Deliora, devil of misfortune and disaster… It hasn't changed one bit."

\- "So you do know that demon. Why ?" asked Haruto before noises coming from the tunnel reached them. Noises that where in fact the noises of people walking toward them.

\- "Someone's here. Let's hide."

They did as Lucy suggested, hiding behind some rock to look at listen to what was about to happen. And just like the noises suggested, two persons walked inside the cave. The first was a rather short young man with really thick eyebrows and the second one was a topless and taller guy with tattoos on his arms and an half-animal looking face, with what looked like a muzzle and cat ears.

\- "Is it around here that you heard the voices ?" said thick eyebrows to his friend who only answered with a 'Oooon' scratching his belly, the fairies looking really closely at those two. "Aaaah. I'm sleepy. Did you get some Moon Drip on you ? You have ears and stuff."

\- "I DIDN'T !" suddenly roared cat ear, suddenly looking fiercer. Apparently, his look was a sensitive subject. "IT'S JUST DECORATIVE ! YOU SHOULD KNOW !"

\- "I'm just teasing you. Idiot."

\- "Talk about being bipolar." Muttered Gentaro as he turned to his friends, lowering his voices to make sure they couldn't heard them. "This Moon Drip he talked about, do you think it's the curse ?"

\- "Yuka-san, Toby-san, I have sad news." Said a third voice, feminine this time as both men, turned to the newcomer.

\- "Sherry." Said Yuuka as Toby waved at the woman.

\- "Angelica was harassed by someone…" she said sadly as Toby exploded.

\- "It's just a mouse !"

\- "She's not just a mouse… Angelica is a hunter that gallops the darkness. And Love."

Now that she was close enough, Sherry appeared to be a young woman with pink hair and blue eyes wearing some sort of Gothic Lolita outfit.

\- "Something's severely wrong about her." Said Lucy as she looked at the girl who walked to her friends.

\- "So this mouse work for them." Muttered Kouta. "They don't seemed to be cursed either."

\- "Their smells are different. They aren't from the island." Said Natsu as they kept listening to the group.

\- "Intruders, huh ?" said Yuka, the fairies tensing, fearing they've been discovered. But they realized that they weren't as Sherry began talking again.

\- "Moonlight would gather soon… But how sad this is…" said Sherry as she looked at the encased Deliora. "Let's get rid of them before Reitei-sama hears about it. Yes… Before the moon show herself."

\- "I agree." Solemnly said Yuka. "Since they saw Deliora, we can't let them get back alive."

The three of them then walked away and after making sure they were alone, the fairies stepped out of their hiding place. Now, it was time to talk about what to do.

\- "There's definitely something weird going on here. What should we do ?" Haruto asked, Lucy answering him.

\- "Shit… Why did they bring Deliora here ? I mean how did they find where Deliora was sealed ?" Gray muttered as he tried to find the reason why the demon was here. However, the others won't let him keep them in the dark.

\- "Sealed, what do you mean, Gray ? If you know something, you better explain it to us. Asked Kouta as the ice mage took a deep breath.

\- "It was sealed in an iceberg on the northern continent. It's an immortal demon that penetrated the Isbin Area 10 years ago… It's a devil that my magic teacher, Ur, sealed at the risk of her life." This made everyone gasped and widen their eyes in surprise as Gray's fist began to emit frosty air as he clenched his fists. "I don't know how it's related to this island's curse… But this isn't something that should be here. Reitei… I don't know who you are, but if you're going to disgrace Ur's name, I won't let you get away !"

\- "So your teacher sealed it." Concluded Kouta. "Is there a chance that this curse can be due to him ?"

\- "Possibly. That devil's still alive anyway." Answered Gray, his eyes still locked on the devil.

\- "If that's the case, let me try to finish him off." declared Natsu, walking to the devil, only to be punched away by Gray who looked like the fire mage was about to commit a unfathomable act. "What the hell, Gray !? What are you doing !?"

\- "A flame mage shan't get any closer." Answered the ice mage, fear painted on his face. "If the ice melts and Deliora starts moving, no one can stop it."

\- "Oh ? So that ice can be melt that easily ?" Said Haruto with a raised eyebrow, which made Gray widen his eyes for a second, like he just realized what he did before looking down. "Look, calm down and explain it to us, okay ?"

\- "Ur casted a magic called 'Iced Shell' at this devil." Began Gray, following Wizard advice. "It's an unmeltable ice. Even with some kind of tremendous flame magic, this ice can't be melt."

\- "If this can't be melted, why bring that devil here ?" wondered Gentaro, rubbing the back of his head.

\- "Maybe they don't know it can't be melted and are trying to melt it somehow." Said Lucy, Gray suddenly snapping at her.

\- "FOR WHAT !?"

\- "Dude, calm down. Don't snap at her." Said Natsu, stretching his arm in between the two other mages, looking at Gray dead in his eyes. "But if you want to know why they brought this thing here, we just have to go after them."

For once, Natsu had a good idea and they all began to get ready to go. However, Gray had something else in mind.

\- "No. We'll wait here. We wait for the moon to show up."

\- "WHAT ? But it's still daylight ! Do you really expect me to just sit and wait all this time ?!"

\- "He's right." Said Kouta, ignoring Natsu and his complaint. "The moon seemed to be in the middle of all that mess and if we wait here, we might finally know what that devil have to do with everything."

\- "Well, we better get comfortable." Said Gentaro as he laid down against a rock. "I think we'll be here for a long time."

 **And the wait began as this chapter end. I hope you liked it. Comment and review if you liked it or if you have any remarks. See you !**

 **Next time : Moonlight ceremony. The enemy coming from the past. Shocker's other plan**


	15. Chapter 15 : The moonlight ceremony

**Hello, guys, how are you ? I have nothing to say today, besides the usual. Thank you for your support and your review, I love reading them. Now let's get down to business immediately.**

 **Chapter 15 : The moonlight ceremony**

Waiting. That was the only thing the fairies could do as they where all inside the cave where the frozen Deliora stood. They were all waiting for night to come so they could finally discover what this mysterious Reitei wanted to do with the demon. Gray sat alone in front of the devil, thinking about his master Ur. The others were gathered a few meters away. Natsu was snoozing away, oblivious to the evident boredom that fell down on the three Riders and Lucy who sighed, feeling like falling asleep at any given moment if it was not for the Dragon Slayer who was using her lap like a pillow, much to her embarrassment and Happy's amusement.

\- "He likes you~" teased the cat, his paws on his mouth to hide his smile, making Lucy blush and turn her head to the cat.

\- "Shut up, you stupid cat ! " She seethed before going back to her main problem, her boredom. "We may have agreed to wait… But it's so boring."

\- "well, if you have anything to make time pass faster, please do." Said Haruto as he watched his PlaMonster playing with some of Gentaro's Foodroid. However, his remark helped Lucy realized she might have a way to make time go faster, grabbing one of her silver key.

 _ **OPEN, THE GATE TO THE LYRE : LYRA !**_

Out of a puff of smoke appeared a young girl with a permanent blush on her cheeks, small wings sticking out of her back with a big lyre strapped behind her.

\- "Kyaaah ! I haven't seen you in ages, Lucy !" said Lyra in a joyful tone, visibly happy to be summoned. "You only summon me once in a while !"

\- "You should remember that according to our contract, I can only summon you like three days every month." Reminded Lucy, Lyra remembering that part as the Rider looked at the spirit, Gentaro looking at her attentively. He never fought the Lyra Zodiarts, but he fought with the Horoscope he evolved into, Capricorn. A fight that almost costed him his friendship with JK. And just like for Cancer, or Taurus, he shivered when his mind imagined Goto wearing a dress with a lyre instead of a guitar.

\- "I really need to stop imagining things like that." He muttered to himself as Kouta ask Lucy a question.

\- "Why summon a spirit at a time like that ?" he wondered, Lucy pointing at Lyra who just sat down next to her mistress.

\- "She is no fighting spirit, but she is really good at singing and music. This is a perfect occasion to call her." Explained Lucy before she turned to her spirit. "Come on, sing something for us. Anything you want."

This pleased Lyra as she put herself to work. As soon as she began to play however, no one was ready for what would happen. Her song struck everyone deep inside, bringing back the best memories they had from their past. Haruto saw himself back at Antique Shop Omokagedo, surrounded by the old man Wajima, Rinko, Shunpei, Kosuke and Koyomi. Kouta was back in Zawame, dancing alongside Mitchy, Mai and team Gaim, facing off against team Baron and Kaito. As for Gentaro, he was seeing himself in the middle of Amanogawa, with the whole Kamen Rider Club by his side and all the friend he made in his life. They couldn't believe a song could have such an effect on people. They were however soon pulled out of their daydream by sobs reaching their ears. Turning around, they saw Gray whose back was shaking slightly, showing them that he was the one crying.

\- "Huh ? Gray ?"

\- "What ? What's up ?" he asked, shaking away his tears.

\- "He cried…" said Happy, his sentence being more of a statement than an answer. However, Gray denied it.

\- "I didn't ! I'm not crying, okay ?"

\- "No, stop." Suddenly said Kouta as he grabbed Lucy's arm as she was about to said something else to the ice mage. "He need to be left alone for now. Don't worry about him. I think we should all follow Natsu's example and sleep a little. We need to keep our strength if we had to fight later."

Lucy just sighed, looking at Gray one last time before laying down on the ground, using a flattened stone like some sort of mattress. Time passed by they all slept, even Gray who couldn't fight his tiredness indefinitely, Lucy laying strangely close to Natsu when they were all suddenly woke up by a deep rumbling that kept growing in intensity.

\- "What the ? What's that ?" asked Gentaro, looking at the wall, ground and roof to find where the noise came from. As they looked up, he and the others mages and Riders saw a hole opening in the roof as a purple light began to seep through the ever-expanding cracks.

\- "This purple light. It's the moon light ?" Gray wondered aloud as a beam of moonlight literally fell down on the demon, the whole ice taking a purple tint.

\- "the light is hitting Deliora ! This can't be a coincidence !" said Gray as he and the others ran to the stairs that led outside of the cave. "We have to find where that light come from !"

\- "Guys ! Let's get ready just in case !" Said Kouta as he grabbed his Orange Lockseed.

\- "Yeah !" answered the others riders, preparing their own Drivers.

 _ **SHABADOOBI, TOUCH HENSHIN ! SHABADOOBI, TOUCH HENSHIN !**_

 _ **3 ! 2 ! 1 !**_

 _ **ORANGE !**_

\- "HENSHIN !"

 _ **FLAME, PLEASE ! HI HI, HI HI HI !**_

 _ **LOCK ON ! SOIYA ! ORANGE ARMS ! HANAMICHI ON STAGE !**_

They ran up the stairs, reaching a big room inside the temple, seeing that the pillar of purple moonlight was coming from the outside, more precisely from the top of the temple. Rushing to the outside of the temple, they finally reached their destination and hide behind what was left of a wall to look at what was happening.

A group of persons clad in robes with hoods hiding their head were gathered all around a hole on the ground, chanting some weird spell as the moonlight literally gathered in the middle of their circle, forming the same pillar of light that they saw in the temple and cave.

\- "Well, now we know where that light come from." Said Gentaro as he looked at the scene. "But why exposing Deliora to it ?"

\- "It's a spell in Beria language… Moon Drip. I see. I know what's going on." Suddenly said Lyra who was still here, surprising even Lucy who apparently forgot to send her back. "They are going to use Moon Drip to revive the devil underground !"

This shocked the Riders and Mages who couldn't imagine what would happen if such a beast was awaken. However, Gray wasn't buying it.

\- "It can't be… Iced Shell can't be melt !" he said through clenched teeth, sure of what he was saying. But Lyra wasn't being pessimistic, she was being realistic.

\- "Moon Drip is the magic to melt that ice. The moon's magical power gathered at one place had the power to break any kind of spell." Explained Lyra with a dead serious expression on her face, leaving no room to doubt. "This is really bad. But I guess that could explain why the villagers are all changing into demons. This Moon Drip is really powerful, enough to contaminate a human body."

\- "Wait. Someone's here."

Indeed, just like Haruto pointed out, a man appeared, wearing a large white cape and horned helmet that hid the upper part of his face. He was followed by Toby, Yuka and Sherry, the pink haired young woman standing next to him.

\- "Sad news, Reitei-sama." She began, looking sorry. "There were intruders during daytime but we let them get away. I can't speak of love like this."

\- "Intruders… Isn't Deliora revived yet ?" he asked, his voice reaching the group, Gray looking like he knew that voice from somewhere.

\- "Probably today or tomorrow." Answered Sherry as Reitei walked to the circle of praying men.

\- "So we are getting there at least…" said Reitei with a smile as Gray looked dumbstruck, as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "About those intruders, I don't want anyone to get in the way. The village on the other side of the island has humans there. Go and obliterate them."

His trio of mages obeyed, running away from the ruins as the fairies looked at them do, shocked about what was about to happen.

\- "Why target those people ? This has nothing to do with them !" Said Kouta, as the others entered a frenzy, trying to decide what to do. However, there where three who had something else in mind. First was Gray who began to sweat heavily, realizing that he knew this Reitei guy. Then was Gentaro who had recorded the ceremony thanks to Camera and noticed something in the background, namely a group of people looking from the shadow at the ceremony. And lastly was Natsu, who couldn't stay quiet anymore, jumping on the small wall.

\- "I'm tired of sneaking around any longer !" he began, filling his lungs with air before shouting as loud as he could while spitting a huge fireball into the night sky. "WE ARE THE ONES TO STOP YOU !"

This of course grabbed everyone's attention, the fairies already getting ready to fight while the on the other, people were mainly surprised by their sudden appearance.

\- "Those marks… They are from Fairy Tail." Said Yuka, seeing the colorful sign on their bodies. "So the townspeople contacted a guild for help."

\- "What are you doing ? Go and obliterate the village." Simply ordered Reitei, the fairies shocked by his unwavering resolve. "Anyone who stand in our way. Anyone with such plans. You're all our enemies."

Natsu opened his mouth to retort but he was interrupted by Gray who rushed at Reitei, anger, fury and incomprehension painted on his face.

\- "YOU ! Stop tat useless ritual !" he roared as he put his hand on the ground, sending a wave of ice at Reitei who, much to the Fairy Tail mages and Riders surprise, did exactly the same as Gray, sending his own wave of ice, both attacks cancelling each other.

\- "Lyon… Do you know what you're doing ?" said Gray as he got up, taking his friend by surprise, realizing that Gray knew that guy.

\- "It's been a long time, Gray." Said Lyon with a smile. "I'd never imagine that the mage, which the townspeople have sent, would be you. What a coincidence." He then turned to his three henchman who were shocked to discover that their boss knew one of their opponent. "Hurry and go. I'll take care of him myself."

\- "Yes, sir !" They said as they turned to walk away, while Natsu rushed at them.

\- "No, Natsu ! Don't move !"

Alas, Gray's warning came to late as Natsu was struck suddenly by a wave of cold air that began to froze his body. Realizing what was happening, Haruto jumped in front of the group.

 _ **DEFEND, PLEASE !**_

A Dome of fire surrounded the mages as Haruto tried to fend the cold air away, which was harder than he first thought.

\- "What is that ? What's happening ?" asked Lucy, getting an answer from Gray.

\- "He filled the space with Chill Magic. If it wasn't for Haruto's fire, we would've been caught in the ice, just like ash for brain." He said pointing at Natsu who was trying, without much success, to melt the ice around him as he was now trapped in a ball of ice. "You have to go back to protect the village. I'll take care of things here."

Happy gladly agreed, Kouta deciding to go with them, a simple nod from Haruto being enough to make the choice. He then grabbed a Dandeliner Lockseed and opened it, the flying vehicle unfolding from the lock. He then flew away to the village, Happy flying next to him while carrying Lucy. As for Gray, he wasn't really okay with the fact that Haruto and an ice-locked Natsu were still here.

\- "Why are you still here ? I said I'd take care of thing here." Said the ice mage, Haruto turning to him.

\- "Sorry Gray, but that's not how we do thing, us Riders." He said, taking his sword out of a magic circle. "We'll help you."

\- "Damn right, we will !" said Natsu as he stood up despite his handicap, turning to Lyon. "And you ! You better no underestimate mages from Fairy Tail !"

However, as soon as he said that, he heard the characteristic noise of Gray's Ice Make Magic, turning to his right to see something he couldn't believe. Gray had just frozen Haruto's body, with the exception of his head, hands and legs, rendering him as unable to fight as Natsu.

\- "What are you doing Gray ?" asked Haruto as Gray took his Flame Ring off, cancelling his transformation, putting the ring back on the Rider belt. "Are you out of your mind ?"

Gray however didn't answered as he simply pushed both fire user off the hill, sending both of them rolling down the old temple, both poor victim shouting along the way.

\- "You're still reckless." Said Lyon mockingly. "Aren't they your nakamas ?"

\- "This the ice magic that can destroy the body along the ice, right ?" asked Gray, already knowing the answer.

\- "So that's why you put out of the way. A really good job."

\- "Stop acting like your my senior, Lyon." Snarled Gray. "You're not Ur's student anymore. She gave her life to seal Deliora ! You're trying to destroy what Ur left us !"

\- "Don't fool your own memory. It's because of you if she died." He said as he took his helmet off, revealing blueish hair and small dark eyes. "It's presumptuous enough to even mention your name." Out of the blue, Gray was struck by a mass of ice, sending him crashing into the ruin of a wall. "What's wrong ? Feeling to guilty to counter-attack ? If that's the case, I ask you not to get in the way. I'll revive Deliora."

Gray seemed to mentally battle to take a decision on what to do, but it only lasted one moment as he looked up, his mind set on his objective.

\- "I don't know why you're trying to revive this devil. But I won't let you."

\- "That's the spirit." Said Lyon as he dropped his helmet on the floor, a smile on his face despite the lack of emotion in his eyes. "Let's have a match, it's been a while."

 _ **ICE MAKE : EAGLE !**_

 _ **ICE MAKE : SHIELD !**_

The two mages began their fight, Lyon sending birds made of ice at Gray who created a wall in between to defend himself. However, the birds flex around the shield.

\- "You're good at molding materials. Static Ice Make." Explained Lyon as the birds crashed on Gray, the latter trying to protect himself. "My Ice Make is a living thing… Dynamic Ice Make. Did you forget that my ice shifts around ?"

Gray dive to the side, rolling away from the bird, before counter-attacking.

 _ **ICE MAKE : HAMMER !**_

A huge hammer made of ice appeared above Lyon, coming down to crush him, but Lyon didn't moved, only lifting a hand toward the hammer.

 _ **ICE MAKE : APE !**_

Now, a huge gorilla came to life, stopping the hammer, even if his arms did suffered from the blow. As the hammer broke down, making small shards of ice rain down on Lyon, he heaved a disappointed sigh.

\- "You're pathetic. Still using both hand for molding magic."

\- "That's what Ur's been teaching us. One-handed molding is incomplete and not balanced." Reminded gray, only to be shot down by Lyon.

\- "Not for me. I'm special, I've surpassed Ur's power long ago. After all, were you able to hit me even once ?"

\- "Don't underestimate me ! I'm not the one I used to be back then !"

 _ **ICE GEYSER !**_

Gray slammed his hands on the ground which create a huge eruption of ice right under Lyon, Gray sure that this would work. However, while the robed men flew the scene at such a display of power, Lyon wasn't even fazed.

\- "Same old, same old." Said Lyon as he was showed to be unscathed, even after such a burst of ice, which shocked Gray. "I was the senior pupil, and I was stronger than you. I could mold magic one-handed but you couldn't. Even though our path differ, time has been frozen ever since." With one hand, Lyon used his magic to create a dragon made of ice that appeared right under Gray's feet, sending him flying as the sharp ice wrecked his body, falling hard on the ground. "That's why I'm melting the ice. ; in order to start walking on the path that was blocked. Ur was my goal, it was my dream to surpass her. But you ruined that dream when you caused her death. I thought that I could never surpass her, but there is still a way." At that, Gray lift his head, panting with a knee to the ground, to look at his former partner as the latter's face began to distort, showing that he was clearly out of his mind and not thinking straight. "If I can defeat Deliora, that even her couldn't defeat, then I'll surpass her. My dream can continue."

He was sure of himself, way too much according to Gray and he won't hesitate to let him know that and see the truth.

\- "Are you insane !? So that what you're planning ?! You should know… How dreadful Deliora is !" Lyon face seemed to froze in shock. "Don't… it's impossible !"

This time, anger and fury replaced shock on Lyon's face as he snarled and without even moving, send another powerful attack at Gray who saw nothing coming as a continuous wave of ice struck his body.

\- "'Don't', 'it's impossible' ? Back then… We told you the exact same words." Reminded Lyon as Gray's eyes widen, Lyon now unleashing his wrath. "Don't you dare tell me you forgot. You challenged Deliora and that's why Ur died ! You have no right to mention Ur's name ! Vanish ! DIE !"

With one last effort, Gray's body disappeared in an explosion of ice, leaving a panting Lyon who took deep breath to calm down, not even fazed that he might have killed a former childhood friend. He then turned around and took notice that a group was looking at him from the shadow, a group made of black clad men with big belts and two monster, one that looked like a porcupine and the other like a robotic gorilla with cannon on his shoulders.

\- "You're still there ? I thought you would have gone to the village. You seemed like you wanted some action." Asked Lyon as he walked back to the top of the temple.

\- "Maybe, but this isn't part of our little deal." Answered the gorilla. "We are here because we want to study this Moon Drip and, if possible, Deliora himself. We never said we would help killing petty villagers."

\- "Humpf. Do as you want. I'm close to finally freeing the demon and after that, I'll finally surpass Ur. Just make sure that no one disturb the moonlight gathering and we'll be good." After that, Lyon disappeared inside the temple, leaving the Shocker group outside, the porcupine lifting his head to his partner.

\- "Say, Gunrilla, why can't we just kill that punk right here and then ? I can't stand him and his superiority air."

\- "Calm down, Chaospine." Calmly said Gunrilla, arms crossed, looking at the moon. "We need him and his friends to free the demon. After that, you can do whatever you want to him. But we need to get the demon first."

\- "Yeah, yeah. I understand and I'll follow the plan, but that doesn't mean I have to like it." Answered Chaospine, stretching his spikes-covered arms. "I just hope out little tool will work better than with Shadow Moon. And what about the Riders ? How did they knew we were here ?"

\- "Just like Shadow moon said, they are part of a guild. They probably came here for a job. But don't worry. With what we gave to those guys, they won't bother us for much longer."

They then head back inside the temple, not noticing a rustling in the bushes not far away from them and that their whole plan was not a secret anymore. Meanwhile, Gray was laid flat on the ground on the slope of the hill that covered the temple. Beaten up, he was barely conscious when he noticed two silhouette approaching him. Two round silhouette with a head, legs and small arms for one, the other having hands stuck to its body.

\- "Lame… You're almost beaten to death." Said Natsu, looking down at Gray, teeth grinding as he couldn't forget what happen on top of the temple.

\- "Seems like you over-estimated yourself, huh ?" added Haruto, in the same state of mind than Natsu.

\- "Haruto, Natsu… Why.. are you there ?" asked Gray, surprised to see them both here as they, both of them grabbing him by his arm.

\- "We tried to find where the village was, so we climbed up here to see it." Answered Haruto as he watched Natsu put Gray on his shoulders. "We have to go and meet with everyone."

\- "Where's … Lyon ?" asked Gray, struggling to stay awake. "I don't know. No one was here when we came back. The ritual had already ended." Explained Natsu as he began to walk. "Shit.. If something happen to Lucy, it'd be our fault !"

\- "Hmm. Seems like you really care for Lucy a lot." Said Haruto, smirking as Natsu look at him with an eyebrow raised.

\- "Yeah, why wouldn't I ? She's my friend."

As both of them walked back to the village, Gray was busy thinking about what happened. He did remembered that day Ur asked him not to go after Deliora because he wasn't ready but did it anyway. This was exactly the same with Natsu and this S-class job. How did he dare try to stop Natsu from doing it when he himself didn't listen at that time ?

\- "Natsu…" he began, his voice shaking slightly as Natsu looked at him. "I can't… blame you for anything." His voice began to broke down as tears fell down his face. "I really can't…."

\- "Don't feel insecure just because you lost ! We are Fairy Tail !" roared Natsu, interrupting Gray in his lamentation, taking Gray aback. "We are from the guild that doesn't know when to stop ! We won't survive unless we continue running !"

\- "He is right, you know." Said Haruto, grabbing the ice mage attention. "As long as there is even the slightest hope left, then I'll kept on fighting. You can do it to. For now, let us take you back to the village, we'll see what to do there."

/- At the village -/

\- "… And so, whoever comes here are the real culprits behind the curse. This is a good opportunity to capture them and ask them how to return you to your normal appearances."

After reaching the village, Lucy, Happy and Kouta began to explain the situation to the townspeople, making them understand that the moon wasn't really at fault here. That their demonic bodies probably came from those gathering the Moon Drip. After the explanation was finally done, the villagers began to talk among each other and from the look of it, they all looked like they were accepting this explanation. But they still had one problem to solve. A problem called 'Mayor'.

\- "What is all this commotion about ?!"

\- "Mr Mayor, you have to listen to us. People will soon attack the village." Explained Kouta, back in his civilians clothes, to the mayor. "They live in the ruins on the other side of the forest. They are the one who made you all look like that."

Kouta was calm and composed but the Mayor clearly wasn't.

\- "I didn't ask for that ! Why can't you destroy the moon !?" he shouted madly, not liking one bit how things were turning.

\- "Well, firstly, we CAN'T destroy the moon. And secondly, we found the real way to save you. We just have to catch those guys."

\- "THE MOON … PLEASE DESTROY THE MOON !" The Mayor was then dragged away by some villagers as he struggled as much as he could, shouting like a madman.

\- "Sorry about that, but ever since he lost Bobo, he…"

\- "We understand, don't worry." Said Kouta, answering the lizard-looking villager before turning back to Lucy. "So back to the task at end, we can solve everything if those guys talk but we'll have to capture them before we can make them spill the beans." Reminded the Rider. "Besides, they are mages and we have not a clue about the kind of magic they use."

\- "That's true, it's going to be complicated, even though we are outnumbering them." Said Lucy, thinking of a way to capture their opponents when her eyes suddenly widen as a mischievous smile began to grace her lips. "I just thought of a really good plan."

 **And here we are, 15 chapter done. I hope you liked it. Please don't forget to leave a review or follow the story to know when a new chapter will be published. I'll see you in the next chapter. Bye !**

 **Next time : Lucy's trap. The attack come from the sky. An unwelcomed surprise.**


	16. Chapter 16 : Fight for the village

**Hello there ! I hope everything's good for you. Thank you all for your support and I hope you'll like what I have in stock for the story.**

…

 **Damn, I hate those moment when I don't know what to say. Let's directly get into the story, okay ?**

 **Chapter 6 : Fight for the village**

\- "Princess, the preparation is done." Said Virgo.

\- "Thanks, Virgo." Thanked Lucy. "As I expected, you dig holes pretty fast."

\- "Will you punish me ?"

\- "That was a compliment !"

This whole interaction between master and spirit happened in front of the villager, Exceed and Rider who looked at them with sweat sliding down the back of their head. When Kouta and Happy saw Lucy smile and snicker about her plan a few minutes earlier, apparently proud of her mysterious plan, they couldn't help but feel like she might be a little too overconfident about it.

And boy, were they right.

\- "You know what…" began Happy, looking at Lucy. "I truly believe you're stupid, Lucy."

\- "Don't say that so blatantly…" Sweat-dropped Lucy, looking at the cat, slightly hurt by his words.

\- "I have to side with Happy on that." Admitted Kouta. "Even if I wouldn't say you're stupid, but too naïve. Because there's no way this is going to work." Kouta finished his sentence while pointing at what was, according to him, won't work.

A simple hole dug right in front of the gate, hidden by leaves and hay.

\- "What are you talking about ? It's the perfect pitfall." Lucy said, not listening to what the others said about her plan. "There's only one entrance to this village, which means they'll have to get through there to enter."

\- "Nobody would fall for it." Said Happy, being supported by the townspeople, and even Virgo.

\- "I've seen my fair share of bad plan, but this had to be one of the worst I've ever seen." Added Kouta, Lucy looking at everyone with a frown. "Besides, there aren't your usual criminals. They are mages. What if some can, for example, fly ?"

\- "Just you wait and see." Was Lucy's only answer, a slight trace of doubt gracing her face that disappeared when the guy on top of the gate shouted at them.

\- "There's someone approaching !"

\- "It's them. Open the gate !" ordered Lucy, a villager doing as he was told. As the door opened, everyone got ready but they soon lost their aggressivity when they saw two walking ball of ice heading toward them.

\- "Guys ! Are you all right ?!" Asked Natsu as he walked toward the group, Haruto walking by his side, both of them carrying an unconscious Gray. And of course, they were walking straight into Lucy's trap.

\- "No ! Stop moving ! Don't come any …." *CRAC BOOM* "…closer." Said Kouta, stopping mid-sentence and finishing it once the three guys had fell for Lucy's plan, the blonde looking at the hole with eyes wide in realization.

\- "It failed."

\- "See ? We told you." Said Happy, rubbing salt on the wound as Kouta walked to the hole to see that the ice that incased Natsu had disappeared. "Huh ? Did that ice melt ?"

\- "I guess it disappeared because he got away from the caster." Simply said Haruto as he looked at his friend. "And talking about ice, I might need a little help to get rid of this."

\- "Well, I guess I can try. But why is it still here ?" wondered Kouta.

\- "Because it's Gray who made it. He wanted to take care of this ice mage alone." Answered Haruto as they were all pulled out of the hole.

\- "By the way, they're not here yet ?" noticed Natsu, the other realizing that indeed, the three mages were taking their time. "I mean, we left way after them, had to climb a mountain and walk all the way back here while being locked in that ice. Why aren't they here already ? Maybe they are lost ?"

\- "Anyway, that's our chance ! Let's cover up the hole again." Asked Lucy, only to be interrupted by something.

 _ **MANGO SQUASH !**_

Turning their head toward the origin of the noise, they saw a giant projection of a some sort of mango being sent at Haruto by a transformed Kouta, wearing a red and yellowish armor on with a mango-shaped hammer in his hand. The mango projection, that looked like the hammer head, slammed into the Rider, sending him rolling on the ground toward the rest o the group, now free of the ice.

\- "I think you should forget that plan, Lucy." Said Haruto, joining the conversation like nothing happened, getting up while dusting his clothes. "And I don't think they are lost. Which means that they are probably preparing something."

\- "… Did you really had to free him like that ?" wondered Lucy as she turned to Kouta, sweat-dropping at how Haruto seemed to give no fuck to what happened to him.

\- "Well, we had to free him from the ice quickly and he already felt worse than that, so I thought this could be okay." Shrugged Kouta, still morphed, his hammer resting on his shoulder, looking around, noticing that something, or rather someone, was missing. "Where's Gentaro ? "

\- "Wait. Do you mean that he's not here ? We thought he left with you." Answered Haruto as his face showed clear worry at this unwelcomed discovery. "We really needed that. We're one member short and we have no idea where he could be."

\- "Maybe he's in danger ? We should send some of us to look after him." Suggested Happy, Kouta shaking his head in answer.

\- "He's tough, he can handle himself. Besides, who know what those guys have in store for the village."

\- "Wait. What's that ?" asked one of the villager, pointing at the sky.

Looking up at where the was pointing, they saw the big mouse that attacked them when they were exploring the island, who was flying above the village while using her tail like some sort of propeller, a huge bucket held in her front paws with Sherry, Toby and Yuka on her back.

\- "See ? I told you they could come flying." Kouta pointed out, making Lucy groan in annoyance. "But I wonder what's inside that bucket ?"

\- "We took too much time making Poison Jelly. But our timing is good. Those mages are in the village as well." Said Sherry, looking down at the village. "Unless we destroy Deliora, our wish will never come true. Only death awaits whomever gets in our way."

As the bucket swung slightly from side to side, a little drop of its contents spilled out from the bucket, falling down toward the village, more precisely straight toward the blonde haired mage who didn't moved, wondering what that drop could be. However, Natsu's instinct and sense of smell kicked in just in time as he dived at his partner, tackling her to the ground, away from the jelly drop as it came close to the ground. The jelly finally landed on a small plant that were at Lucy's feet a few seconds ago and with a hiss, the jelly dissolved the plant and dug a hole where the vegetal once stood.

\- "That smelled dangerous, but I wasn't expecting that." Said Natsu who was laying on his back, looking at the hole.

\- "T-Thank you for the save, Natsu. But, c-could you let me go, please ?" asked Lucy, her voice filled to the brim with embarrassment. Looking down, Natsu saw Lucy's flustered face as she tried to look away as he hold her close, maybe too close, one hand on her lower back and the others somewhere near her shoulder blade, their torso pressed against each other.

\- "Oh, sorry." Simply said Natsu, awkwardly coughing as he let her go, the blonde jumping a few feet away from Natsu, her face still red in embarrassment.

\- "Ugly." Yuka's voice reached the mages as he was still flying above the village, looking down at the townspeople. "Humans become so ugly under the influence of Moon Drip… As if they're demons."

\- "How displeasing ; They are like Deliora's children." Finished Sherry. However, those words didn't pleased Natsu and Kouta, the latter feeling like this situation was a lot like something he lived before. Killing someone because he suddenly became a monster, he couldn't help but feel like this was a lot like what happened with Hase when he ate the Helheim Fruit. And he hated that, gritting his teeth under his helmet. "Angelica, go ahead."

Following her mistress order, the mouse spilled the content of the bucket, the acid jelly falling down like a deathly veil on the village as everyone began to panic, trying to escape. Except for some people. Like the mayor, who was knelt next to his son tomb, refusing to abandon him and Natsu who seemed determined.

\- "Everyone, to the center of the village ! Happy can you fly ?!" he ordered as he got ready for whatever he was planning.

\- "Aye !" answered the cat as he flew to his partner, only to be stopped by Kouta.

\- "Wait, Natsu !" the fire mage turned to look at the Rider, wondering what could be so important at a moment like this. "You think you can get rid of that acid ?!"

\- "I can, but I need Happy to reached it before it reached the village ! Now free him !"

\- "No need, I'll send you flying." Simply said Kouta, dragging his hammer beside him, his words surprising both cat and mages. "Killing someone just because he became a monster and forgetting that he was human before is something I can't tolerate." This last bit of sentence made Natsu grin, nodding his head.

\- "Okay, let's do this ! Happy, go with the others !"

\- "Haruto ! Be ready to protect them in case this didn't go as it should !"

\- "Okay ! HENSHIN !"

 _ **FLAME, PLEASE ! HI HI, HI HI HI !**_

\- "Okay, Natsu ! Let's do this !"

\- "Right, Kouta ! Whenever you want !"

 _ **MANGO AU LAIT !**_

Kouta grabbed his hammer firmly, swinging it around multiple times, the power growing in intensity, as the projection of the hammer head grew in size with each passing second.

\- "Natsu, jump !"

Natsu did as he was told, feet joined as Kouta slammed the Mango Destroyer on the Dragon Slayer's feet to send him flying at the acid. However, unbeknownst to Natsu, something Kouta never expected happened. As soon as Natsu came in contact with the hammer, the giant projection seemed to melt and cover Natsu, mainly gathering around his arms and legs as he was catapulted into the sky like a fiery torpedo.

\- "What the…" was the only thing that left Kouta's mouth as he looked at Natsu, eyes wide under his helmet, just like Haruto, Happy and Lucy who didn't expect such a thing to happen.

\- "Some flame on the right… Some flame on the left, and together they make…"

 _ **FIRE DRAGON'S BRILLIANT FLAME !**_

Joining his hands in front of him, the flames fused and created an explosion powerful enough to scatter the jelly and saved those who stood on the center of the village like he asked. Well, this would have happen if there was nothing else beside his flames. But the his explosion was way different than he thought it would be as the flames of the explosion had taken the shape of Kouta's hammer head, adding to the explosive power of the attack, scattering it even more than he though, shocking the villagers, fairies and enemies, who looked as the acid mainly fell around the village. And I said mainly cause despite the scattering, some big drops fell on the building of the village, melting through the wood like a hot knife through butter, a big drop of it heading straight to someone who did nothing to dodge what was happening.

\- "Mayor ! Look out !"

 _ **DEFEND, PLEASE !**_

Just in time, Haruto appeared between the mayor and the acid, protecting him and the tomb with a dome of fire that melted the acid on contact, the villager heaving a sigh of relief as they saw their chief unscathed behind Haruto's. Speaking of the Rider, he walked back to Kouta, who was still looking at his hammer with a dumbstruck expression on his face that could be guessed even with his helmet on.

\- "What the hell happened with Natsu ?"

\- "I have not the slightest idea. But this is kinda confirming what Sento thought. I'll call him after we took care of those guys." Said Kouta, finishing by pointing at the three mages that stood where the gate once was, now melted by the acid they blew away.

\- "For pity's sake, we were going to give you an instant death, but I guess we'll see a lot of blood, now." Said Sherry, standing between both guys as she stared at the group in front of her, who did the same.

\- "I agree, there will be blood. It remains to be seen whose blood, that is." Said Kouta, hammer on his shoulder as Lucy, Haruto and Natsu stood by his side. He then turned to the villagers.

\- "Four mages and about 50 villagers. It'll be over in about 15 minutes." Taunted Yuka, not even cracking a smile.

\- "Best I can do is three." Smirked Natsu as he cracked his knuckles, turning to the villagers. "You better get away from there, it's going to get messy real quick."

They did as they were told, running a way with an unconscious Gray, promising to take care of him, while some villagers had to tie and muffle the mayor who was ready to go and fight the mages for what they did to his village.

\- "I won't let you get away. Reitei-sama order was : total obliteration." Reminded Sherry, looking at the fleeing townspeople. "Angelica."

The mouse shrieked in response as she took flight, Sherry jumping in her front paws and flying past the fairies, heading straight at the villagers. However…

\- "Huh ? I grabbed onto it for some reason !" Shouted Lucy who, indeed, grabbed the mouse rear paw without exactly knowing why. But it did gave her an idea. "I won't let you touch those villagers ! What do you think of that ?"

She then proceed to tickle the sole of the beast, the mouse entering an uncontrollable laughing fit that made her lose her concentration, her tail stopping, which made the three of them plummet to the ground, disappearing in the forest, under the dumbfounded looks of the others fairies who looked at the scene from afar.

\- "Damn, I really hope Lucy's okay." Said Natsu, slightly worried for her as Kouta walked to put a hand on his shoulder.

\- "Don't worry. I'll go see if she's alright. I'll let you take care of things here, alright ?" said the fruitful Rider as he called upon his Sakura Hurricane.

\- "Okay. Happy, go with him." Agreed Natsu, sending his friend with Kouta as he sped away, leaving his friend behind with Toby and Yuka. "Don't worry, I'll take care of this !"

And with the help of his fire covered feet, Natsu rocketed straight at the two opponents, sending Toby to the ground with a headbutt, taking both mages by surprise. And front flipping after the blow, Natsu send a stream of fire at Yuka who seemed to be engulfed in the flames. Seemed being the key word, here.

\- "Such a violent flame. Don't tell me that you're Fairy Tail's rumored Salamander." He said as the flames seemed to disappeared around him as Toby got up easily. "Though, we were once mages that belonged to a famous guild, too. We won't be defeated easily. You must have heard of the mage guild : Lamia Scale."

\- "That's right…" followed Toby with a grin. "The same guild that Iron Rock Jura belonged to…"

*FWOOSH* Did Natsu gave a fuck about what they said ? Not at all since he cut them off by throwing fire at both of them, the fire engulfing Toby as it seemed to have no effect on Yuka beside pissing him off.

\- "B…Bastard… Listen to my story until the end !"

\- "I don't give a fuck." Snarled Natsu. "No matter which guild you're from or whose friends you are. You're targeting our client meaning you're bothering our word. Meaning that you're enemies of Fairy Tail. That's all the reason I need to fight."

\- "And besides, you're teaming up with Shocker." Said Haruto as he walked up to stand beside Natsu. "Which give me another really good reason to fight."

\- "You know those strange guys ? Then you must be one of those Kamen Rider they mentioned." Haruto seemed to tense a little realizing that Yuka knew about them. "They told us that you guys were of the noisy kind. But don't worry, we'll take care of you after we took care of him. Toby !"

Toby grinned, his claws growing as he jumped on Natsu. However this time, Natsu's reflexes weren't the one that saved him.

 _ **LAND, PLEASE ! DODODO DODODON, DON DODODON !**_

 _ **DEFEND, PLEASE !**_

A slab of stone appeared right in between Natsu and Toby, the latter crashing into the wall with a thud.

\- "Sorry, but there's two of us and two of you. So let's do this fair and square, okay ?"

\- "Tch, if you really want it that way, so be it !"

 _ **SURGE !**_

As soon as he said that, Yuka sent a wave of magic at Natsu who was ready to counter it with his flames, before suddenly jumping to the side, dodging the attack as it left a trail on the ground, Yuka smirking at his behavior.

\- "So you've noticed its nature." He said as he countered Natsu's fire breath with another Surge, cancelling the attack. "Each vibration I create nullify all the magic. In short, it's a magic that nullify other magic. You know what that mean, right ? All the mages out there are powerless in front of me !"

Yuka then send two other Surge at Natsu who managed to dodge the attack before going for a counter-attack. As they fought, Haruto looked intently at them.

\- "So that's why he seemed to be unscathed after Natsu used his fire." He said to himself, only to be stopped by Toby.

\- "STOP TALKING TO YOURSELF !" he shouted, successfully getting Haruto's attention back. "I'm your opponent there, remember ? And I'll get you with my special weapon. Paralysis Nails : Mega Jellyfish ! There's a secret behind these nails".

\- "I'm going to take a wild guess : paralysis ?" Haruto said, playing the guy games who was genuinely shocked that he discover his 'secret'. "It's not that much of a secret if you say it right away. Kinda stupid if you ask me."

\- "Don't call me a stupid !" roared Toby as he rushed at Haruto, trying to hit him, only to be met by a strong punch to the stomach, sending him backward as Haruto sighed.

\- "*sigh* This is a waste of time."

Back with Natsu, he was still trying to bypass Yuka's defense who was hiding himself behind his surge, both mages exchanging blows. As for now, Natsu's fist was stopped by the Surge that surrounded Yuka.

\- "I told you. All magic will be nullified in front of mine."

\- "Then I just have to don't use it." Said Natsu as he threw a normal punch at Yuka, successfully entering the barrier. However, his arm began to hurt like crazy, making him cry in pain as Yuka explain.

\- "Thrusting a bare hand in a magical sphere is just rash. You'll be blown away into pieces."

However, this didn't stopped Natsu from being even rasher and plunge his whole head inside the barrier, much to Yuka's shock, as the fire mage grinned like a madman.

\- "If this barrier stop magic, then I don't have to use it to enter it, right ?"

\- "And what are you going to do now, Salamander ?" mocked Yuka, feeling his confidence come back. "You can't use magic in here !"

\- "But I can outside of it, right ? Thank for the advice" thanked Natsu as he ignited his elbow that was still outside of the barrier, Yuka's eyes widening in realization. But it was too late.

\- "You're using your magic outside of the barrier to increase your bare hand power ?!"

 _ **FIRE DRAGON'S FLAME ELBOW !**_

And just like Yuka predicted, Natsu's fire propelled fist shot forward like a missile, socking Yuka's in the jaw, sending him flying away and crashing to the ground. Natsu got his breath back under control before turning to Haruto.

\- "Hey, Haruto ! Do you need a hand ?"

 _ **BIND, PLEASE !**_

\- "No, I'm good." Answered Wizard as he just summoned stone chain that wrapped around Toby, locking him and restraining his movement, even despite his struggling. As his opponent was trapped, Haruto took another ring to finish this off.

 _ **LUPACHI MAGIC TOUCH GO ! LUPACHI MAGIC TOUCH GO !**_

\- "I'll finish him and then we'll go and see what we can do."

 _ **CHOINE, KICK STRIKE ! SAIKO !**_

Haruto's feet covered itself in a yellow aura with shards of stone around it as he somersaulted toward Toby and kicked him in the chest, sending him flying backward, his magic exploding upon contact.

\- "Well, it's been quite easy." Said Haruto as he walked over to Natsu. "Now, let's wait for Kouta and Lucy to come back."

\- "Not so fast !" came Yuka's voice as he stood up, his whole body shaking, Toby standing by his side. "We were asked to get rid of nuisances, and we still have one last trump card." As he said that, they both took something out of their pocket. It was some sort of ring, looking like those Haruto used, but with a black stone that shown purple color under the moonlight.

\- "Yeah ! We'll destroy you !" simply said Toby, grinning as he put the ring on. However, as soon as he did that, sark energy began to seep from the ring, surrounding Toby, something that both former Lamia Scale mages clearly didn't expected. Soon, a magic circle identical to Haruto's appeared under Toby who cried in pain as the circle shone, his body changing as cracks appeared on his body, purple light coming out of them. Much to everyone shock and horror, Toby was soon replaced by a monster covered with dark purple fur, like a mutant lion, with huge claws on his hands, his back arched as he pant heavily, growl coming out of his throat.

\- "What's that ? A werelion ?" wondered Natsu, completely shaken by this sudden transformation.

\- "What the hell is that ?" asked Yuka to no one in particular, looking at his friend with eyes wide in shock. "They never told us this would happen !"

\- "Here's what happen when you accept Shocker's help." Said Haruto. "They always find a way to stab you in the back."

\- "Toby ? Toby, are you still here ? Answer me !" *BAM* Yuka got his answer, in the shape of a backhand slap, that sent him crash into a hut, knocking him out as the werelion rushed at the mage and Rider, Natsu also rushing at the monster.

\- "He's your friend ! Why did you do that ?!"

 _ **FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FIST !**_

Natsu ignited his fist and threw a punch at the monster, intending to send him flying. However, if the attack did some damages, the monster only slid back over a few meters before coming to a stop, locking eyes at Natsu, growling at him as the Fire Dragon Slayer, seemed surprised.

\- "Eh ? Why did it does so little damages ? Is he that resistant ?" Wondered Natsu as he looked at his fist before being tackled to the ground by Haruto, both of them rolling on the ground for a few seconds, dodging the monster who was about to skewer the distracted mage.

\- "This must be a Phantom. A monster from my world." Explained Haruto as Natsu looked at him weirdly when he said Phantom. "They are born from despair. I'm pretty sure that ring forced the transformation to occur." *BOOM*

\- "So it's up to you to stop him if he's now an enemy from your world." Deduced Natsu as he kept talking to Haruto while jumping out of the way as the werelion swung his claws at him.

\- "Not really. He's still that Toby guy, which means he's now a being born from both worlds." Explained Haruto as he tried to fight the massive beast, using every opportunity he could get to strike back. "We know for sure that our Riders powers are less effective against creature from that world, and vice-versa. And since he's basically half-mage, half-Phantom…"

\- "… We need both magic and Rider power to stop him." Ended Natsu as they finally stood side by side once again, the mage smiling broadly. "Then we'll have to work together."

\- "Exactly. And according to what Sento's research revealed, the magic in this world can take so many form that it could, potentially, be fused with our power." Haruto revealed to Nastu as he grabbed his main ring. "And judging by what happened with you and Kouta's Mango Arms, I'd say this is more than just a theory."

 _ **FLAME, PLEASE ! HI HI, HI HI HI !**_

 _ **CONNECT, PLEASE !**_

Now back into his Flame Style, Haruto took his sword out of his magic circle, as Nastu ignited his fist, ready to strike as the monster rushed at them.

 _ **COME ON A SLASH, SHAKE HANDS ! FLAME SLASH STRIKE ! HI HI HI, HI HI HI !**_

As Haruto's sword began to get covered in flames, he placed his sword next to Natsu's fire covered fist and just like they expected it, the flames merged together, boosting each other as the flames grew in intensity. And when the beast was close enough for them to strike, they attacked both at the same time, Natsu punching the beast as Haruto slashed it, the combined flames setting the beast ablaze before the flames exploded, the monster giving a last cry of pain as he fell to the ground. When the smoke disappeared, the beast was gone, Toby back in his former state. However, much to Natsu's surprise, he was still covered by the purple cracks.

\- "So I was right. This ring create a Gate in somebody and trigger the fall into despair to create the Phantom." Said Haruto, answering Natsu's untold question as he took a ring from his Ring Holder. "Don't worry, I'll take care of it, but you won't be able to come with me. I'll be back soon."

 _ **ENGAGE, PLEASE !**_

As Haruto disappeared in the magic circle that appeared just above Toby, Natsu stayed unmoving for a moment before turning to look at the forest, then the moon. He weren't known for his patience and waiting here was out of the question. Besides, he had an idea.

/- With Lucy, a few minutes earlier -/

Lucy opened her eyes, rubbing her aching head as she looked around, trying to understand where she was and what happened when everything came back to her. When she tickled Angelica's foot, she knew this could stop her from going after the townspeople, but she didn't took into consideration the fact that this also would make her fall out of the sky. She sat up, seeing the huge mouse laying out cold on the ground, looking around for the one who was missing.

\- "Huh ? Where's that girl ?"

\- "Thank you for all you have done, girlie." Came Sherry's voice as she stood on top of a small hill, her voice full of anger aimed at Lucy. "Now Reitei-sama's confidence in me has dropped. I won't be loved anymore !" she cried, rubbing her eyes as Lucy wondered why she was so obsessed by love. "On top of that, Angelica…" her voice quivered as she sobbed before looking at Lucy with fury in her tears. "I won't forgive you !"

As she said that, Lucy got ready as Sherry simply held her hand at her, nothing happening at first until screeching and creaking noises were heard. Looking at where they came from, Lucy ended up facing a tree, whose branches and root began to move as holes opened on the trunk, creating two eyes and a mouth as the now alive tree began to walk toward the blonde.

 _ **WOOD DOLL !**_

Using his large arms, the Ent lookalike attacked Lucy, slamming the ground where she stood, the Stellar Spirit Mage rolling to the side to avoid being flattened by the vegetal, grabbing her key in the process.

 _ **OPEN THE GATE TO THE BULL : TAURUS !**_

The bull spirit appeared in a puff of smoke, axe in hand, slicing the wood monster in half, as if he had sliced a block of Styrofoam. Sherry was wide eyed, not expecting to face this kind of opponent, even if she began to smile in the end.

\- "MOOOOOOO !" Moowed the spirit, raising his arm to the sky as the tree fell to the ground. "Lucy-san's tits are the best !"

\- "Making a Stellar Spirit say that and even enjoying it ; that's highly indecent…" commented Sherry.

\- "He say that by himself ! And I'm not enjoying it one bit !" roared Lucy, Sherry smirking as she ordered Taurus to attack. However, after taking a single step forward, the spirit suddenly stopped, turning around and did something unexpected. He attacked Lucy who, luckily, managed to dodge the axe, but not his fist as he grabbed a hold of her and slammed her to the ground, holding her firmly by the throat.

\- "Taurus ! What are you doing ?"

\- "Lucy-san… I… I can't… control my body…" said Taurus who didn't seemed to like this situation, struggling as he seemed to fight against his own body. Meanwhile, Sherry was jubilating.

\- "My magic, 'Doll Play Attack', is a magic that control anything but humans. And since Stellar Spirit aren't human, I can control them too. Now, let's play a little, should we ?"

\- "I'm moo-st sorry about this…. I can't control my body…" seethed Taurus who hated this situation as much as his mistress, who struggled against his hand.

\- "CLOSE THE DOOR TO THE BULL !" she half-shouted, half-chanted, nothing happened as she kept going as Taurus was starting to really hurt her.

\- "What ? Are you trying to force the door close ? You open and close the gate upon both party's agreement, you can't close it one-sidedly." Said Sherry, finding her struggling to be most funny. "After all, Fairy Tail's mages are only at this level."

This last sentence triggered something in Lucy's mind. She began to recall the few adventures she already had as a member of Fairy Tail. They never wavered, even against strong opponent, always finding a way to overcome any obstacles. And this was one of those time. She was in one of those moment, this was her turn to show that she could face anything. She dived deep into her heart and mind, finding the strength to fight before letting one last cry out.

 _ **CLOSE THE DOOR TO THE BULL !**_

As soon as she said that, and much to Sherry's shock and horror, Taurus body began to shine before disappearing, dissipating into pinkish smoke, leaving Lucy alone on the ground, a hand on her throat as she could still feel the hand of the spirit around it, knowing that this would leave a mark. But right, it didn't mattered to her.

\- "I…I've done it." She said, proud of herself, looking at her hands she held above her. "I've managed to use forced gate closure !" Turning her hand, she saw the pink guild mark, which made her smile as she got up, her confidence growing, grabbing her whip as she stared at an awestruck Sherry. "I'm growing… I'm a Fairy Tail member, too !"

\- "You did managed to forcefully close a door, but it doesn't change anything. You can't use your spirit against me, they'll all end up attacking you instead."

\- "Humpf, you sure about that ?"

 _ **OPEN THE DOOR TO THE CANIS MINOR : PLUE !**_

The little white spirit appeared in a puff of smoke and just like Sherry promised, she took control of it, making him attack his master. But since Plue was no offensive spirit, he just flailed his little arm around at Lucy's feet, much to Sherry's shock.

\- "Gotcha !" said Lucy, swinging her whip at sherry, slashing her across her face, but this was only a minor drawback for the pink haired mage.

\- "You'll pay for that, you wench ! Cancel manipulation !" she said, freeing Plue of her control as she used it once again, this time on her environment.

 _ **ROCK PLAY ATTACK : ROCK DOLL !**_

\- "It's useless. My Stellar Spirit will break your doll and I'll send him back by force if you take control of it." Said Lucy, confidently, not realizing that this confidence wouldn't last.

\- "Break it ? You sure about that ?" wondered Sherry as she stood on top of a huge boll made of big rocks, forming a golem that looked down on the blonde haired girl who wasn't feeling that confident anymore. So she did the only thing she could do for now : run away. She dodged the doll punches, running around before she stumbled and fell to the ground in the sand, which made her realized that she was now on the beach.

"There's the sea. I could call Aquarius, but water won't break rock and Aquarius tend to entangle me, too… Wait. That's it !"

She ran to the sea, dodging another punch from Sherry's rock doll who joined her, both standing in the sea as Lucy grabbed the key of her (in)famous spirit.

 _ **OPEN THE DOOR TO THE WATER BEARER : AQUARIUS !**_

\- "What ? You have a spirit that strong ?" said Sherry, looking agape at the spirit before smirking. "Thanks for the gift, you dumb blonde !"

 _ **DOLL PLAY ATTACK : PUPPETEER !**_

She then send her magic at the spirit whose eyes became white as Sherry took control of her.

\- "Now, go ahead and scatter away with that sea power ! Aquarius ! Obliterate her !" And the spirit obeyed, grabbing her urn and unleashing the power of the sea at Lucy but the blonde was prepared for that, unlike Sherry. "Fufu… You're really a fool…" she said before she was swept away by the waves, the two girls being washed away, landing heavily on the sand. Sherry struggled, crawling n the sand as Lucy stood above her, being used to Aquarius and her attacks.

\- "See ? This is a the power of Fairy Tail !" she said proudly, looking down at Sherry who muffled a pained cry but she still wanted to fight. She reached for a pouch at her waist, pulling out a strange purple fruit that seemed oddly familiar to Lucy.

\- "See this ? I was offered this by some new friends. Once I'll eat it, I'll… "

*BRRRRRRRRM**THUMP* Kouta appeared, riding on his bike, a leg stretched to the side, knocking the girl out as she let go of the fruit which fell to the ground as Kouta came to a stop.

\- "Kouta !"

\- "Sorry I'm late. But it's not easy riding a bike in a place like this." He added, gesturing to the forest as he undid his transformation, picking the fruit off the ground. "Well, looks like I did came here on time. Who knew what would have happened if she ate that fruit."

Before he could add anything else, a rustling noise came from the forest Angelica suddenly jumped out of the forest and falling down toward the mage and Rider, aiming to flatten them out. However, as the mouse come close to them, it was thrown out of the way, a large gash suddenly appearing on her belly. Looking down, Kouta and Lucy saw someone they recognize quite easily, which explain why they had gone from surprise to fear so quickly. A dark blue skirt, an armor, a sword in hand, flowing scarlet hair and, when she turned around, a glare that would have killed them both on the spot if staring could kill, as they finally got their voices back, stuttering her name.

\- "E-Erza ?!"

 **And here we are. God damn, this was longer than I expected it to be. But I'm quite proud of this one. I hope you liked it too, and whether you did or not, let me know with a review, they'll help me improve my story. See you next time !**

 **Next time : The resolve of a mage. Tilted ruins. Natsu vs Lyon.**


	17. Chapter 17 : Gray's resolve

**Hello everyone. Here I go, once again, to provide you with the suite of this fic. I know I've already said that, but I really am thankful for all of your support. So don't forget to review if you liked it, or even if you have ideas on how I could made this story evolve. Also, if some of you want to create art about my fics (his one or even others), feel free to do it. As long as you don't forget to say from where this art come from, I'd love to have some drawing about my creation (I would do them myself but I just can't draw to save my life :/)**

 **That being said, let's get down to business.**

 **Chapter 17 : Gray's resolve**

Kouta and Lucy were standing still, or kneeling in Lucy's case, looking at the red haired knight that stood right in front of them, sword in hand as she glared at them, clearly pissed and disappointed. Lucy was shaking in fear like never before and if Kouta seemed to be in better shape, he still had sweat running down his face, showing that he clearly was tensed by her sudden appearance.

\- "You know why I'm here, don't you ?" she asked Lucy out of the blue, not caring about Kouta for now.

\- "Ah… No…I mean." Stuttered Lucy as she looked up at Erza, her voice as shaky as her body. "To take us back… right ?"

\- "Lucy ! Kouta ! You're both safe !"

Happy had appeared, coming out of the forest with a big smile on his face, flying to the group only to stop midflight when he saw that someone was standing in between him and the blonde and the Rider, his back turned to him. However, he quickly recognized the red hair, sweat suddenly running down his face as he realized what that meant. He turned around, making a beeline for the village, eyes wide in fear…

… Only to end up hanging upside down a few seconds later, Erza holding him by his tail as she stood in front of Lucy.

"How fast can she be ?" wondered silently Kouta as Erza gazed down at Lucy.

\- "Where's Natsu ?" she had asked casually to the blonde who seemed to gather enough courage to turn the volume of her voice up.

\- "Erza, listen to me !" she began, her mind back on what was happening on this island. "I apologize for selfishly coming here… But this island is currently in a grave condition ! There are people who are trying to revive a devil and villagers are suffering from their magic ! We… want to save this island somehow."

Lucy though that by explaining how things were, she could maybe convince Erza not to bring them back, but she didn't knew the knight that well.

\- "I'm not interested." She said bluntly, her face showing that she was pissed.

\- "Th-then, at least let us finish this job to the…" Lucy began, only to be stopped by Erza's sword who was now just under her chin, the tip a few inches away from her throat, effectively shutting her up.

\- "Job ? No, Lucy. You guys betrayed the master. Don't assume you can get away with it just like that." She stated, her eyes showing no hesitation that meant she could probably hurt Lucy if she deemed it was necessary, Lucy also realizing that as tears dwelled up in her eye. "And you." She suddenly said, finally turning to Kouta. "You were supposed to come back if this quest wasn't linked to your own mission. And even it was, you should have made them all go back to the guild."

\- "Wait, Erza. This job IS related to our mission." Kouta defended by showing the purple fruit to Erza, the latter looking at it closely, having never seen a fruit like this one before. "This is a Helheim Fruit, it come from my world, so Shocker have to be working with the ones who are trying to free that devil." Erza's eyes seemed a little less hard as she listened to his explanation, nodding a little.

\- "Then your presence here is justified. But you still should have send them back. They aren't qualified for a job this hard." She said, half-forgiving the Rider. "Now for my main question, where is Natsu ? And the others, too, while we're at it."

\- "They should all be in the village, defending it against that girl's friends. As for Gray, he's been injured and is being taken care of by the townspeople." Said Kouta as he gestured toward Sherry. "However, we have no idea where Gentaro is. We were separated when we faced the one behind what's happening here."

\- "I see. Well, let's go. We'll settle everything once we'll get them back. Lead the way, Kouta."

Kouta did as he was told, heading back to the village, Erza following him quietly, Happy and Lucy following her, their head hanging down in shame. Kouta walked forward, his mind racing about what was going to happen if Erza really decided to bring everyone back at the guild.

 _"We aren't out of troubles yet."_

They walked silently through the deep jungle for a few minutes before finally reaching the village. As they looked around, the three who were here when the attack began immediately saw that something was strange. Besides the houses, fences and other things that were melted by the jelly the enemies had spilled on the village, there was also many marks that looked like a beast with big claws had gone wild in the village. The sight was weird but they were also slightly worried when they realized that neither Natsu nor Haruto was there. As they walked toward the center of the village, they saw that some townspeople were back, all gathered around something. One of them heard them and turned around, apparently relieved that they were back.

\- "Ah ! Thanks goodness you're back !" he said, eyeing Erza for a moment before turning to Kouta who was talking to him.

\- "What happened here ? And where are our friends ?"

\- "We don't really know for neither." He answered. "When we came back, your friends weren't there anymore. There were just two of those who attacked the village." He then pointed at Yuka who was tied up, sitting against a wall. "We tied that one, but something is happening with the weird one."

The group frowned at that as the circle opened, revealing what he meant by 'something'. Toby was laid down on the ground, purple cracks covering his body, which shocked the mages.

\- "What's happening to him ?" wondered Happy as Kouta just shrugged.

\- "Guess we found where Haruto is."

\- "What ? Do you mean is… inside that guy ?" asked Lucy, not believing it could be possible.

\- "In a way." Said Kouta as he sat down on the ground, legs crossed. "We'll have to wait for him to finish."

\- "Finish what ?" asked Erza, eyes still on the glowing cracks.

\- "Saving that guy."

/- In Toby's inner world -/

Toby's inner world wasn't what Haruto expected to say the least. He had appeared in the middle of a town, more precisely in front of a white and pale green building, with two blue emblem depicting a young girl with a serpentine tail for bottom part. Looking at the name written just above the door, he kinda understood why Toby's inner world looked like this. This was is old guild, Lamia scale. In front of the door, he could see Toby and his friends, albeit a little younger, having a great time laughing and smiling.

 _"He must really like that place if it appear in his dream world."_

However, Haruto wasn't there to do sightseeing. He was there to look for what caused Toby's despair. He was looking around while thinking about that ring that caused him to transform.

 _"Normally, when a Gate become a Phantom, it also mean the death of the Gate. However, it wasn't the case here. Then this black ring can probably make a Gate out of the wearer without necessarily killing him."_ Haruto stopped for a moment, humming to himself as he wondered about one last important detail. _"Now, where's that Phantom ?"_

Apparently, Haruto just had to ask because as soon as he said that, purple cracks appeared on the guild as the 'memories' stopped, the cracks shattering and opening a hole out of thin air, a huge beast that looked like a feline werewolf of some sort, looking like the one he fought with Natsu in the real world appeared, Haruto realizing something.

"Phantom aren't supposed to exist in this world, neither in this inhabitants. This one had been created by the ring. I have to destroy it, otherwise he might try to return later." He began mentally before continuing out loud. "Well, I better get to work…"

 _ **LUPACHI MAGIC TOUCH GO ! LUPACHI MAGIC TOUCH GO !**_

\- "… It's time to hunt down the beast."

 _ **CONNECT, PLEASE !**_

A magic circle appeared, Haruto reaching inside to grab his WizarSwordGun in Gun mode as the Phantom rushed at him. Haruto dodged easily the blows, jumping around and dealing his own fair share of blows and shots. To be quite honest, this wasn't the hardest fight Haruto had to fight, and seeing that the situation on Galuna was more important, he decide that he should just go and finish it already, opening the hand on his gun.

 _ **COME ON A SHOOTING, SHAKE HANDS ! COME ON A SHOOTING, SHAKE HANDS !**_

 _ **FLAME SHOOTING STRIKE ! HI HI HI, HI HI HI !**_

Haruto aimed at the werelion and unleashed a stream of fire at the Phantom who cried in pain for a moment as a magic circle appeared around him, closing on him before exploding, effectively destroying the monster as the cracks on Toby's inner world disappeared signifying that Haruto's work here was over.

/- Real world -/

A magic circle appeared just above Toby as Haruto came out of it, landing in the middle of a group of surprised townspeople. Haruto didn't mind, but he did mind when he saw Kouta, smiling at him, smile that disappeared just as quickly when he saw a tied up Lucy and Happy, standing next to a frowning Erza.

\- "Oh. Hello, Erza." Began Haruto. "I guess you're here because they never came back from a job they shouldn't have taken, right ?"

\- "Indeed. Kouta told me that Shocker might probably be here. Could that explain those cracks on that man body, just now ?" she asked, tilting her head slightly in curiosity

\- "Yes it is." He said, taking the dark ring on Toby's hand and walking to get Yuka's. "Those rings were made by them. It made a Phantom out of Toby. I already saved him."

\- "So they do are on this island. Then your presence here is indeed justified." Nodded Erza before looking straight at Haruto. "And where's Natsu ?"

\- "I … don't know." He answered after looking around, not seeing him anywhere. "I told him to wait for me. But I guess staying put isn't something he usually does."

\- "So this mean that he's still out there doing who know what." Concluded Erza before sighing. "This is getting far too complicated. Where's Gray then ?" she asked, turning to a villager.

\- "Since a good part of our town have been destroyed and we feared about an eventual second attack, we build a small camp not far away from here. Your friend his resting in one of our tent."

\- "Very well, we'll go and wait for him to wake up. Then, I'll do what I came here to."

\- "Which is ?" wondered Kouta, Erza glaring darkly at Lucy and Happy. "Punishing the little traitors."

Lucy and Happy gulped in fear while Kouta and Haruto, realizing they just barely avoid punishment, both looked at each other, sharing one same thought : for once, they were happy for Shocker to be here.

/- With Gray, in the morning -/

Morning came on Galuna Island as Gray opened his eyes. The last thing he remembered was being carried by Natsu and Haruto after being beaten by Lyon on top of the temple ruins. So waking up in a tent full of crates and furnitures of all kind was kinda weirding him out. Getting up and wondering where he was, he exited the tent to see that the tent was built in the middle of what looked like a storage of some kind.

\- "Oh great… You're awake." Gray turned his head to face one of the townspeople, back into partial human form due to the fact that it was daytime. "Don't be surprised. This is a storage place, a little bit further from the village. We all took shelter here while we are repairing the village."

\- "Repairing… the village…" repeated Gray as he gritted his teeth. _"Lyon… He really did it…"_

\- "Well, thanks to your friends, most of the village was saved and no one was hurt." This made Gray sighed lightly in relief that the town was mainly safe, but it also made him curious.

\- "They're here, too ?"

\- "Yes. They asked you to go to this tent once you woke up." Said the young woman, pointing at a slightly bigger tent near them. Gray walked up to it, walked inside and stood awestruck by what he saw. Erza was sitting on a chair in the middle of the tent, hands joined and legs crossed, looking straight at him. Next to her, Lucy and happy were tied up, sitting on the ground with defeat painted on their faces. On the sides, Haruto and Kouta were looking at him, sitting on crates, all waiting silently.

\- "Erza !?" was the only thing that left Gray's mouth as the redhead start right off the bat, not beating around the bush.

\- "Lucy told me the whole story." She began, eyes closed. "Weren't you supposed to stop them, Gray ? I'm too shocked to say a word."

\- "Wait a moment. Where are Natsu and Gentaro ?" he asked, noticing the two missing guy.

\- "We don't know where neither of them are." Explained Lucy. "Gentaro disappeared when we went our separate way at the temple. As for Natsu, he fought two of Lyon guys in the village with Haruto, but he disappeared while Haruto was in that Toby's inner world."

\- "Inner what ?" wondered Gray, not understanding what she meant as he turned to Haruto who just shrugged

\- "A long story, I'll tell you later."

\- "Right, because we have work to do." Said Erza as she got up from her chair. "We're going to look for Natsu and as soon as we find him, I'll bring you four back to the guild."

\- "What do you mean four ? You're going to let the Riders here ? But why ?" Wondered Gray, seemingly even more lost than ever before. "Besides, you know what's going on at this island, right ?"

\- "I do." She answered as she began to explain. "According to Haruto and Gentaro, Shocker is on this island, which means that their presence here is justified. Even if they broke the promises about coming back should they need help by taking you along, they'll still need mages to help them. But since you aren't qualified for that mission, I'll come back here after I brought you back."

After that, silence fell down on the tent. A silence that was broke by Gray who said something quite surprising and shocking.

\- "I'm not going back." Everyone looked at him with wide eyes, not saying anything. "I'll stay here and stop them from freeing that demon." His eyes where full of determination, but Erza's were too as she called upon one of her swords, poiting it at Gray's throat.

\- "Are you… going to break the guild's rules ?" she said, glaring at Gray, her tone and eyes showing that she weren't there to negotiate. "You won't get away unharmed."

Anybody who was faced with this kind of threat coming from Erza would have pissed himself and agree to whatever she wanted. But Gray was ready to face anything. Including standing up to the feared Titania as he grabbed her sword, splitting his palm open but not paying it any mind.

\- "Do whatever you want ! This is what I chose !" he said, his voice showing a total resolve and confidence. "I just gotta do what I gotta do." He then let go of her sword as she pointed it down. "I'll do what I want till the end. Cut me down if you want." With that, he left the tent, leaving behind him a group of stunned mages and Riders as they all look wearily at Erza, waiting for a reaction. What she did wasn't what they expected her to do. She turned to Lucy, brought her sword up and as Kouta and Haruto were about to stop her from doing a really big mistake, she swing the sword down, cutting the ropes that tied Lucy and Happy, freeing them, much to their confusion.

\- "This is absurd." She said, turning to walked out of the tent. "We'll take care of it after this job." The others smiled at that, before she turned to look at them. "But don't you go thinking you won't be punished."

After leaving the building, they caught up with Gray, who seemed surprised but said nothing. After a few seconds of discussion, Kouta's phone rang, grabbing everyone's attention. Looking at the number, Kouta's eyes widened.

\- "It's Gentaro !" he said surprised, answering and putting him on loud speaker so everyone could hear. "Gentaro, where are you ?"

\- "Still in the temple." He answered, his voice quiet, as if he was whispering. "I followed them when we met them at the temple using Stealth. And I learned some nice things."

\- "Like what ?" asked Happy, hovering above the phone.

\- "Well, first, that Lyon want to free Deliora to destroy it." This shocked the group, with the exception of Gray who gave the reason to that.

\- "Our master froze that devil. Ha as always been obsessed by the need to surpass her and he think the only thing he can do to surpass her now that she's dead is too destroy the devil even she couldn't beat."

\- "I already have my doubts about whether he can destroy it or not, but there's another problem. And it concerned our Shocker friends." Added Gentaro, his fellow Riders nodding.

\- "We already know they are here. They gave magic rings and Helheim fruit to Toby, Yuka and Sherry, who apparently didn't know what was the risk to use them." Said Haruto.

\- "I see, but that's not the real problem." Gentaro said, his voice more serious. "They want Deliora for themselves. Lyon want to free him to defeat him, just to prove he's better than his master, but Shocker will kill him when the devil will finally be free."

\- "What ? I thought they worked together ?" said Lucy, shocked by what she just learned while Kouta and Haruto didn't seemed that surprise.

\- "See ? Shocker never team up with someone without a reason nor a way to stab them in the back in the end." Said Kouta before turning back to the phone. "Okay, Gentaro, hold on. We're coming to put an end to that."

\- "Okay. I'll wait for…" No one heard the end to Gentaro's sentence who was cut by a loud rumbling noise. "What the fuck was that ?"

\- "Gentaro ! What's happening ?"

\- "I think… The temple is… tilted ?"

\- "Tilted ? Wait, that's good for us !" said Lucy getting her friends attention. "If the temple is tilted, the moon light can't reach Deliora !"

\- "You're right. We have to use that time it bought us. Let's go ! Gentaro, we'll soon be here."

\- "I'll wait. See you."

With that, they ended the call and Gray's group began to ran to the temple, hoping they could stop that mess before it was too late.

/- At the same time in the temple -/

\- "Hey, do you really trust those guy ? They seemed pretty weak."

The two Shocker representatives, Gunrilla and Chaospine, who just talked, were standing inside the temple main room, which looked like some sort of throne room, Lyon sitting in the throne as he looked at the two monsters, arms crossed, huffing in annoyance at the sudden question.

\- "They just have to annihilate a village and a handful of mages. It shouldn't be that difficult." Said Lyon, rubbing his chin as he looked to the side. "But I do admit I have some doubts about them fighting those Kamen Riders."

\- "I do admit I'm surprise to see them on this island. That was quite unexpected." Admitted Gunrilla in his metallic voice. "But with those little gifts we gave them, they should be good. This mix of magic and powers from our world is one of the best thing Shocker ever made." He said as Lyon put an hand on the pocket of his vest, before he was interrupted by a new voice.

\- "Deliora's revival could become more difficult now." said the newcomer, a small man covered by a cape and a beast like mask on his face, his vicious smile still visible. "Tonight… The moon's magical power will be maximized, and Deliora will be revived. But if anyone get in the way of the Moon Drip ritual, Deliora will stay in the ice forever."

\- "This is nonsense, Zarti …" said Lyon to the man now called Zarti, not really liking the situation he was in. "We lost times because of those flies, I should have taken care of them myself sooner. But it doesn't matter, it's not like they could survive the three others if they used the power you gave them. And even if they did, they won't be able to beat me, with my ice that surpasses Ur."

\- "Talk about a big ego." Muttered Chaospine before Gunrilla bumped him on the head as Zarti smiled at what Lyon said.

\- "Seems reliable. So, shall I join the battle after a long time ?"

\- "So you can fight too, old man ?" said Chaos, not really believing he could be a threat. Then again, they thought the same about every Kamen Rider they fought and it never did them any good.

And as soon as he said that, the whole temple began to shake, from slight tremble to what seemed to be a real earthquake as the temple began to move. However, as they felt they center of gravity move to the side, they realized that the temple wasn't falling apart. They were being tilted. When the ruins stopped moving, Zarti noticed something.

\- "He's already done it. Look, down there…"

Looking through a gaping hole in the floor that gave them a window straight to the bottom of the temple where they saw something, or rather someone. A someone with pink haired looking straight at him.

\- "Things break easily while we aren't aware of it, but if we actually try to break things, it's pretty hard." Said Natsu as he looked up at a glaring Lyon, sending him the same kind of look. "The ruins are tilted, aren't they ? Now the moon won't shed its light on the devil underground."

\- "That's a nice plan when you think about it." Said Gunrilla. "Now that the ruins are tilted, the holes in the temple aren't aligned anymore, meaning the moonlight can't reach Deliora. That guy might look like a hot-headed idiot, but he's pretty smart."

\- "Put a sock in it !" shouted Natsu as he set his feet ablaze, using them to propel himself straight at the group, reaching them with the speed and power of a rocket, striking Lyon in the stomach with his head, the latter gasping as air got squeezed out of his lungs, before shattering into a bunch of ice shards.

\- "Over here." Came the voice of Lyon who stood a few meters away, his magic gathering in his hand as he thrust it forward. "You can't dodge this in midair, can you ?" he said as he summon a flock of ice birds that rushed at an airborne Natsu, who used a small and sudden version of his roar like some sort of thruster, pushing him to the ground and away from the birds. Smirking from the ground, he pushed himself onto his hands as he set his legs ablaze and began to spin like a top, his fire spreading and sweeping across the room, forcing everyone to dive to the ground to jump to avoid getting toasted. If this seemed like an offensive without any goal, it was quite the opposite, Natsu smiling when he finally made Lyon do what he wanted him to do : Jumping to dodge.

\- "I thought you can't dodge in midair ?" taunted Natsu as he took a deep breath, Lyon realizing that he indeed couldn't dodge as he was airborne for now, which was perfect for Natsu.

 _ **FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR !**_

But as soon as the flame got out of his mouth, Zarti pointed a hand at him and the ground suddenly crumbled before down right breaking under Natsu's weight, making him fall downstairs, his fire missing Lyon by a good meter.

\- "Zarti, what did you do ?" asked Lyon as he looked at the old man. "It's your magic that crumbled the floor, isn't it ?"

\- "Oh, you saw through it, Reitei-sama…" said Zarti with his smile still present. "But please understand. I cannot lose you until we revive Deliora."

\- "You think I'll die from such a flame ?" Lyon suddenly began to summon his magic, freezing the floor and wall around him, creating some sort of barrier that kept everyone outside as Natsu began to climb up the hole he fell in, making him the only other guy in the "arena" with Lyon. "Get lost. I'll take care of him myself. I, Reitei Lyon, am the only mage that can defeat Deliora. It would be a disgrace to my name if I can't even take this brat down."

\- "Wait, defeat Deliora ? That's what you want to do ?" asked Natsu, shocked by this revelation. "He's already half defeated. You would make an effort to free him just to have a match ? You really are a weirdo."

\- "I'll do everything to surpass Ur… AND CONTINUE DREAMING !" Shouted Lyon in response, once again calling his birds to assault Natsu, the Dragon Slayer jumping around, dodging the birds as they exploded on the floor forming small flower that shatter just as they appeared.

\- "Why don't you go directly fight het, then ?" asked Natsu as he dodged, not knowing about Ur's whereabout.

\- "Didn't you know that Ur's already dead ?" Said Lyon, Natsu's eyes widening, realizing what Gray really meant when he said that Ur sealed the devil at the risk of her life. "She died because of Gray !"

In his fury, he called upon another bird of ice that came faster than the others, striking him on the head. Or it would have if his inhuman reflexes and instinct didn't made him protect himself with his arm, a large bloody bruise appearing right above his left elbow, the bottom half of his face hidden by his right arm as he glared at Lyon.

\- "I don't know what happened in the past, but there are many people suffering from what you're trying to do." Said Natsu, a he set his hands ablaze. "It's time for you to snap out of it with a good beating !"

/- In the forest -/

Gray, Lucy, Erza, Kouta and Haruto ran to the temple, Happy flying by their side, hoping to reach the temple before it was too late. Well, Kouta and Haruto were running a little late, talking on the phone as they ran.

\- "Lyon as always wanted to surpass Ur and now that she's gone, he's trying to surpass her by defeating what she couldn't." Summarized Lucy as she ran, her face showing some sort of understanding at that. "I guess that since she's dead, it's the only way…"

\- "No, he just doesn't know." Interrupted Gray, taking Lucy aback. "Ur did disappear, but…she's still alive." This shocked the whole group, even the Rider even thought they were still busy trying to talk with whoever they had on the phone. Trying being the important term, here.

\- "What do you mean ? What really happened in the past ?" asked Erza, trying to shed some light on the matter.

\- "10 years ago, Deliora attacked the town where I lived. It was destroyed in less than a day. Ur and Lyon, who was already her student at the time, found me among the ruins and took me in. That's how I became her student in the first place. That's how everything began for us." Gray began explaining his story, the girls listening attentively while the Riders tried to follow the story. "I was driven by my desire to get revenge on Deliora. But she taught me everything I needed to know about Molding Magic. We trained and lived all three of us together. Lyon has always admired Ur and wanted to be better than her, it has always been an obsession to him. As for me, I really was blinded. I just wanted to learn powerful magic, something I thought Molding Magic wasn't at the time, only so I could defeat Deliora. And one day, I heard that Deliora was close by. So I did the most stupidest thing in my whole life : I ran after him, to avenge my parents. And Ur and Lyon came to get me, but we met Deliora and he destroyed us. There was nothing we could do. I've never been more afraid in my life before. I was powerless, so was Lyon and Ur ordered me to take him out of the city we were fighting in. She decided to stay behind to defeat Deliora for me. I didn't wanted to go, this was my fault we were in this situation, but she told me it was nobody's fault, not mine nor her nor Lyon's. She said that it was a trial to get that happiness we had back. But that's when Lyon awoke. He looked like he was about to snap at any moment. He kept rambling on like she was the strongest, that she couldn't lose. He was even about to used Iced Shell, the same spell Ur used to stop Deliora, but Ur froze him before he could do it. Because Iced Shell destroy the user's body." Gray heard many gasps coming from behind him, but he paid it no mind and continued. "And in the end, she used the same spell to change her whole body into an unmeltable ice to encase Deliora. And as she did that, she asked me to tell Lyon that she simply died, afraid that if he knew that she became ice, he would spent his life trying to undo this magic."

\- "But he didn't believed you when you said she died and he put the blame of her death on you." Finished Haruto, now at the same level as them, as they stopped for a single moment, Gray nodding as he looked at the sky.

\- "Yeah. But now is the day everything end. I'm going to stop Lyon."

They all fell silent for a moment, looking at Gray and knowing that for both ice user to be at peace, they'll have to fight and made Lyon realized that he's in the wrong. A calm and peaceful moment that came to a screeching halt as someone behind them shouted at the top of his lungs.

\- "LET ME TALK, GOD DAMNIT !" roared Kouta in his phone, looking more than tensed by this phone call as he took a deep breath to get his voice back. "Yeah, his fire fused with Haruto's flame and the projection of my Mango Destroyer, but I really think this have nothing to do with our powers. It probably come from magic… Yeah… Yeah, let's do that… Okay, keep us updated, bye." And with a sigh, Kouta finally ended his call, walking to his friends. "Sorry, but when Sento began to ramble about his science and researches, it become really hard to talk with him."

\- "What was that about anyway ?" wondered Gray.

\- "Is that about what happened at the village when you and Natsu teamed up and your mango fused with his fire ?" asked Lucy, Erza and Gray looking at her as if she just said something really dumb, which definitely looked like it to them.

\- "Don't look at her like that, she's saying the truth." Said Haruto, gaining the two mages attention. "When we were defending the village, Natsu's magic apparently absorbed the power from one of Kouta's Arms. And he could merge his flames with mine. This is another part of a mystery that began with what happened with the Strawberry Lockseed at the guild. But we'll explain everything to you later, when we'll have more information about it. For now, we should go to the temple."

The mages all agreed, turning to head to the temple who was in fact hidden just behind a last line of trees and bushes. However, when they saw the temple, they couldn't help but be surprised as the temple was tilted to the side.

\- "Well, guess we now know what was that rumbling noise when Gentaro called us. But what happened ?" wondered Kouta as he looked at the temple.

\- "It has to be Natsu." Answered Gray, something in his guts telling him that this was the only possible explanation. "I don't know how he did it, but he's the only one who could've done something so haphazard."

\- "Well at least, the moon light now can't reach Deliora anymore." Said Haruto with a slight smile. "This should made the resurrection harder for now." he said, but as soon as he finished, noises was heard coming from the bushes all around them.

\- "Someone's here."

As soon as Kouta said that, a large group of the same cloaked guy that they saw at the temple jumped on them from the bushes, ready to fight and stop them from continuing. And among those already numerous cultist stood another group just as big but made of Shocker soldiers who were all ready for the fight.

\- "Keep going." Simply said Erza as she stood in front of the enemies, not looking back at her friends. "I'll take care of things here."

\- "Maybe, but not alone." Added Haruto as he and Kouta joined Erza, standing by her side. "We'll help you. As for you Gray, go and found Natsu then stop Lyon. Gentaro will take care of Shocker if there are some of them in the temple."

\- "And I'll stay here with them !" stated Lucy, grabbing her keys. "Keep going Gray. You have to stop that guy !"

\- "…Okay. Come find us when you'll be done here." Said Gray as he took off, leaving his friends behind.

\- "Don't worry. We will."

\- "HENSHIN !"

 _ **FLAME, PLEASE ! HI HI, HI HI HI !**_

 _ **LOCK ON ! SOIYA ! ORANGE ARMS ! HANAMICHI ON STAGE !**_

 _ **OPEN THE DOOR TO THE CRAB : CANCER !**_

 _ **REQUIP : HEAVEN WHEEL ARMOR !**_

\- "Let's do this !"

 **And done !**

 **Thank you all for reading my fic and for your nice reviews. I really love seeing new ones, or even PMs, since it always got good idea about what I could do next. So don't hesitate and leave one, I'll always read them. See you next time for the beginning of the last part of this arc. See ya !**

 **Next time : Ice showdown and frozen heart. A mysterious magic. Shocker met the space themed heroes.**


	18. Chapter 18 : Galuna's final showdown ?

**Heya guys and girls ! I hope you're all feeling good. Because I can't really say that I'm in the best of the shapes. Got a headache, a running nose, I hope those won't stay for too long because it really is annoying. I hope my health state won't cause this chapter to drop in term of quality compared to the previous ones, but I don't think this should be the case. I wish you all a great time reading this new chapter.**

 **I'd also liked to do something I never did before, which is thanking you all personally for your support. So thanks to MegaloHunteR, EnderTheFow, Nickle2bird, ShotaroxPhillip, Kisaragi Koutaro, RocketFourze, theOkWriter, Cross-Z Magma, KRKing, EnigmaWriter21, 5862-senbonzakura and the guests that left reviews and even giving me some ideas for my story.**

 **I won't repeat the fact that I'm not the owner of neither Fairy Tail nor Kamen Rider so let's go !**

 **EDIT : I corrected a mistake i did in the end of this chapter. I said Sento's mango instead of Kouta's mango, but i changed that.**

 **Chapter 18 : Galuna's final showdown ?**

Last time, we stopped just after Shocker and the cultist came to stop the Riders and mages from reaching the temple, when Erza, Kouta, Lucy and Haruto stayed behind to stop them, allowing Gray to run to the temple. So let's head back to the temple, where the mysterious Zarti and both Shocker Lieutenant, Chaospine and Gunrilla, were standing in the shadows, near the wall of ice that Lyon created.

\- "Looks like they are still at it." Commented Gunrilla, his arms crossed as he listened to the fighting noises that came from inside the arena of ice.

\- "Tch. I said we jumped in and gang up on the pink dude." Spat Chaospine, not liking the idea of staying there without doing anything.

\- "Please, that would be way too much." Said Zarti, his smirk still present on his half-hidden face. "We should just wait here for something to happen. And it should happen sooner than we think. Well, in the meantime, I have something to do. I'll be back soon."

The two Shocker member looked at the retreating old guy, feeling that something was really off with him, but said nothing nonetheless, looking back at the wall of ice. On the other side of that wall, Lyon and Natsu were still giving their everything in their fight, even thought neither side managed to get the upper hand on the other. After one last offensive where their attacks once again canceled each other, something weird began to happen as a crack appeared in the wall of ice, crack that kept growing under the wondering looks of both mages. After a few seconds, the wall fell down around the crack, forming a gaping hole with Gray standing on the other side, bare torso and covered with bandages but his mind set on his mission. His sudden appearance took the two fighting mages by surprise, but Gray's paid them no mind as he walked into the arena.

\- "Natsu, let me take care of him."

\- "What ?!" said Natsu, remembering what happened last time. "You already lost to him before !"

\- "And there won't be a next time. This is it." Stated the ice mage confidently, looking straight at Lyon who said nothing. "It's my fault that Ur 'died' ten years ago, I'll admit it… But I cannot forgive you for hurting my comrades, the village, and trying to melt the ice. Being as things are, we shall both undergo this 'punishment', Lyon." As he finished his sentence, he had took a weird stance, legs slightly bent, both arms stretched forward, one palm looking up, the other looking down as they crossed at wrist-level. However, this posture was everything but weird to Lyon who suddenly began to sweat heavily.

\- "Th-That posture !? Iced Shell !? Have you gone mad ?!"

\- "Iced Shell ?" repeated Natsu, trying to remember where he heard that name before when it came back to him, a memory from when they found Deliora, combining with what Lyon said to him a few seconds ago. _"Ur cast a magic called 'Iced shell' at this devil… It's a magic that my teacher, Ur, sealed at the risk of her life… Didn't you know that Ur is already dead ?"_ As he put the pieces together, his eyes widen as Gray kept his stance.

\- "Return the people of this island back to their normal appearance immediately then take your comrades and leave." Gray asked Lyon, setting an ultimatum to his old friend. "This is your last chance."

\- "I see." Said Lyon with a smile. "So that spell is just a threat… ridiculous."

But as Gray suddenly summon his magic, creating a shockwave that blew Natsu off his feet and forced a shocked Lyon to protect his face, he realizer that Gray wasn't just trying to scare him.

\- "I'm serious." Said Gray as his magic began to go wild around him. "Ur died because of me, this is a fact that will never change, no matter how many years have gone by. I need to take responsibility for that, one way or another. The time has come. I'm ready to die." With his last statement, his whole body was nearly as white as snow as he shouted one last warning. "Answer me, Lyon ! Do we die together or live together ?!"

\- "Do it." Answered Lyon, not looking impressed. "You don't have the guts to die."

Gray stayed silent for a few seconds, eyes closed, before opening them again, showing pure determination.

\- "You disappoint me. THIS IS THE END !"

 _ **ICED …**_

\- "FOOL !" *BAM*

Out of nowhere, just as Gray was about to cross the point of no return, Natsu had jumped on his fellow guild member, punching him hard in the jaws, interrupting the spell and sending the ice mage to the ground, much to the latter and Lyon surprise, Gray looking up at Natsu.

\- "Don't just barge in out of nowhere to start rambling about responsibility and things like that. This is MY show." Said the Fire Mage, the word 'show' ticking Gray off. "I'll take care of him !"

\- "What ? Didn't I ask you to let me take care of him ?" asked Gray, only for Natsu to answer with the same tone.

\- "Did I ever say 'Sure, go ahead' ?"

However, Gray wasn't in the mood to put up with this kind of shit as he suddenly got up, grabbing the fire mage by his famous white scarf.

\- "I have to put this thing between me and Lyon to an end ! Even if it means I have to die for it !"

And just like Gray had enough off his bullshit, Natsu had enough of Gray's one, grabbing onto his wrist tightly, bringing his face even closer, his face showing he was really pissed by what Gray was saying.

\- "So you're going to end this by dying, huh ? Stop running away."

Those words struck Gray hard as he stood there, not saying anything else, silence falling on the three mages, a silence that ceased when the temple began to shook once again as the ruins, much to everyone shock, were tilted once again, setting them back to their original shape.

\- "What the hell ? What's going on ?" wondered Natsu, stomping on the ground, not understanding what happened.

\- "That's not good. Now the moonlight will reach Deliora again." Commented Gray as someone walked inside the arena by the hole Gray created.

\- "Sorry to disturb you." Said Zarti as he approached Lyon. "Hohoho. The sun will set soon, so I shunted the ruins back to normal."

\- "So it was you." Said Natsu as he gritted his teeth in annoyance at the old guy. "It took me so long to tilt them. How did you do that ?"

\- "Hohoho." Was the only answer he got from the old guy which _slightly_ angered him.

\- "HOW DID YOU DO THAT !?" he asked once again, flames forming in his mouth as if he was about to burn the old guy to a crisp…

\- "Now, let me go start the Moon Drip ritual."

… Only to be ignored once again as Zarti left the room, not answering Natsu who kept silent and blank for a few seconds before losing it completely.

\- "Bring it on, you namahage bastard !" he roared, turning to Gray. "I'm gonna go and whoop his ass like never before ! You take care of Lyon ! And don't disgrace the name, got it ? I mean, not yours."

\- "I know." Simply answered Gray as he nodded at Natsu, both of them adding said name at the same time. "Fairy Tail's !"

\- "So you don't want to disgrace your guilds name ? Would be a shame if you disgraced it here and now, wouldn't it ?" said Gunrilla, suddenly appearing in front of Natsu, blocking the latter path, as Chaospine grinned wickedly as he rubbed his spikes covered forearms.

\- "It's been so long since I wanted to skewer you all ! I'll enjoy every second of it !"

Natsu groaned, stopping in front of those two monsters and robots. He wanted to go and pummel that old guy but it's not like he could do that with those two on the way, but luckily, Gunrilla and Chaospine weren't the only ones who could appear from out of nowhere.

\- "UCHUUUUU KITAAAAAAA !"

*BAM**BAM* Both Shockers soldiers got suddenly send to the sides, looking like they were punched by something invisible, which was the case as, much to Natsu's pleasant surprise, a body appeared out of thin air in front of him, arms and legs stretched, both arms pointing at the sky, his white armor well known by Natsu.

\- "Gentaro ! You can become invisible ?!" Natsu half-stated, half-asked, Gentaro turning to him with a purple switch in hand.

\- "Yep, thanks to that little guy." He said, pointing at the Stealth Module on his leg. "Well, I've never punched anyone during a Uchu Kita, but it was fun in a way. Anyway. I'll handle those two, go after that guy."

\- "You'll be okay ? It's a 1 against 2."

\- "Don't worry about me. As long as my friends are here." He began, bumping his heart with his fist. "I'll never be alone."

\- "I see. Good luck !" said Natsu with a smile as he ran after Zarti, leaving Gentaro alone with both Shockers 'men', the three of them now in the floor just below where Gray was, Gentaro having followed them after he threw them there. As for the Ice mage, he was now alone with Lyon. But he didn't come to really fight. He was there to talk.

\- "Earlier, when I tried to use Iced Shell, Did you expect Natsu was going to stop me ?"

\- "No… I never would have imagined he could get near that spell."

\- "So you were going to take it ?"

\- "Yes, but I figured that I'd be rescued anyway." Explained Lyon, still smiling. "I said do it because even If I did ended up encased in the ice, I still have friends out there, and we're on an island where Iced Shell ice can be melted."

\- "I see." Said Gray, looking down as he realized what it meant. "I was too rash. Iced Shell is useless here. This would have solved nothing."

\- "Indeed. So, do you still intend to fight me ? You know you can never defeat…"

\- "Let's stop." Gray's sudden proposition made Lyon froze in shock as he would have never expected him to say such thing. "Give up on Deliora."

\- "What is this nonsense you're spewing ?" asked Lyon, not really getting where Gray was getting at. "First a threat, now a persuasion ? You really aren't making any sense."

\- "Lyon, listen. Ur is alive." Lyon face suddenly went blank, looking eyes wide at Gray. "Iced Shell is a spell that transforms the caster's body into ice. The ice that is keeping Deliora sealed, the one you're trying to melt, is Ur. Ur is still alive as that ice. Sorry for not telling you this earlier, but I promised Ur not to tell you."

\- "…Gray…" Lyon muttered as he stood just in front of Gray, his face hidden.

\- "Lyon… So, let's just sto… Gah."

\- "I already know all that. You're wasting your breath." Lyon had taken one more step, plunging a sword made of ice in Gray's stomach, blood flowing from his wound but also coming out of his mouth as he stood there, awestruck by what happened as he fell to the ground, Lyon looking at him with a face distorted by disdain and wicked resolve. "That's not Ur anymore. Just scraps of ice."

\- "You… You knew… You knew it but you still did this…" asked Gray from the ground as he looked up at Lyon, the calmness on his face now long gone, entirely replaced by pure fury.

\- "You really believe such bullshit ?" asked Lyon, almost amused by this. "Come on, grew up, will you ?"

*BAM* Before Lyon could realize what happened, Gray had gotten up and threw a punch at Lyon's face, striking hard as blood began to come out of his mouth, Lyon taken aback as Gray's eyes showed no mercy for his former 'classmate' who got thrown away by the blow.

\- "What ?! How can you move with that injury ?!" he said, amazed that Gray could move despite the wound he just inflicted on him.

\- "I'm fed up…" sighed Gray, Lyon looking at him wondering what he meant. "I wanted to save you, but now I'm fed up with it."

And out of nowhere, he created a bow and shot three arrow, also made of ice of course, at Lyon who was struck before he could react as he was sent to the ground by the blow, managing to get back on his feet quickly while stumbling, getting up only to be met by a kick in the face by Gray, his feet striking hardly Lyon's mouth, sending him back to the ground and this time, Gray didn't wait for him to get up as he rushed and began to beat the shit out of Lyon, kicking him as he was on the ground, punching him repeatedly and even punctuation with some headbutt. After some time, Gray's beating brought Lyon back up as he was sent staggering to the wall, holding onto it to stay up, blood running down his face, his clothes torn by the beating.

\- "Gah… I can't be… bleeding… because of GRAY !"

 _ **ICE MAKE : SNOW DRAGON !**_

Lyon countered by summoning a large serpentine dragon who swirl toward Gray, biting on him on the side, Gray breaking it with his elbow and diving to the side, Lyon looking at him with a smirk.

\- "I don't want to waste my strength on you…" he said, shaking from the wounds he received and frustration. "I still have to fight Deliora after that." Looking at Gray, he saw that he was still on the ground but struggling to get back up. "Stop struggling already. Deliora will be revived in no time. No one can stop it…"

\- "I will… stop it…" said Gray, his voice shaky but decided, Lyon discarding his mantle as he looked down at him.

\- "You say that, even though Zarti is taking care of the Moon Drip ritual while you grovel before me ? And your other friends won't help you either."

\- "Don't underestimate Natsu." Advised Gray with a smirk as he got up. "That Zarti will be out before you know it. And don't underestimate Gentaro, he and his friends aren't pushovers."

Soon after he said that, the ruins began to shake once again, making Gray frown and Lyon smile.

\- "Hear that ? The Moon Drip Ritual has begun. Deliora's ice is melting." Gray's eyes widen at that as Lyon kept going. "I guess this is it. You couldn't stop us." He then called upon his magic, forming little birds of ice that came to struck Gray. "How long I waited for this… For ten years, I've been gathering comrades and knowledge until I finally learned about this place. Three years ago, we brought Deliora in from Brago." As he said that, Gray used his own magic to destroy the birds, giving him a little opening to say what he had to say about that.

\- "So you've wasted 3 years for such a ridiculous thing." He stated, his words greatly annoying Lyon who gritted his teeth in annoyance.

\- "How can you say that, you who spent the past ten years in some guilds!?" He shouted, sending yet another attack on Gray who protected himself with his bare arms.

\- "I just believe in Ur's words." This stopped Lyon who looked at Gray with a blank face. "She said 'If you visit western countries, you'd find tons if stronger mages than me.'. And Fairy Tail is where I wound up. She was right; there was some really strong mages out there. I couldn't believe it. I tried to convinced master Makarov to help me with the ice, but he said that no one could, that there was a way but that I shouldn't do it. He was probably thinking about Moon Drip now that I think about it. I'm really disappointed that my senior would go and do something that would kill Ur."

\- "Whatever… I have lived for this day." Simply said Lyon, not giving a damn about it anymore as he ran at Gray, a wolf head forming on his right hand. "Now that our teacher is dead, think about what her left-behind pupils can do to surpass her ! And that Deliora ! I will surpass her by defeating Deliora, which is the only thing she couldn't do !"

\- "Your aspiration are admirable, but you failed to notice that you end up on the wrong path." Said Gray as he dodged the ice wolf Lyon had summoned. "Someone as blind as you, trying to surpass Ur ? You're 100 years too early for that. Game over, try again !"

As he said that, he created a sword of ice he then used to attack Lyon, cutting him in half as his body simply broke down, revealing that it was only an ice clone, the real one reappearing behind him, ready for the finisher.

 _ **ICE MAKE : SNOW TIGER !**_

 _ **ICE MAKE : PRISON !**_

As Lyon send a huge tiger made of ice at Gray, the latter somersaulted over it and while airborne, created a cage of ice just as huge, trapping the beast, shocking Lyon.

\- "Is that al you've got, Lyon ? Such a pitiful beast."

\- "Ridiculous ! I'll just smash your weak molding magic and …" And nothing. Lyon stopped talking when he realized that his tiger couldn't destroy the cage which was way sturdier than he thought, a fac that shocked him as Gray landed in front of him, his own magic gathering between his hands.

\- "And it all came down to Ur's most basic teaching." He said as he looked u shocked Lyon, a huge cannon made of ice in his hands. "One-handed molding is unbalanced. That's why you're incapable of using your full power at important times. That's what Ur taught us."

 _ **ICE CANNON !**_

Without giving Lyon the time to react, Gray fired his cannon which threw a big bullet made of ice at Lyon, sweeping him away, sending him crashing into a wall which created a large opening leading outside. Lyon stayed up for a single moment before falling down to the ground, barely conscious. As Gray's wound opened once again, forcing him to seal it with ice once again, he didn't saw Lyon reaching for his pocket.

\- "I… I will…. defeat… Deliora… no matter…. what…."

When Gray finally looked at him, he saw that he had a strange black device with an eye like top with a small red button on it, Lyon placing his thumb on it, ready to press it.

\- "NO ! DON'T DO THAT !"

Gray turned his head to see Gentaro standing a few meters away, a hand stretched toward Lyon to make him stop. But he didn't listened and pressed the button.

/- A few minutes ago, with Gentaro -/

 _ **RIDER ROCKET PUNCH !**_

Chaospine was send flying straight into Gunrilla by the rocket powered punch of the Rider, who was standing in front of them, his Rocket Module disappearing as he deactivated his switch. However, the Shocker's henchmen weren't done yet as Chaospine ran at Gentaro, the spikes on his arms bristling as he swung at the Rider, who was ready to protect himself.

 _ **SHIELD ON !**_

The white rocket shaped shield appeared on his left arm as he used it to protect himself from the blows, using every little opening he had to land a few hit off his own. However, Gentaro was faced with one little problem : it was a 2 vs 1. And he was reminded of that the hard way as he got struck out of nowhere by bullet who hit him on his right unprotected side, courtesy of Gunrilla whose cannons were smoking and taking advantage of that, Chaospine arms began to shine as he swung them down once again on the rider, the light exploding on impact, sending him flying away, going through a wall as both Shocker Lieutenant stood side by side, looking at where the Rider had landed as Gentaro already got back up.

\- "Well, I forgot how 2 on 1 really was. It's been a long time since I fought one." Said Gentaro as he stepped out of the ruined wall.

\- "See ? You should just give up." Taunted Chaospine. "Besides, with that devil by our side, you'll be destroyed anyway. So why keeping on fighting ?"

\- "Why ? Because I have friend in this world who would suffer if that thing is set loose." Said Gentaro. "That's all the reason I need to give it my all."

\- "Friends, huh ? So you already forgot about the ones you left behind ? Quite egoistical, don't you think, Kamen Rider ?" mocked Gunrilla, which only made Gentaro laugh, surprising both henchmen.

\- "I've left no one behind. They are all here with me." He said, bumping his fist on his heart as he realized something. "They are always with me. But thanks to you, I now remember that thanks to our friends, they can with me in any way I want." As he said that, he put a hand on his belt, pulling something out of his trinkets box. "And I just happen to need a friend by my side." He then scrolled down on the list, stopping on a familiar name and pressing a button and out of the Dimensional portal that appeared walked Sakuta Ryusei, wearing casual close, his Meteor Driver on his waist, the two Shocker representative shocked by his sudden appearance.

\- "What's up, Gentaro ? You need help ?" said Meteor, looking at his friend as they did their usual handshake.

\- "Well, I felt like this could be a great opportunity to fight together, for old time sake, you know." Said Fourze as he handed Ryusei his Meteor Switch. "Here, you'll need that."

\- "Thanks. Now then, let's do this."

METEOR READY ?

A portal, just like the one he walked out of, appeared just above Ryusei as he got into position, ready to transform. Inside the portal, the M-Bus station could be seen, aiming its 'cannon' at the portal.

\- "HENSHIN !"

Actioning the lever, M-Bus fired at Ryusei through the portal who closed afterward as light engulfed Ryusei, only to reappear in his Kamen Rider Meteor suit.

\- "Neat ! Kengo and the others outdone themselves." Said Gentaro as he turned to their opponents. "Now, we'll fight you mano a mano !"

\- "I will decide your fate !" said Ryusei as usual before his fight, which seemed to make their opponents snapped and ran at them, the fighting starting once again. Gentaro ran to Gunrilla as Chaospine jumped on Ryusei, slamming his arms down to try and flatten Meteor, the latter side-stepping out of the way and throwing a punch at Chaospine, the hit landing and giving him an opening to attack even more, both fighters truly beginning their fight, exchanging blows, Ryusei getting the upper hand quickly. As for Gentaro, he was busy fighting Gunrilla who wasn't as dangerous at close-range than he was at long range.

 _ **CLAW ON !**_

As Fourze dodged and slash the machine creature with his clawed hand, he noticed that his he wasn't as wounded as he thought, he also had a hard time getting through Gunrilla armoring which was sturdier than he expected. Looking at Meteor, he saw that he also had some problems. Despite his appearance, Chaospine had impressive reflexes and seeing that Ryusei was too swift for him, he switched strategy and managed to use his spikes covered arms to counter the punches and kicks, which made Meteor suffer from them. As they looked at each other they realized what they could do to solve the problem. But for that, they will need a distraction, something Gentaro could provide, inserting two new Switch in his Driver.

 _ **SMOKE ! GATLING !**_

 _ **SMOKE ON ! GATLING ON !**_

The two modules appeared on each of his legs, Gentaro poiting his gatling at Chaospine and the Smoke Module at Gunrilla. As the smoke was sprayed on his face, Gunrilla took a few step back as Gentaro opened fire on Chaospine with his machine gun, forcing him away from Ryusei as both Rider now stood side by side, nodding at each other. Gunrilla and Chaospine soon got over their distraction and rushed at their own opponent but Gentaro, using his 'reactor', jumped and cart-wheeled over Ryusei while activating a new module.

 _ **CHAINSAW ! CHAINSAW ON !**_

He come back down by swinging his chainsaw down on an unprepared Chaospine who stumbled backward as Ryusei, seeing that Gunrilla was about to shot, disrupted him with his own 'shoot'.

 _ **SATURN, READY ! OK, SATURN !**_

Swinging his arm, he threw the planet rings at the gorilla robot, interrupting him and giving him the opportunity to rush at him, his close-range fighting style more than effective on the robot. Meanwhile, Gentaro was busy taking care of the porcupine monster, his module-covered legs and ands protecting him from the spikes, much to the monster annoyance.

 _ **RIDER ROCKET PUNCH !**_

After some time, Gentaro had reactivated his Rocket Module, using it to send the monster far away, crashing to the ground while Ryusei was getting ready to do the same with Gunrilla.

 _ **JUPITER, READY ! OK, JUPITER !**_

A copy of the large planet appeared around Ryusei's fist as he hit Gunrilla hard with it, sending the robot flying away, landing next to his fellow comrade, both of them struggling to get up as Gentaro and Ryusei stood side by side, ready to finish it.

 _ **METEOR ON, READY ? METEOR LIMIT BREAK !**_

 _ **ROCKET DRILL LIMIT BREAK ! RIDER ROCKET DRILL KICK !**_

Seeing the two Riders jumped in the air and diving at them with their leg stretched, either covered in blueish energy or by a yellow drill, Gunrilla grabbed Chaospine and threw him in front of him as he began to ran away, leaving his friend to his doom. And before Chaospine could react, he was struck by both Riders.

\- "Gunrilla ! You bast…AAAAARGH !" *BOOM*

Chaospine, pierced by both Riders, disappeared in a huge explosion that shook the walls of the already weak building as the Riders touched the ground, Gentaro spinning for a moment on his drill before stopping as they looked at Gunrilla, who was standing next to a hole in the temple, leading outside.

\- "Don't think too highly of yourselves because of that, Riders." He said, panting. "You won't leave this island in one piece. By the way, we left one more gift to this young ice mage. One you both now very well." And with that, he was gone, disappearing in the forest, leaving behind him a confused Gentaro and Ryusei, a Dimension Wall appearing next to the latter.

\- "Well looks like my time here is up." Said Ryusei as he undid his transformation, handing the Meteor Switch to Gentaro. "Here, in case you want to use Fusion State. And you'd better go and found that young ice mage to see what he meant by gift. It's probably not something nice."

\- "Yeah, I'll go check on it. See ya and say hello to Tomoko and the others for me !" Ryusei nodded before stepping inside the wall, disappearing as Gentaro ran to the upper floor, his mind racing as he tried to understand what Gunrilla meant by that. And when he finally reached the place, he saw Gray, panting and hurt standing in front of Lyon, who was in an even worse shape, laying on the ground. Nothing seemed wrong with that, that is until Lyon pulled something out of his pocket, a black and gray switch with a white eye on top with a small red button. Gentaro's eyes widened at that, running to get closer to them and stop him from doing a big mistake.

\- "NO ! DON'T DO THAT !"

But it was too late and Lyon triggered the Dark Switch.

/- Flashback end -/

A cloud of dark energy surrounded Lyon as some light shone through the darkness, forming a constellation made of two triangles on each side of a line as the sphere the embed themselves on Lyon, who now looked like a light blue eagle-like monster, with wings instead of arms, a twisted beak on his face, one of the sphere embed on his face where his left eye should be. The others forming a double-flag of some sort on his torso, Gentaro recognizing the constellation.

\- "Aquila, constellation of the eagle." He said as he walked to be next to Gray who looked at his former friends with wide eyes.

\- "What the hell happened ?"

\- "He used a Dark Switch." Explained Gentaro to Gray, their eyes locked on the Zodiarts in front of them. "Those things grant to those who activate them great powers but it also made them transform into monsters."

\- "And how do we made him go back to its former shape ?" asked Gray, not feeling like leaving Lyon like that.

\- "We beat him and deactivate the Switch. But since he's a mage, we'll have to work together to beat him. You're in ?" asked Gentaro, turning to Gray who simply nodded, despite his wounds.

\- "Yeah. Let's do this."

They both ran at the Aquila Zodiart when the latter, drawing in Lyon's power, summoned a flock of ice bird, like Ice Make Eagle, but instead of birds, the flock was made of demon looking bat twice as big as they normally were, diving on the Rider and mage, forcing them to stop mid-run to take care of the birds. But those weren't the only threat they had to fight against and while the Fairy Tail members were busy taking care if the icy birds, Aquila flapped his wing-arms, sending a powerful wind carrying ice shards, striking both Gray and Gentaro, forcing them back, but also giving the birds the opening they needed to reach them, which sent them further away as the birds exploded upon contact, leaving frosted wounds on their bodies. While they struggle to get up, Aquila had summoned another flock of ice made demon birds who were swirling around and above him, creating some sort of defensive barrier.

\- "Shit. Those things are stronger than usual. We need to get close but I don't know how we could with those fucking things on the way." Stated Gray, trying to find a way to go around them and reach Aquila.

\- "I think I have an idea." Gentaro had said that while grabbing Gray, much to the latter confusion, as he activated his Rocket Switch.

 _ **ROCKET ON !**_

\- "Wait. What the hell are you…"

*FWOOOSH* Not letting Gray finish his sentence, Gentaro had taken off, his sudden movement grabbing the Zodiart attention as he sent his birds after them. Gray looked behind him as the bird-like creature flew after them, now realizing what Gentaro's plan was seeing that there was not a single one protecting Aquila for now.

\- "Neat ! Now he's wide open. Go get him, Gray. Airdropping on the way !" There was something in Gentaro's sentence that made Gray feel weird. And boy was he right.

\- "Wait. What do you mean by 'airdropping' ?"

Gray got his answer when Gentaro let go of him without warning, making him fall straight at Aquila, the ice mage quickly turning around to face the Zodiart, his magic manifesting around his hands.

 _ **ICE MAKE : SWORDS !**_

Summoning two swords made of ice, one in each hand, slashing down at the Zodiart, making it take a step back as the cold blades struck him, Gray using the opportunity to kept on attacking.

 _ **ICE MAKE : GAUNTLET !**_

Covering his fist with a large fist made of ice, Gray punched the Zodiart, making him take two step back, Gray frowning at the fact that his attacks seemed to be rather ineffective, probably due to the fact that this wasn't just Lyon, but also a monster from another world. Aquila then began to really attack Gray, the latter taking advantage of the fact that Aquila was slower than him to dodge and counter-attack, even thought if his magic wasn't as effective against him.

\- "Gray ! Behind you !" Gray turned his head when he heard Gentaro's voice only to see him rocketing his way to him, followed by the birds. "We're switching !"

Gray got the message, completely turning toward Gentaro, putting a fist in an open palm, Aquila raising his wing above him while Gentaro put a switch in his Driver Triangle Slot.

 _ **STAMPER ON !**_

 _ **ICE MAKE : LANCES !**_

 _ **RIDER ROCKET STAMPER KICK !**_

Gray summoned his ice spikes and sent them past Gentaro at the flying creature, destroying them while Gentaro passed by Gray, left leg stretched and landing a rocket powered flying kick at the Zodiart, the stamp appearing on its body as a was sent a few meters back, the Rider landing next to his partner who looked at the seal with curiosity.

\- "What's that now ?"

\- "Stamper increase a little my kicking strength, and 15 seconds after the stamp was placed, it explode."

And indeed it did. The second after Gentaro had said that, the stamp exploded, sending the monster to the ground as Gentaro and Gray began to talk to come up with a plan.

\- "My ice don't work that well against him. I guess we'll have to work together to finish that guy." Said Gray.

\- "Yeah, but if magic work better with their respective element, I only have one that could work well with your magic." Added Gentaro, pulling Freezer out of the box.

\- "Let's try any way." Proposed Gray, getting into position as Gentaro activated his ice based Module.

 _ **FREEZER ON !**_

As the module appeared, something similar to what happened with Haruto and Natsu's fire occurred. Gray's magic seemed to be absorbed by the freezer who then send the energy back at the mage, creating some sort of cold aura around them. Aquila attacked once again, sending a new flock of birds at them, but as soon as they reached the area covered by their cold aura, they froze and broke down to pieces like glass thrown to the ground, much to everyone's surprise. However, Gray and Gentaro quickly got over their surprise, turning to each other, nodding and turning back to the Zodiart, now unleashing the strength of that aura.

 _ **ICE MAKE : RIDER FREEZING WAVE !**_

The Freezer Module and Gray's magic combined their power to create a wave of cold air that froze everything it came in contact with, including Aquila who end up being froze on the spot.

\- "Wow, that was strong. More than I thought it would be." Admitted Gray as he looked at the frozen Zodiarts, when the ice began to slightly crack.

\- "But this won't hold on for too long, so we better take care of him quickly." Said Gentaro, activating his Rocket and Drill Switch hovering into the air as he triggered his Limit Break with his three active Switches, Gray nodding and creating yet another ice weapon, this one inspired by Gentaro.

 _ **ICE MAKE : DRILL !**_

 _ **ROCKET FREEZER DRILL LIMIT BREAK !**_

 _ **RIDER ROCKET FREEZING DRILL … HUH ?**_

As Gentaro was about to throw his kick, he was stopped when something strange happened. The cold air from his Freezer had gathered around the drill like it should in this configuration but, just like when Kouta's mango and Natsu's fire had fused, Gray's magic seeped from the ice drill and came to fuse with Gentaro's frost covered drill, the ice of Gray's drill breaking down to pieces before reforming around Gentaro's leg, creating a big ice made drill around it, surrounded by a cloud of cold air.

\- "That's cool ! I guess this call for a new name. Let's see… I know !"

 _ **ICE MAKE : RIDER FROZEN DRILL STRIKE !**_

As the ice around Aquila had now almost totally disappeared but he was still unable to move, his feet stuck to the ground and unable to dodge what was coming, namely a huge drill made of ice spinning wildly, a swirl of blue and yellow piercing him. As Gentaro came to a stop behind the Zodiart, the latter began to stumble around as electric ark covered his body before he exploded, the Dark Switch flying through the air, landing in Gray's hand as the monster disappeared, leaving behind him Lyon who was still unconscious.

\- "Why isn't he waking ? Is there something wrong ?" asked Gray, worried for his old friend despite what happened recently.

\- "Don't worry, you just had to deactivate the Dark Switch." Gentaro said, deactivating his Switches as Gray looked at the Switch in his hand, pushing the red button, which made the Switch disappear as Lyon began to stir awake. Gray sighed in relief, a relief that wouldn't last as he a powerful roar shook the whole temple, a roar that woke Lyon instantly and made he and Gray's eyes widen in realization for this was a roar they both know and could never forget. The worst just happened.

Deliora had been freed.

 **Okay, we're done for this one. I hope you liked it and if you did (or not), let me know by doing a review or even sending me a PM. Next time, after a small flashback to follow Natsu's fight, I'll introduce something I really hoped you'll like. See you next time !**

 **Next time : Natsu vs Zarti. The devil out of the ice. Strawberry knight on stage !**


	19. Chapter 19 : Strawberry Knight !

**Hello guys ! I'm back with a whole new chapter for you all and this time, I'm going to reveal something I really hope you'll like. But I won't say anything, I'll just let you discover what it is by yourselves ! Anyway, enough talking, let's do this !**

 **And I still have no rights on Fairy Tail or Kamen Rider, of course.**

 **Chapter 19 : Ichigo Knight Arms**

/- Before Deliora woke up, with Natsu -/

\- "Wait up, you masked bastard ! How did you tilt the ruins back in place ?!"

Natsu was seething, shouting at the small old and masked lab who was running away from him, not paying him any mind. Natsu had to know how that guy did to undid everything he did to destroy the temple's foundation. As he ran after him, he saw him turn just a moment, grinning as he raised a hand to the roof which broke down suddenly, making a bunch of heavy slabs of stones fall on Natsu who wasn't impressed.

\- "This… Won't hurt me !" roared the Dragon Slayer as he jumped and, with a fiery roundhouse kick, destroyed the rocks which fell down around him harmlessly. However, it wasn't completely over as Zarti once again did a gesture with his hand and, much to Natsu's surprise, the stones flew back to the roof and back to the hole, repairing it, making it look like it was brand new.

\- "See ? That's how I repaired the ruins." Said Zarti as Natsu looked at the now gone hole.

\- "Wh-What is this magic ?" wondered Natsu, not believing what he just saw.

\- "It's a type of the 'lost magic'. It's a magic that was obliterated from history due to its immense power and the gravity of its side effect. Just like your Dragon Slayer Magic."

\- "From history ? Huh ?" Natsu looked down in front of him, only to realize that the guy wasn't there anymore. "He disappeared ?! Where did he go ? Shit !" He stayed a few seconds to think when he got an idea. "Hey, but if course ! He won't escape me now ! Let's go !"

And indeed, he was right. As Natsu was rushing to find its way back to where Deliora was, Zarti was already there, looking at the huge frozen devil with a smirk, ecstatic about what was going to happen.

\- "It is time…"

\- "GOTCHA !" Zarti's smirk disappeared as he jumped to the side, just in time to avoid Natsu who was covered in flame as he dived straight to where Zarti stood a few seconds ago. "Burn, just burn !"

\- "Hoho ! What a delightful thing to say." Said Zarti as he landed on a small ledge not far away. "But how did you find me here ?"

\- "My sense of smell is just that good. And by the way, you smell like a woman's fragrance."

\- "Hohoho. It's rather unfortunate, but I really have to revive Deliora, you see."

\- "Don't even try. It's too late." Said Natsu, without the shadow of a doubt in his voice.

\- "Oh ? And why's that ?" asked Zarti, not really understanding why he was so confident.

\- "Because Gray will take care of Lyon, I'll take care of you and Gentaro will take care of those two freaks." He said, smirking confidently as he pointed at the masked guy. "And that's the end of it."

\- "Is that so ?" simply said Zarti as he looked up at Deliora, Natsu not liking his tone as he turned to look at where he was looking, only to be shock to see a beam of purple light reaching Deliora.

\- "The…The light !? Who is holding the ritual up there !?" wondered Natsu as three cloaked guys were praying in the magic circle to gather the moonlight, those three having stayed behind under Zarti's order to keep some guys ready to hold the ritual just in case.

\- "The Moon Drip effect is weak with so few worshipper, but to tell you the truth, we already had enough moonlight. It's starting…"

As he said that, Natsu realized that the light was indeed starting to melt the ice so quickly that it will only take less than a few minutes for the devil to be free. He had to act, and quickly.

\- "Shit, shit, shit ! The ice is melting way too fast !" he said as he began to run to the stairs. "I have to take care of those guys at the top ! I can't let them continue !"

And as he ran, he suddenly fell in a hole who appeared out of nowhere due to Zarti's magic, Natsu looking at the old guy as he got up.

\- "Sorry, but I can't let you go." He said with a winner smirk on his face. "It was a mistake to come after me, Salamander-kun."

As the ice kept melting, Natsu change his target, trying to reach and get rid of that masked guy, knowing he won't be able to go stop the ritual with him around. However, Zarti wasn't making thing easy by jumping around like a bunny.

\- "Do you think it's wise to use your Flame Magic in these circumstances ?" he said, referring to Natsu's ignited fist. "You're only making the ice melt even faster."

*BOOM* Zarti was cut by a sudden explosion at his feet when Natsu kicked at the stone in front of him with a fire covered foot.

\- "That's strange. I'd think you'd WANT to melt the ice faster, no ?" he said as he glared at the guy. "I'm gonna take care of you quickly and then I'll go take care of those guys at the top."

\- "Hohooo. Your quick resolve and flexibility on the battlefield surprise me."

The fight between the two continued, Natsu trying to land a hit without ever succeeding, Zarti constantly dodging the blows and toying with him and alas, their game lasted for too long. After a few minutes, the ice had melted and now covered only the feet of the devil as the latter finally woke up, roaring at the top of his lungs, forcing Natsu to cover his ears as the whole cave and temple shook from the strength of the roar. Even if the devil was still unmoving, he was getting close to total freedom now.

\- "THERE IT IS !" exclaimed Zarti in joy, looking at the now moving Deliora, just like Natsu who looked at it in shock and perhaps slight fear. "It's finally here !"

\- "Shit, I can't lose any more time. Let's go ! Urgh !"

Natsu's resolve died in his throat as he was suddenly struck by a crystal ball who came to hit him in the jaw as it goes straight back at Zarti, who seemed to be the one controlling that sphere. As Zarti send it once again at Natsu, the latter got ready and destroyed the sphere but just like the roof before, the Zarti's magic repaired the ball who then came and struck him in the stomach.

\- "Gah ! It's fixed again !"

\- "I can manipulate the object's 'time'" explained Zarti as he made the ball hover above him. "I didn't repaired it, I simply returned the crystal's time back to before it was broken. The Arc Of Time, that's one of the Lost Magic. For example, why don't we fast forward the crystal's time into the future ?"

As he said that, the crystal began to move so quickly that Natsu couldn't even see it move as he was then struck repeatedly by the crystal, not letting him even one second to catch his breath. Of course he tried to destroy the crystal, but it was a useless fight since the ball repaired itself every time it was destroyed. However, Natsu stopped, some question and remark popping into his mind.

\- "You can't control humans 'time', right ?"

\- "My, My… You've made a very good point." Said Zarti as he called his crystal back. "Indeed, it doesn't work on any creature, to be exact. That's why I cannot melt that ice since it's actually Ur."

\- "There's something I don't understand. Lyon want to destroy Deliora. Good for him, but what would his comrades gain ?" Asked Natsu, a really good question in fact. However, what Zarti answered only gave birth to even more questions.

\- "I don't know. I just joined this group recently."

\- "What ? Then what is YOUR objective ?"

\- "Hohoho… That Lyon brat will never be able to beat Deliora. And that's perfect for me since I don't want it destroyed. I want to make it mine." This shocked Natsu as Zarti finally revealed his true plan. "Even though it's an immortal monster, there is always a way to manipulate it and those things from Shocker said they have a way to do that. Wouldn't it be great to have Deliora under my command ?"

\- "Meh, that's lame." Simply said Natsu, Zarti looking confused. "I thought that you had a burning passion to accomplish something… But that's just stupid !"

\- "Hohoho. You don't understand it yet, but there are time when you'll need 'power'…" He then pointed a hand at the ceiling, who began to crumble thanks to his magic. "Vanity will ruin your body. Ceiling, accelerate thy time and crumble."

\- "When the time where 'power is all we need' will come, I'll just trust my comrades and my own power. The power of Fairy Tail mages." Natsu declared, igniting his fist and feet as he got ready to go finish it. "Each and every one of you ; vandalizing this island for the stupidest reason ever… I've had enough !"

He then jumped at Zarti, propelled by the fire on his feet, Zarti sending the ceiling at him. But Natsu didn't paid that any mind as he just swiped his hand, the fire expanding and burning completely the stone and destroying everything on its way, creating a cloud of smoke which blinded Zarti who covered his face, waiting for the smoke to clear, only to realize that Natsu had disappeared.

\- "Where did he go ?!"

\- "Oh and by the way, I can control time as well." Natsu's voice came from right above Zarti, the latter raising his head to see Natsu diving at him, fist cocked and ready to strike. "And I can see you being send flying in a second !"

 _ **FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FIST !**_

Natsu finally reached Zarti and delivered a powerful fire coated punch at him, sending him flying and crashing to the ground, the old guy finally down for the count. However, the nightmare was only beginning.

/- On the top of the temple -/

*SLASH x3*

After taking care of the group of cultist and Shocker foot soldiers in the forest, Haruto, Erza, Kouta and Lucy had entered the ruins when they had begun to shake again and when they heard the devil's roar, they realized that the ritual was still going and decided to go up there to put an end to it. Which they did, finding only 3 cultists around the circle, the three of them easily beaten by the group of mages and Riders. And as soon as the last cultist had been down, the moonlight disappeared from the magic circle.

\- "Yay ! Moon Drip stopped !" cheered Lucy, glad that it was all finished. However, the Riders didn't share her enthusiasm.

\- "I don't know." Said Kouta, sheeting his Musou Saber. "I feel like something's off."

\- "Indeed, there is, you fools !" suddenly shouted one of the cultist, his voice a little too happy for the fairies taste. "You're too late ! The ritual is done !"

And indeed, as he said that, light erupted from the magic circle, much to the group shock.

\- "What ? But then, that means that Deliora will be freed !" cried Happy in fear.

\- "We have to go down to where he is. Maybe we can still do something !" Said Kouta, everybody following him as he began to head down to the temple's underground. Meanwhile, the column of light was reaching the thawing devil underground, melting what was left of the ice at once, completely freeing the beast whose roar shook the whole ruins as he was now standing tall in front of Natsu, who had just been joined by a dumbstruck Gentaro and Gray, the latter looking at the water around him with melancholy in his eyes, thinking about his master.

\- "Gray ! Gentaro ! Now that it has been revived, we've got no choice ! We have to take him down !" cried Natsu, pointing at the devil, Gray simply standing here as Gentaro nodded, moving a hand to his trinkets box. However, the one who answered Natsu wasn't someone they expected.

\- "Kukuku… It's… impossible… for you…" breathed Lyon, who was crawling on the ground, the madness back in his eyes as his gaze never left the devil. "We finally… met… Deliora… I'll surpass Ur… I'll defeat it… with my own hands… The monster… even Ur couldn't… beat…"

As he was getting up, Gray had walked to him, only to strike him on the back of his neck, sending him back to the ground, half-conscious.

\- "That's enough, Lyon. Leave it to me." Said Gray as he took a few step forward before going back in the same stance as before. "I'll seal Deliora !" He was ready to use Iced Shell, however, Natsu was now standing in between the ice mage and the devil, looking at Deliora with determination. "What the ? Natsu, move out of the way !"

\- "I stopped you earlier because I didn't want you to die. Didn't my voice reached you ?" Those words stunned Gray as he began to lose his concentration, looking at his friend/rival. "Go ahead and use that spell if you want to."

\- "It would be nothing more than a waste a time to try something against that thing."

Everybody, from Gray to Lyon, turned to the new voice, belonging to a quite beaten up Gunrilla who was standing on a ledge near the devil.

\- "What do you mean… ?" wondered Lyon. "I'LL DEFEAT THAT THING TO SURPASS UR !"

\- "I don't think defeating a corpse would be a proof you're better than her." Those words surprised the 4 guys, but not as much as what happened next, namely Deliora raising his arm, only for said arm to break down like a statue made of stone as cracks covered the devil body, their eyes widening as they realized what that meant. "All those years in ice, it takes a toll on a body. Deliora was long dead. It had spent 10 years being subverted in this ice. That woman truly was amazing, I can't do nothing but admit it."

As Lyon and Gray cried, thinking about their old master, one about the fact that he was really no match for her and the latter thinking about her last words she said to him, Natsu was amazed by what happened. However, Gentaro looked at Gunrilla with eyes squinted under his helmet.

\- "You and your friends came here for that thing and you looked way too calm for someone who just witness his objectives crumbling down in front of him."

\- "Indeed, but that's because there's a difference between our objectives." Began Gunrilla, his slightly robotic voice echoing in the cave. "Zarti wanted to control that devil and Lyon wanted to destroy it, which in both cases required Deliora to be alive. However, I don't mind because alive or dead doesn't make any difference for me. It's quite the opposite in fact. With it dead, I'll be able to test if that thing can work on dead creature."

On those words, he pulled some sort of glass container out of nowhere, a dark slimy liquid feeling it with he then proceed to throw at the devil, or what was left of it. After the glass broke, the slime spilled on the devils remain, nothing happening at first until it began to move and expand, covering all of the remains, creating a huge mass of slimes that grew and began to take a huge humanoid shape. After some seconds, during which the group that was on top of the temple met with their friends, Natsu taking a moment to shriek in fear when he saw that Erza was here before returning to their problem, looking as a body emerged from the slime, much to everyone fear and shock. The slime had literally build Deliora's back, a big part of his body now repaired, but with some dark crack here and there, with a black metallic looking armor replacing what couldn't be saved, like a hand or a horn. The mages and Riders looked at this new version of the devil completely in shock.

\- "W-What the hell ?!" Lyon uttered, not understanding how such a thing was possible. "They… brought him back to life ?!"

\- "Not exactly, it's more like they are making his power and strength live through that slime." Said Haruto, looking at the devil anxiously.

\- "Humpf, not bad." Commented Gunrilla like a scientist would do with one of his experiment. "It's probably not as powerful since Deliora's dead, but those results are more than concluding. I'll go and make my report. As for you, I'm wishing you all good luck !"

And as Gunrilla left, Deliora cocked a fist back and punched at the ground, forcing mages and Riders alike to jump out of the way, the strength of the blow creating a shockwave that made the whole cave shook.

\- "We can't let that thing get away or else the island will be eradicated in a matter of minutes !" said Gray, sending ice spears at the rebuilt devil, who wasn't bothered at all by the attack. Everybody agreed with that, but Kouta stopped moving when his phone began to ring, the Rider nonchalantly picking up.

\- "Kouta here."

\- "THAT'S NOT THE MOMENT !" roared everybody at him as they either dodged or attacked the devil, even if nothing really worked.

\- "Sento, is that really urgent ? we have a 'Shockerified' devil, here !"

\- "Well, in fact, this is the best moment given what I want to talk about, but it would be better if everyone could hear me." Said the scientist, who was actually standing in front of a whiteboard in their little HQ. Kouta did as he was told, putting the loud speaker on, allowing Sento to be heard by everyone in the cave.

\- "Ok, so what do you want to talk about ?" asked Kouta, as he grabbed the Suika Lockseed.

\- "Very well. So, I did some researches here, in collaboration with some of the Fairy Tail members, like Makarov or Mirajane." Began Sento, everyone trying to listen as they also tried to keep the devil at bay, which was an almost impossible job as things were right now. "And I could confirm that, just like we theorized it, when two being from different world face off, their powers aren't as effective as they would have against someone from the same world."

\- "We kinda realized that when Kouta and I faced off at the guild, Sento !" shouted Erza, who was in her Heaven Wheel Armor, jumping around and slicing the devil as much as she could, even thought her blades weren't doing enough damages to stop it.

\- "Indeed, but I then asked myself, what would happen if, like Shocker did, a being from one world was enhanced with the powers from the other ?"

\- "You're talking about Lullaby ?" wondered Lucy, who was standing a little to the side as she summoned Taurus.

\- "For example, yes." said Sento. "But back then, the technology Shocker used act like some sort of shield protecting it from magic and with Kamen Rider J taking care of it, it was back to its original resistances."

\- "but Deliora isn't like that." Said Kouta, flying around Deliora with Suika in Gyro Mode, shooting at it to make it unable to focus on one particular target. "It looked like a fusion of both magic and Shocker's creation."

\- "And that's why what I'm about to say is important." Sento's voice suddenly became more serious, grabbing everyone's attention. "Against someone, or something, who's basically made of both worlds, the only effective way to do it is to use the same kind of power by mixing both our powers and magic, something that is possible only due to the fact that magic is an easily malleable power who can take and adapt to many situation and forms."

\- "That would explain why Natsu and I took down the Toby-Phantom : because our flames fused together." Said Haruto as he realized that they had a way to win this.

\- "Or like Gentaro and me against that Zodiart thing." Added Gray, opening wide eyes and turning to Gentaro. "Gentaro ! We'll do that thing again ! This could be enough to destroy Deliora !"

\- "It could, but I'd like you to wait just a seconds. I'm not finished." Gray and Gentaro stopped, just like Haruto and Natsu who had the same idea as their friends, to turn to look as the phone who was dangling at Kouta's waist. "We also conduct experimentation to discover what happened to the Ichigo Lockseed during Kouta and Erza's fight."

\- "And what about it ?"

\- "Just like I first though, it changed because it was imbued with Erza's magic." Sento answered Lucy by explaining the result of his experimentation. "We've done the same test with others of our trinkets, FullBottles, Lockseed, Switch, etc. and they also can change shape when imbued with magic. Furthermore, if my calculation are correct, and they almost always are, those 'upgraded' trinkets, if I can call them like that, should still have the power they gave us but usable by mages." Everyone was shocked by that, their eyes widening as Sento kept going. "If this work, then we would have a way for mages to fight those 'Fused' without the help of a Rider."

\- "Wait, I can see you coming." Said Kouta, landing on the ground and jumping out of the Suika Armor. "You'd like us to test that theory here and now."

\- "Exactly ! And since an upgraded device can probably work just with the mages that put his magic inside, I'll let you guess who I have in mind for the test ride."

\- "Yeah, I think I know who you're talking about. I'll let you know about the result when we get back at the guild. See ya." With that, Kouta hung up and immediately grabbed his Ichigo Lockseed and called the 'subject'. "Erza ! I need your help !"

\- "Wait. You want me to be the one to try… whatever Sento though off ?" asked Erza, looking straight at Kouta.

\- "Yeah, but that's because you're the only one here who already managed to do at least a part of the job." He said, handing the Lockseed to her. "Do it."

Erza hesitated a moment before taking her favorite Lockseed from Kouta's hand, changing back in her normal clothes/armor. And while the others were trying to prevent Deliora from leaving the cage, she did as Sento said and began to let her magic in the lock. And after a few second, the Lockseed began to shine, only to take the same shape it had after the little fight in front of the guild, meaning the code whanging from 'LS-06' to 'MLS-ES6', with a pair of sword crossing behind the now armored strawberry, the grey part of the lock now a deep red. Taking a deep breath, Erza did the only thing she could do with it, namely open it.

 _ **ICHIGO KNIGHT !**_

Much to Kouta and Erza's surprise, the zipper appeared above the redhead, opening a hole to the Helheim as the Ichigo Arms began to descend. However, as soon as it was out, magic seemed to seep out of Erza like an aura as it flew up to the Arms, the magic fusing with the armor who shone for a few seconds before stopping, revealing a new shape. This arm was bigger than the original and looked more like a red version of Kachidoki with green leaf-like spikes on top. However, if this wasn't already shocking, the sudden apparition of a red and green Sengoku Driver on her waist was the cherry on the cake. Erza looked at it before raising her head at Kouta, who was as awestruck as she was, shrugging at her.

\- "I guess you know what to do, hm ?"

\- "Yes, I do. Well, here goes nothing. Hum… Henshin !?"

Awkwardly, after saying this, she put this Lockseed on the Driver and locking it.

 _ **MAGIC LOCK ON !**_

With one last look at Kouta who simply nodded at her, and under everyone else's gaze, Erza grabbed the Cutting Blade and opened the Lockseed.

 _ **SOIYA ! ICHIGO KNIGHT ARMS ! SHOUJOUHI FAIRY QUEEN !**_

Just like for Kouta, the newly created Ichigo Knight Arms fell on Erza's head and unfold into a strangely familiar armor. It was an almost identical replica of the Heaven Wheel Armor, but red in color. The metal plates looked like strawberry slices, covering her whole body, including the stomach Heaven Wheel usually left naked, just like the cleavage who was less pronounced. The feathers like plates her shoulders and headdress were made off were now green and looked more like the fruit leaf cap, which made her look even more like a strawberry. Her wings were just like the headwear, green and leaf-like and the swords looked like a mix between her usual Heaven Wheel swords and the Ichigo Kunai : they were long with a green handle and the middle of the blades were red, just like the Kunais, but the achenes were replaced by the usual marking of the Heaven Wheel swords.

\- "Wow ! It's beautiful !" said Lucy, truly amazed by that armor, just like everyone else who looked at the armored mage with wide eyes. As for Erza she wasn't moving, slowly looking at her new armor without saying a sword. After almost a minute of staring, she finally looked up, blood trickling down her nose, as blush covering her face as tears dwelled up in her eyes.

\- "Th…This is beautiful…" she sobbed, unable to contain her emotions any longer.

\- "I can understand you like it, but if you could wait until we take care of Deliora before fainting, it would be nice." Advised Haruto with a touch of sarcasm, Erza shaking her head, quickly focusing back on the task at hand.

\- "Yeah, you're right. Let's do this !" she said, a bunch of swords appearing in a circle and spinning around her as she ran at the devil, noticing that she was quicker than usual.

 _ **STRAWBERRY CIRCLE SWORD !**_

Reaching the devil, she swung the swords in her hands, sending the spinning wheel of swords, which got engulfed in strawberry projections, at the devil who was send stumbling backward, his stomach easily cut by the combined power of Erza's magic swords and the Ichigo Lockseed. As the devil turned to look at this new opponent, Erza attacked again, slashing the demon on everyplace she could reach, not leaving the devil any time to react. By the way she fare against the devil, Riders and mages could confirm that Sento's theory was right ; mages could use their magic to upgrade their technologies and use it for themselves, and it was quite effective. After a few more strike, Erza felt this was now the time to finish it. Using what she learned from watching and fighting Kouta, she used the Cutting Blade once again.

 _ **ICHIGO KNIGHT SQUASH !**_

Magic began to gather into a sphere in front of Erza who, after letting the sphere grow a few seconds, sent it at Deliora the sphere growing and encasing Deliora once again, this time in a giant projection of a strawberry. As the devil struggled inside the fruit prison, Erza prepped her swords, as she ran at the trapped monster. She then slashed him with the swords in her hands, the flying swords following her, each one of them also slicing the devil, each strike adding a cut to the fruit and once all the swords were done, the strawberry began to split apart according to the cuts it had undergone before engulfing the devil in a reddish explosion. In the end, the devil began to fall apart, back into its former dead state, his body parts falling to the ground, the explosion having split the Shocker part from the devil. It was now a certitude. Deliora was done for.

 **Here we are ! So, what did you think of that ? This idea of fusing magic and Riders gear had been on my mind for a pretty long time now and I was a little nervous to use them in a fic. I'd like to know what you thought of it. There will probably be more if you liked it and ideas are welcomed, even though I already have some in store. I'll see you next time with the true end of this arc and the beginning of a new one. See ya !**

 **Next time : Breaking the moon to unveil the truth. The crushed building. The fairies on the warpath.**


	20. Chap 20 : Broken moon and wrecked guild

**Hello guys ! Spring's already here in France and it's lifting my mood up after Winter's great greyness and I have to say, I like that change. And speaking of change, this chapter will also mark a change, going from Galuna to Phantom Lord. So let's go.**

 **I'm not the owner of Fairy Tail nor Kamen Rider.**

 **Chapter 20 : Broken moon and wrecked guild**

\- "YAAAAY ! It's done ! It's dooooone !"

Natsu's cry of joy echoed through the cave as he and Happy cheered for the end of the fight against the devil named Deliora, his joy spreading to his friends as they all smiled and finally had time to breathe after a fight no one was really ready for.

\- "I wasn't ready for that fight, but I still can't believe that it was already dead in that ice. Ur-san is amazing." Sighed Lucy with a small smile, Gray smiling at that, memories of his master coming back to him. Meanwhile, the Riders, despite their smile, were also worried by what just transpired.

\- "Even though we destroyed it, it doesn't change the fact that Shocker brought a dead monster back to life. This is clearly not good." Said Kouta, playing with the Ichigo Lockseed.

\- "It's not a good sign for the future, for sure. But we now have a way to fight it more efficiently." Added Gentaro, shrugging his shoulder as his friends agreed. Meanwhile, Natsu was still celebrating, not paying any mind to the rest, jumping in extasy all around the caves.

\- "We've accomplished an S-class quest ! Woohoo !"

\- "*Gasp* Does that meant that we can go to the second floor ?!" asked Lucy hopefully, stars around her head. However, those statement was received by a wave of aggressivity coming from Erza, the red head glaring at them, making the three mages sweat in fear, realizing that even if they did the job successfully, they still broke the rules and realizing that they will be punished. The Riders looked at the scene, worried for the three mages but not saying anything, trying to stay as discreet as possible. By letting them come here without warning the guild first, they also could be blamed. However, if Erza walked to the group, it wasn't for the punishment, but for something else.

\- "Your quest is not finished. You have something to take care of before you can say that the job is done." She reminded, arms crossed as Haruto realized what she meant.

\- "Oh yeah, that's true." He spoke up, grabbing the mages attention. "The true objective of the quest was to save the villagers who were turned into demons."

\- "Exactly. Your S-class quest hasn't ended yet." Continue Erza. "Even if Deliora is now really dead, the curse isn't due to him. It's the Moon Drip enormous magic power that harmed them."

\- "Yeah, destroying Deliora won't change that. We still have to heal them." Said Kouta, looking at his friends.

\- "Then let's go heal them quickly !" said Natsu, his enthusiasm clear but not shared by his fellow companion.

\- "Yeah, but how ?" asked Gray before suddenly turning to someone who had stayed silent until there, Lyon, who was sitting against the cave stone wall. The latter looked at them, knowing what they wanted to ask as he answered without needing to hear the question.

\- "I dunno." He said, the others looking at him with wide, surprised eyes. "We discover the existence of this village when we first came to the island three years ago but we never interfered with the villagers. And they never visited us either."

\- "Not a single time in three years ?! That's weird." Gentaro piped up. "They should've seen the moonlight shone on the ruins every night. Why did they never tried to come and investigate ?"

\- "Besides, I have some doubts about the Moon Drip's influence on a human body." Said Lyon, looking to the side before looking at the mages and Riders after a few seconds. "After all, we've been basked in the same light for three years." This made the fairies's eyes widen in realization. If Lyon and his companions weren't affected, why would the villagers be ? "Be careful with them, they are hiding something else."

This made the mages and Riders think for a few minutes before they all turned to walk away, hoping they could find a way behind the villagers metamorphosis and what they were hiding from them. As they walked away however, Gray stayed a little behind, looking at Lyon, the latter wondering what he was doing.

\- "What are you looking at ?"

\- "You should join a guild." Advised Gray with a smile as he looked at his old friend. "That way, you'll have comrades and rivals. I'm sure it'll help you find a new goal." At the proposition, Lyon simply looked away, his face showing annoyance as he frowned and answered.

\- "R-Ridiculous. Just go already."

Which Gray did, leaving his friend behind with a smile as he walked to join his friends, heading out of the caves and back to the village, or more precisely the storage place where the villagers should be while their village was undergoing repairs due to the recent attack. However, when they finally reached the place, they found it to be empty, not a single townspeople in sight. They all began to look around, slightly worried about them, Gray using that time to look for ointment and bandages in one of the tents. They didn't had to look for a long time for after a few minutes, someone came running at them.

\- "Hello sirs ! You're back !" said the guy, who was back in a demonic form since it was nighttime, the purple moon shining above the island. "I-It's really awesome ! Please, hurry back to the village !"

They were all quite surprised by his apparent joy but they followed him back to the village anyway and when they reached the place, they understood why he was so happy. The village was as new. It was as if they weren't any fight that happened here. The houses and buildings the acid jelly had destroyed were back in shape as if nothing ever happened, everything was back in place, up to the slightest flower.

\- "What the hell ? It's all back to normal." Stated Kouta, amazed by what happened. As for Natsu, he was even more perplexed.

\- "It's as if time has been rewinded ! Wait, rewinded time ?" He stopped for a few seconds, searching inside his memories, the old masked guy coming to his mind. "It can't be… Did he felt sorry, or something ?"

As they were taking in what happened in this place, they were quickly joined by the mayor, who looked split between gratefulness and frustration.

\- "Are you the ones who turned our village back to normal ?" he asked before continuing, not letting the fairies the time to answer or explain. "We are very grateful. But please tell me… When will you destroy the moon !"

\- "Well, old man, as we said, we can't and won't…"

\- "It's easy to destroy the moon." Erza said suddenly, interrupting Gentaro as he and the others looked at her, taken aback by her statement. "However, before that, I want to confirm something. Would you mind gathering everyone ?"

The mayor did as he was told and walked to gather the townspeople as Erza stood there, arms crossed, the others looking at each other, wondering if one of them knew what she was getting at, but no one had the answer. Once the townspeople were gathered in front of her, Erza began her questioning.

\- "So, let me get this straight. You all gained that appearance after that purple moon appeared, right ?" The townspeople confirmed her words by nodding, confirming that they did transformed ever since the moon began to shone purple.

\- "And it all started three years ago." Said Erza as she began to pace around, eyes closed. "But the Moon Drip ritual has been held for as long as that. You should've been seeing the ray of light hitting the ruins every night." Everyone was looking at her, including the Riders and mages who, unlike Erza, saw where she was going, namely a spot on the ground covered by hay and leaves. And what should happen happened and Erza walked on it, falling in the pitfall Lucy dug with Virgo's power with a 'Kyaa !'.

\- "E-even the pitfall was restored…" noted Happy, looking shocked to see the Knight falling in it.

\- "She… she said 'Kya'…" murmured Natsu, looking wide eyes at the hole, just like Gray who was standing next to him, in the same position.

\- "C-Cute…"

\- "Who the hell thought a pitfall could work against mages ?" asked Gentaro, more disturbed by what he saw as a stupid idea instead of the fact that Erza had fallen inside. Gentaro got the answer to his question when he saw Haruto and Kouta turning their head to look at Lucy who was shouting 'I didn't do it !' again and again, as if she was trying to convince herself that she had nothing to do with it when she had everything to do with it. "Oh, okay."

\- "Meaning, that's the most suspicious place on this island." Erza said as she climbed out of the hole, keeping up with her explanation as if nothing happened, people sweat dropping at her verve. "So why didn't you try and investigate it ?"

This question seemed to make the townspeople ill at ease, looking and mumbling among each others before the mayor spoke for them, even though he was as embarrassed as the others. Apparently, this was something they couldn't really explain.

\- "T-To tell you the truth… We don't really know what's going on either… As soon as we saw that light we tried to go and investigate the ruins many times. We took a bunch of unfamiliar weapons, I arranged my sideburns… and we headed to the ruins many times… But we couldn't get close to it." This was unexpected and the Riders and mages weren't sure they heard correctly. "Even if we walked straight ahead toward the ruins, no matter what we try, we always wound up in front of the village gate. It's not that we don't want to, but we simply CAN'T get close to them."

Of course, Lucy, Gray and Natsu couldn't believe such story and the townspeople answered by swearing that this was the truth, even if it looked really farfetched. The Riders didn't said anything, understanding that this explanation could look like a huge lie, but they felt that they were saying the truth even though there were no proof that this was really the truth. However, one of them seemed convinced.

\- "As I thought…" she said, grabbing her friend attention as she requipped into another armor, a yellow one with blue designs and lining, with huge pointy shoulder pads. "Natsu… come with me… We're gonna destroy the moon now and get everyone back to normal."

\- "EEEEHHH !?" Was the reaction every mages and Riders had. Well almost. Natsu was the only one who seemed thrilled at that and didn't questioned what she wanted to do. As for Gentaro, he was feeling quite nervous. He had a sweet spot for the moon and no matter the world, he liked those natural satellite and the prospect of destroying one of them wasn't something he liked. He was however just like the others. He knew better than anyone that the moon was way too far away from the Earth. There was no way this could work… Right ?

\- "Maybe you should take care of this, Kouta." Advised Haruto, looking at his smirking friend. "Destroying the moon, this should require the help of a God, don't you think ?"

\- "Really funny. You probably already realized what is really happening here, isn't it ?" said Kouta, to which Haruto only smiled as he looked back at the red and pink haired mages.

\- "Say, Erza. The moon is quite high. Are you sure it can be done ?" asked Natsu as he was leaning on the railing of a wooden observation tower, Erza standing next to him as they both look at the purple moon. Natsu may like the idea of destroying the moon, more for the thrill of it than anything else, but he also was conscious that the moon was really high in the sky, maybe too much. However, Erza didn't seemed worried.

\- "This will be alright. With the Giant Armor which increase my throwing power…" she began, her magic forming a long spear with a steel blade adorned with golden embellishment and ornamented by a red decoration looking like ribbons. "And with the De-Malevo-Lance, a spear that subdue darkness, we will save those people. But as you said, this might not be enough to reach it and that's why I need your help." Natsu now looked at her, tilting his head as he wonder how he could help. "When I'll throw the spear, I want you to punch the rear as hard as you can. With the power of this armor and your strength, we should be able to reach and break the moon."

\- "All right ! Gotcha !" he said, already setting his fist ablaze as Erza got ready too. And she threw her arm as hard as she could, Natsu punching the spear as soon as she let it go, sending it rocketing into the sky, every onlookers shocked to see how fast the spear was going, flying away straight toward the moon. The spear began to disappear into the sky when it finally reached the center of the purple moon and that's when, in a flash of light, cracks began to appear on the moon. The townspeople were all cheering at that, while Lucy and Gray were looking at the show with wide unbelieving eyes.

\- "NO WAAAY !" Was the only they said, not knowing how else they should react. As for the Riders, the reactions were more… rowdy.

\- "NO ! TELL ME I'M DREAMING !"

\- "Calm down, Gentaro." Said Kouta and Haruto at the same time as they looked at the moon while their friend fell to his knees, crying at the moon as the cracks kept on spreading on the purple satellite. Gentaro could only stare, helpless, as the cracks kept spreading on the whole moon…

… And into the sky.

\- "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO… Eh ?"

The cheering and gaping stopped and left behind a completely sense of incomprehension as the cracks kept spreading over the starry night sky which, after a few seconds, shattered like glass, revealing the usual white moon on her dark blue background, the purplish sky disappearing as it kept shattering, dust and shards of said sky falling like a rain on the island.

\- "The moon didn't break… But the sky did ?" said Lucy, palm opened toward the sky as she was as shocked as everyone else about what was happening. The only ones not surprised being Kouta, Haruto and Erza, who knew, or at least suspected, something like that.

\- "Here's the reason why the moon looked purple on this island." Explained Haruto. "The whole island was covered with a layer of darkness."

\- "A layer ? What do you mean ?" asked Happy, Erza answering the question.

\- "This is like an exhaust fumes produces by Moon Drip. It crystallized and created a dome-like layer in the sky."

\- "And now that it's gone." Began Kouta as followed after what Erza said, turning to the townspeople whose bodies began to sparkle. "They'll all become like they were before." However, something didn't go as they expected it. After a few seconds of sparkling, the glitter disappeared and the townspeople… Still looked like demon. "…Theoretically, at least. What happened ?" asked Kouta, not understanding what could have gone wrong. But Haruto seemed to have a theory.

\- "Wait. What if they really look like that ?"

\- "And they does, Haruto." Answered Erza with a smile as she walked up to her friends with Natsu. "That layer of evil didn't affected their appearance, but their memories. They thought the moon made them become demon, but the truth is that they were demons from the very beginning." This made everyone gasp in shock, even the townspeople who were still a little confused by what was happening.

\- "Then this evil could only work on demons." Said Gentaro. "That would explain how Lyon and the others, or even ourselves, weren't affected. Because we're humans."

\- "And also why they couldn't get close to the temple." Added Erza. "Demons and people from the darkness can't get close to the ruins that hold holy light."

\- "Amazing… I'm glad I left it in your hands." This new voice wasn't really new for the mages and Riders that first came to the island, even if they were more than surprised to hear it again as the owner of that voice disappeared without a trace. Turning their head toward the source of the voice, they saw that it was indeed the same man who brought them here, the son of the mayor. Bobo. He looked exactly like before, but this time, since the moon was up, his arm wasn't the only thing that was demon-like. "Thank you, mages." Everyone, demons and humans alike were all taken aback by Bobo's sudden return, everyone looking between the demon and his tomb, not understanding what was happening nor what to think of everything. As for Boob, he was laughing at their dumbstruck faces. "AHAHAHAH ! We demons wouldn't die just because we were stabbed in the chest, right ?"

\- "Yeah, but…. How did you disappeared from the ship ?" asked Gray, still wondering how he did that when, in a blink of an eye, Bobo disappeared from Gray's sight. In truth, he just had to look above him to see him flying above him thanks to the large wings that sprouted on his back.

\- "Well, this explain many things." Said Haruto as he watched Bobo hovering over them, arms crossed.

\- "I'm sorry for not being able to tell you the truth earlier." He explained as he began to reveal why he fled the island in the first place. "I got away from the island because o was the only one who gained his memory back. And I was scared because everyone in the village thought they were human."

As they all listened to his story, the mayor, who was also Bobo's father, was looking at his son he thought was dead, tears filling his eyes as his whole body shake and a few moments later, wings sprouted out of his back, wings that were carbon copy of his son's, as he took off and flew straight at him, hands stretched toward him.

\- "BOBOOOOOOO !"

\- "You're finally back to your senses, dad." Simply said Bobo as he opened his arms and embraced his father, both demons reunited after spending three years apart from each other, laughing in joy at their reunification. As the two of them hugged, all the others demons in the village took off after them, joining them into the night sky as they all celebrate the return of their friend. As for the humans, they were all looking at them from the ground, looking at the demons smiling faces as they smiled too, the winged humanoids filling the sky like a flock of laughing birds.

\- "They might be demons." Began Kouta, smiling as he looked at them. "But with smiles like those, I'm feel like I'm seeing angels."

They all laughed and smiled at what was happening, savoring the feeling of a job well done. However, they weren't the only ones who saw this. Perched on a tree not far from the village stood Zarti. He had seen everything and was almost impressed that Erza realized the truth about this island so quickly. If he was alone on that tree, he however wasn't really alone as he was talking to someone who also witnessed what happened from the crystal Zarti had put next to him.

\- "Did you see it ?" asked Zarti to the crystal ball, an already known voice answering him.

\- "Yeah. I did. Why did you turn the village back to normal, anyway ?" asked the voice, sighing when Zarti answered by saying that he did that as a favor. "Anyhow… They did better than I expected…" Sitting in his office back at Era, Sieglein was looking at a crystal ball, head resting on his fist as he was thinking about the events that transpired on the island.

\- "I'm a little concerned about those Kamen Riders, however. They proved to be stronger than we thought, and if they can use their own power to boost the mages, it might be a problem." Said Zarti tough fully, thinking about how the Riders rendered Erza able to destroyed the upgraded Deliora.

\- "For now, we'll just observe them from afar. We'll act according to how things will evolve." Said Sieglein, still smiling cockily. "Fairy Tail… And even those Kamen Riders… I hope they won't get in our way."

Zarti simply smiled at that, taking his mask off. However, he didn't stayed mask less for long as he was then surrounded by smoke, his whole body disappearing only to be replaced by one of a beautiful black haired woman wearing some sort of white kimono-like dress. This woman was none other than Ultear, Inspection Mage for the Magic Council who was also basically Sieglein right-hand woman, who nodded at the councilman words before disappearing. As the communication between the two ceased, Sieglein was looking straight ahead, a smirk on his face as he thought about what happened. He had one particular person on his mind.

\- "Natsu is just as strong as I thought and he'll probably become even more powerful." As he said that, he clenched his fists, not out of frustration, but excitation. "Keep getting stronger, son of Igneel. Keep on burning… for the sake of my dream…"

/- At the village, the next morning -/

\- "Hmmm…. Your injury… It might leave a scar."

After a whole night spend partying with the demons who were more than thankful for what they did, the mages and Riders had times to patch themselves up and gather their things. Morning was there and they we're getting ready to go home. As for now, Lucy was on her four, looking closely at a scar on Gray's forehead, the ice mage sitting against a tree, slightly annoyed by the Stellar Spirit mage, mainly because with the position she was in, her whole cleavage was displayed.

\- "I don't care. It doesn't matter where I get hurt, as long as my injuries are visible."

\- "Huh ? What kind of injuries are invisible, you dumbass." Said Natsu as he stood on the other side of Gray with Haruto by his side, looking down at his friends while eating fire from a torch. Haruto felt something strange in the way Natsu had stepped in and it was maybe due to Lucy's position since Natsu's gaze seemed to be aimed at her rather than Gray despite the fact that he was talking to him.

\- "Sh-Shut it." Said Gray as he got up. "I'm trying to say something cool, so butt out."

\- "Something cool ? What's so cool about you beside the ice ?"

\- "You got a problem, ash for brain ?"

\- "What's up, Elsa. Want to f…"

\- "Stop right here, guys." Haruto had jumped in, stopping both guys before they could jump at each other throat. "Now's not the time. Let's go. Erza's probably waiting for us."

\- "Wh-What ?! You can't accept the reward ?"

While Haruto was trying to stop Natsu and Gray from killing each other, Erza, flanked with Kouta and Gentaro, were talking with the townspeople who were ready to pay them with the reward for the job, but Erza had stopped them, shocking them.

\- "Indeed. Your happiness is enough for us. We appreciate it." Said Erza sincerely, Gentaro continuing for her.

\- "Besides, as we told you last night, that quest wasn't officially accepted by our guild. They just ran here to prove themselves, in a way."

\- "As for us, we didn't really came for the quest at first." Revealed Kouta. "We had our own business to take care of and it happened to be linked to your problem."

\- "I understand. But that still doesn't change the fact that we were saved." Insisted the mayor, he and his townspeople smiled at them. "Will you accept the reward as a thank you gift to friends, instead of a reward to the guild."

Erza shook his head in defeat, a smile on her face as she looked up to them.

\- "It's hard to reject if you put it like that." The demons cheered that she accepted their proposition, Lucy, Natsu and Gray turning to her, eyes shining at the prospect of getting the 7 million Jewels. But Erza wanted, as usual, to get the last word. "But to accept that would mean going against what our guild stand for. Although we'll gratefully accept the additional reward : the Golden Key."

\- "We don't want that !" cried Gray, receiving a slap behind his head as he said that.

\- "I want it !" Lucy had said as she slapped Gray's head, Natsu turning to look at her.

\- "Oh yeah, this mean that you'll be even stronger ! That's cool !" he said to her, his usual face-splitting grin on his face as Lucy answered with a grin of her own, with an almost invisible blush on her face as she did.

\- "Well, I guess it's time to head back to the guild, right ?" asked Haruto as he walked to Erza, the latter nodding as she grabbed the Golden Key the mayor was handing her and also jumping on the occasion.

\- "If you want, we can take you all to Hargeon."

\- "No, it's okay. We already have a ship who should be waiting for us." Answered Erza, her words surprising mages, Riders and townspeople alike. After saying goodbye to the demons, they all walked back to the beach, heading toward the ship Erza said she had. Her companions were wondering what kind of boat she had come with. No one wanted to come here back in Hargeon so she probably came here by herself. However, what they found on the beach proved them wrong.

Right in front of them stood a ship with a dragon figure head covered with what seemed to be a black sloth. The boat looked like it had seen better days, with its ragged sails and broken hull with planks holding everything together, making the boat look more like a patchwork than a boat. However, looking at the black skull on the sails and flags, the realized that this boat wasn't the kind of boat you'd use to go on a cruise.

\- "A pirate ship ?!" asked Gray, eyes wide as he could only imagine what Erza did to make them come here.

\- "She hijacked it. She definitely did." Stated Gentaro, the idea of Erza hijacking a boat feeling plausible in his mind.

\- "Let's get onboard. It's about time we leave." Said Erza, dragging her many suitcases behind her, making her friends follow her as they climbed on the boat. Once the pirate crew, who was visibly afraid, listened to Erza as she told them that they were leaving, even if the others couldn't tell what was frightening them the most, the cursed island or Erza.

"Probably the latter." They all thought as they saw the fear in the pirates eyes each times they took a glance at Erza.

As they began to sail away from the island, they heard shouts coming from the island. Turning around, they saw the demons, led by Bobo and his father, on the beach, waving at them and saying good-bye with big smiles on their faces.

\- "Everyone ! Thank you so much !" shouted Bobo, the demons voices echoing his as they waved at them, Lucy and Happy waving back at them as Natsu was already puking, the others just looking at the scene. As he looked at them, Gentaro also noticed a group of silhouette looking at them from between the trees. He knew who they were and smiled. He had a feeling that one day, they'll met Lyon and his friends again and this time, they'll be on the same side.

/- One boat trip and train ride later -/

\- "We're back !" Shouted Natsu as they walked along the street of Magnolia. Walking alongside Happy, he was being followed by his friends, all happy to be back home as they were headed toward the guild. Globally, their spirits were high, some more than the others.

\- "Still, all that trouble for one little key…" said Gray, slightly disappointed that they couldn't accept the money.

\- "I think we should be happy to even have a reward." Said Kouta. "This wasn't an official job to begin with, so…"

\- "Yup. No need to complain !" agreed Lucy whose cheeks were slightly red, a huge smile on her face. And for good reason since she was the only one who won something from this job.

\- "You're the only one who gained something, Lucy. It's kinda unfair." Said Happy as he looked up at Lucy who was looking away with her huge smile and big playful eyes. "Let's sell it."

\- "WHAT ARE YOU SAYING, YOU STRAY CAT !" roared a shocked Lucy, looking at the cat as if he was mad. "I've already told you, there's only 10 golden ecliptic keys in the world. They're really rare."

\- "And what key did you get, by the way ?" asked Gray out of curiosity as Lucy pulled a key out of her key ring, a golden key that looked like an arrow with a green arrow drawn in a white circle on the other side.

\- "Sagittarius, the archer." She answered, Gray automatically thinking of a man with a horse head. If Lucy sigh at Gray's idiocy, she failed to notice Gentaro who seemed to gaze into the emptiness as a real Sagittarius, basically a centaur, but with a man clad in a red and black armor instead of the usual archer part. He felt like whatever that spirit looked like, he'll be surprised.

\- "Now, I think it's time to head to the guild and decide on your punishment." Erza had said that quite naturally but it reminded quite harshly the three mages and Exceed of their situation, making them sweat abundantly. "With what happened on this island, I kept thinking that I could overlook your actions. But it's the master who renders the verdict and I have no intention of defending you. So be prepared for your punishment."

As soon as she finished talking, panic filled Gray and Happy, as if their own life were at stake here.

\- "Don't tell me we'll have to do 'That' !?" asked Happy, eyes popped out of his sockets as he sweated heavily, Gray looking at him with the same panic in his voice and face.

\- "No, wait ! I never want to do 'That' ever again !"

\- "What is 'That' ?!" asked Lucy fearfully, already panicking at what could happen to her. But Natsu, who seemed to be unaffected, came to her and wrapped his arms around her shoulder, the blonde blushing slightly at the sudden contact.

\- "Don't worry about it." He said with his famous toothy smile. "I'm sure Ji-chan will just praise us saying 'Good job' !"

\- "No… I'm sure 'That' is already a given. I'm really itching for it. Fu fu…" As Erza said that, Natsu's smile began to falter, slowly replaced by a nervous and afraid smile as cold sweat covered his face.

\- "NOOOOOOOOO ! Anything but 'That' !" he cried as Erza began to drag him behind her, her face straight as she looked straight ahead, Gray and Happy following her, their head hanging limply, completely depressed and resigned as Lucy, hands on her face, kept asking for what 'That' was, not getting an answer which only had to her distress. As for Kouta, Gentaro and Haruto, they simply looked at them silently, mentally thanking Shocker to have given them a justification of their presence on the island, narrowly escaping punishment thanks to that. However, they also noticed something weird and rather disturbing. As they walked by, the townspeople were looking at them, whispering with worry and uneasiness on their faces. This made the Riders and mages felt that something was wrong, really wrong but as they kept walking while looking at the citizens, they were lightyears away from how bad things really were. As they kept walking, they finally reached the guild and their eyes widen in shock, now understanding why they were getting stared at.

The guild was barely standing. Huge pillar made of metal were sticking out of the guild, as if someone tried to practice his acupuncture skills on a building with lamp post instead of needles. There wasn't a single wall that had been spared, going from simply cracked to completely destroyed. Half of the roofs were either hanging limply or wrecked totally. Their flags had been shred, just like the Fairy Tail signboard that once stood above the door, now broken in half and laying on the ground under the rubbles. Since the door had also been broken, they could see that the iron pillars also wrecked the inside, the main hall now looking more like a battlefield than the cozy hall it usually was. As they stood in front of their broken home, sadness but also, and mainly, anger began to build up inside the mages as they all had only one question on their mind, the fear of their punishment now long gone.

\- "What happened here ? Who did that ?"

\- "Phantom." They turned their head at the familiar voice that came from behind them, meeting with Mirajane sadness-filled eyes. "It's mortifying… But we were done in…"

\- "Phantom ? What do you mean ? And where are the others ?" asked Erza, fearing that the broken building was only the tip of the iceberg.

\- "They are all in the first floor basement. Let's go, follow me."

Without a word, they followed her and entered the broken building, heading to some stairs leading downstairs. The basement was as big as the guild hall, even if it looked more like a storage room than anything else. Tables had been set and everyone was here, the newcomers sighing in relief. It looked like there's were no casualties. People came to welcome them back, even if they were all immediately talking about what happen to the guild. Some wanted to make those Phantoms pay, whoever they were, while some others were trying to, apparently, let it slide. And Master Makarov, who was sitting on a crate, drinking a beer as if nothing happened, was one of those who didn't seemed to give a fuck.

\- "Yo. Welcome back." He said simply, without a single care in the world for the ruckus around him, even when Natsu began to shout at him.

\- "Ji-Chan ! This is not the time to be here drinking !"

\- "Oh, you are right." He said, taking once again things seriously, but not the one they were expecting. "Guys ! How dare you go on an S-class quest without permission !?" The four mages and three Riders were now looking at him with wide eyes as he kept going. "Punishment ! I'll give you your punishment now ! Prepare yourselves !"

And even the punishment was disappointing, at least for the riders, since Makarov, using his magic, simply extended his arm to karate chop Natsu, Gray and Happy on their head, without even trying to put strength in it. As for Lucy, he switched from karate chop on the head, to little slap on the butt, which of course didn't pleased the blonde girl and Mirajane, who seemed tired of the master antics. But this was too much for them.

\- "Master ! Do you understand our current situation !?" asked Erza, raising her voice, not liking how lax he was right now.

\- "They wrecked our guild and you just sit here, acting like a pervert !?" added Natsu, his face showing nothing but fury, his pointy teeth all showing. As for the master, he finally stopped his act and just sighed, his head sitting in his hand as he looked to the side.

\- "Well, calm down. It's not something to make a fuss about. Phantom. This is as far as those idiots will go." This took the mages and Riders by surprise and what was said next didn't help them ease their confusion.

\- "I'm not sure about the last part, but he isn't wrong when he say that there's nothing serious." This time, it was Emu who came to them. "They attacked in the middle of the night, the guild was empty when they did."

\- "There's no need to get cross with someone that resorts to surprise attacks. Leave them be." Added Makarov, his face slightly red by the alcohol he drank, waving his hand as if to say 'Let's forget it'. However, Natsu wasn't one to forget such thing as he slammed his hand on the crate the master was sitting on, a heated argument beginning between the two of them. Well, heated from one part only.

\- "I can't accept that ! I won't feel right until I smash them down !"

\- "This discussion is over. We'll take on request here until we've fixed the first floor."

\- "We don't have time for jobs !"

\- "Natsu ! Cut it out !" finally shouted the master in retaliation, using his arm to slap… Lucy's butt once again.

\- "And will you stop acting like a perv already !?" added Natsu, not liking one bit that the master wasn't taking this seriously. Speaking of the master, he suddenly got up and began to walk way, muttering about having to take a leak, leaving a shaking Natsu behind him. "How can he be so calm with what happened ?"

\- "I can assure you, Natsu. He's as shocked as everyone else." Said Emu, putting a hand on Natsu's shoulder to calm him down. "But from what I heard, war between guild is forbidden. I know it's hard, but you have to accept that. We all have to…"

The newcomers, Riders and Mages alike, all felt the frustration, their desire to hunt down Phantom and make them pay fighting against the obligation they had to not fight. But they did as they were told and did nothing, spending the rest of the day at the guild, trying to digest the news. However, Shinnosuke, who was sitting at a table in a corner with Sento, who was busy planning his future experiments, was deep in thought, his mind racing as he was analyzing what happened. His detective instinct was on and he had a bad feeling.

/- Nighttime, Riders HQ -/

As the night fell, the Riders head back home, half of them tired from their recent mission, the others simply listening as they told them what exactly happened on Galuna Island. After hearing the whole story, Emu was the first to talk.

\- "Lucky for us, that devil was already dead." He said, looking at his friends as they all sat around a table in their HQ, Foodroid, PlaMonster and Shift Cars living their own lives. "It may have been even more powerful if it still was alive."

\- "We were also quite lucky." Added Haruto. "If Gray and Erza did as they were first told and took Natsu and Lucy back to the guild, we would have been in a pinch."

\- "But at least some good came out of this." Smiled Sento, finally looking up from his researches. "Now we know what to do to fight effectively against those using magic and powers from our world."

\- "Yeah." Sighed Kouta, rubbing the back of his head, holding the Ichigo Lockseed. "If it wasn't for that combo, it would have been far more harder to fight that thing."

\- "But now we have a way to allow mages to fight without needing us personally, but what about the other way around ?" Wondered Gentaro, playing with Burgermeal.

\- "I'm still working on it." Said Sento. "However, we might be able to use those lachryma to boost our weapons with magic. But I still need time to complete it." The Riders nodded only now noticing that Shinnosuke said nothing, lost in his own documents and thinking. "Hey, Shinnosuke. Is there a problem ?"

\- "Those Phantom. I'm feeling something bad."

\- "Who are those guys, exactly ?" asked Gentaro, coming back on their new main preoccupation.

\- "According to what Mirajane and some others said, their real name is Phantom Lord. A rival guild." Revealed Belt-san. "Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord had some brushes in the past, but they never attacked them like that before."

\- "Why would they attack now, then ?" Kouta wondered aloud when he finally realized, and feared, something. "Do you think Shocker is implied ?"

\- "I don't think so." Answered Sento. "I did some research and there was not a single trace of Shocker around the guild."

\- "If Shocker is not implied, why would they attack the guild now ?" wondered Haruto, rubbing his chin, his other hand lifting Unicorn PlaMonster.

\- "And why attack an empty guild at night ?" added Shinnosuke, looking at the roof. "There's something weird happening. We can't take risks."

\- "What do you have in mind ?"

\- "This. Shift Cars !" Answering Kouta's question, the Shift Cars all gathered in front of Shinnosuke in a concert of honking and screeching, all lined up and ready for action. "Okay, we need you all to keep an eye on the city in case those Phantom came back. But stay hidden. Don't let the townspeople see you. Now, let's go !"

And the Shift cars did as they were told, all of them rushing out of the house and heading in a different direction. As for the Riders, they decided to go to sleep, not expecting what would happen in only a few hours.

/- Later -/

If one decided to take a night walk in the streets of Magnolia right now, it wouldn't be as calm as he thought it should. The Shift Cars were all dispatched all around the city, driving through the night, looking around for anything weird that could be a threat. Some were patrolling near the guild, a group was taking care of the market place, some were even heading out of the city to see if there wasn't something weird in the neighborhood. Justice Hunter was probably the one who was putting the most effort out of all the others shift Cars. He always had that passion for righteousness and peace, being a police car, and now was a perfect occasion to prove it. He was looking around an empty street, taking turns here and there to cover as much surface as he could when he heard something. Muffled cries that he recognized to be pained ones, coming from the center of the town. Not the kind of noises you'd hear at night. So he took a u-turn and sped toward the city's park. When he arrived, he realized he wasn't the only one. Mad Doctor, Fire Braver and Colorful Commercial were also here, probably because of those same cries. They however didn't had time to 'talk' when they saw what happened in the park. They may have been cars, but they still stood there unmoving for a few seconds in shock before speeding away in different directions : they had people to warn.

/- Lucy's appartment -/

After a whole evening spent talking about Phantom Lord, Lucy and her friends all got to sleep, their night pretty peaceful. However, their bliss ended when something began to ring strongly enough to wake them all with a start, even Natsu who was known to be a heavy sleeper.

\- "What the hell is that noise ?!" shouted Natsu as he sat up, only to realize that there wasn't just sound, there was also light. Red light coming from a small fire truck that was on Lucy's table, getting everyone's attention.

\- "Isn't that Shinnosuke's Shift Car ?" Wondered Happy, rubbing his eyes, as confused as the others as the truck drove to the door, doing donuts in front of it.

\- "Is he asking us… To follow it ?"

/- Fairy Hills -/

Fairy Hills, being the female dormitory of the guild, was a place without many problems, normally. The girls were all sleeping peacefully, even if some of them had their minds busy thinking about the guild and Phantom. But their minds and dreams began to fill with a siren that was way to strong to be their imagination alone. Mirajane, along many others girls, all exited their rooms, angered by the noises that prevent them from sleeping. But when they saw Mad Doctor, one of Shinnosuke's car, coming and going in the building always, they understood.

Something bad happened.

/- Riders HQ -/

The Riders were all sleeping, just like everyone else in the street. But unlike the two previous group, when Colorful commercial came back to warn them about what he and the others saw, he had some help from the PlaMonsters and Foodroid who began to make as much noises as possible, waking the Riders so suddenly most of them fell off their beds.

\- "What is that ?!"

\- "I did nothing wrong !"

\- "What the… ?" Shinnosuke, and the others, all woke up suddenly when they realized that Colorful Commercial was there too. They all looked at each other and grabbed their Drivers, all rushing out in the night.

/- Middle of the town -/

Sun was barely raised but there was already a medium sized crowd gathered in front of the biggest tree in Magnolia. People were looking at each other, whispering in shock, not believing what they had in front of them. However, it was the reaction of the local mages they were more worried about, and they were about to find out when the Riders, but also the rest of the mages finally reached the places. And needless to say, they were all as shocked as everyone, but also more angered than never before in their life. And for a good reason.

Levy, Jet and Droy, also known as Team Shadow Gear, were literally crucified to the town tallest tree, arms stretched and held in place by many iron shackles nailed to the trees. They were covered in blood and bruises, their clothes totally shredded. They were visibly unconscious, which made their friend even more worried and if they didn't saw Levy's hair waving slightly due to her breath, they could have though they were dead.

\- "Levy-chan…" whispered Lucy, eyes full of tear as she looked at her best friend and fellow booklover.

\- "JET ! DROY !" Cried Gray, eyes wide in shock as his body, just like everyone else, shook in anger and hate as they saw what was drawn on Levy's now visible stomach.

Phantom Lord's mark.

When they first came to this world, the Riders more or less decided to never meddle with business that didn't concerned them or Shocker to avoid problems. But right now, they felt that they would make an exception for those guys. No one could touch their friends without consequences.

The crowd then split like the see before Moses as Makarov walked past them, wearing his white vest, some sort of scepter in his hand. Justice Hunter was driving next to him, being the one who had gone to wake him up. Makarov was now standing in front of the tree, his face hidden by shadows as he looked at the wounded mages before looking down, apparently fighting back tears.

\- "Wrecking our shoddy bar I could bear with…" he began, his voice low but full of emotions. "But no parent can remain silent after seeing their children's blood…" His grip on his cane became suddenly so hard he broke it in half, the vein of his hand bulging out as he looked up once again, his eyes becoming pool of hate and anger, glaring at the wretched mark on her 'daughter' body.

\- "This mean war !"

 **Wowowo, things are about to go down ! I hope you liked that chapter. We are now entering a new arc that might be shorter than the last one but it might come slower than the last one since I still have to rethink some things. But don't worry, I'll try to keep my usual rhythm of one chapter by week more or less. See ya !**

 **Next time : Raiding the enemy ! A dangerous team up. Lucy Heartfilia the target**


	21. Chapter 21 : Raiding the Phantoms

**Hello guys ! I hope you are all right, good health and everything. I don't have anything to say right now, so I'll just thank you all for your support, like Neuanfang, 910, brave kid and Cyrus the Dragonhog for their reviews and PM. I like seeing my story get so much support and I'll hope you'll like the rest of it. Also big thanks to all of you following either my stories or even myself, I appreciate.**

 **That's the biggest chapter I've ever written so far in my life. I hope you'll like it because I spend a lot of time on it.**

 **Now, let's get down to it, okay ?**

 **Chapter 21 : Raiding the Phantoms**

/-Magnolia hospital -/

The staff of Magnolia Hospital was used to see Fairy Tail mages come because of the many injuries they'd suffer during their mission. However, this time was different. They were, just like everybody else in the city, cognizant about what transpired in the town main park and knew that this time, things could go down dangerously. The most part of the mages were now gone, on the warpath as they were headed for the Phantom Lord guild, to make them pay for what they did. But some of them stayed behind, like Mirajane, who was no fighter, or Lucy, who was at the hospital. She was sitting silently in the room where Levy, Jet and Droy were now resting after being taken care of by the hospital staff. She was looking at the three of them, head hanging slightly.

\- "Levy-chan… Jet… Droy…" she murmured their name as quietly as she could, as if she didn't wanted to wake them, looking down at her hands, folded on her lap. "This is too cruel… Those Phantom…"

\- "They'll pay for that, don't worry." Lucy lifted her head, her sadness-filled eyes meeting Shinnosuke concerned ones, Belt-san on his waist also showing concern on his small digital face. "The doctors said their injuries weren't serious. There won't be any consequences for them. They just need rest."

\- "That's good." Said Lucy got back to look at Levy, who seemed peaceful on her bed.

\- "You both seems close." Said Belt-san. "I heard you're both booklover, right ?"

\- "Yeah…" whispered Lucy, a small smile on her face as she reminded herself of the first time she met the blue haired girl. "She was one of the first who came to me when I joined the guild. She's probably one of the nicest person I know, a real sweetheart. I just can't believe that someone could do that to her and her friends. Phantom… I cannot forgive them…" When she finished, anger had fused with her sadness in her eyes as tears began to slid down of her face. But she quickly shook them off and look up at Shinnosuke, a question in her mind. "But what are YOU doing here ? Why didn't you got to Phantom with the others ?"

\- "I think I already said that in my world, I'm a detective." Said Shinnosuke, looking at the street from the windows. "I feel like something's off with the way Phantom is acting. That's why I decided to stay back. But what about you ? You could have gone with them, to avenge your friend."

\- "No. I felt like I had to stay beside her. I know the others will make them pay for me. I just can't go and let my future first reader alone." She ended with a smile, remembering her promise with Levy. When a nurse came to told them that visit were over for the day, they both left even if Shinnosuke was deep in thought. He felt like he had enough pieces to solve the puzzle to know what Phantom was plotting, but he was missing something. And while he was strolling back to the HQ, he understood. Stopping dead in his track, he turned around only to realize that Lucy wasn't following him, which made him worry even more as he ran back, hoping to find her before it was too late.

/- Meanwhile, town of Oak -/

The Phantom Lord building looked like some sort of medieval castle, with stones towers connected to the main building, that looked like a small church, by small bridges. Above the door, a sign with the name Phantom Lord written on it clearly indicated who was living in this building. And inside said building, it was like a party was going on. Cheers and laugh could be heard from the outside as the mages congratulate themselves for what happened with Fairy Tail.

\- "DAHAAAH ! This is hilarious ! Those fairies got their asses burned bad." Said one of them, high fiving one of his friend.

\- "That's not all. I heard Gajeel attacked three of their members." Added another guy, smiling like an idiot. "By the way, who's that person the master had been talking about ?"

\- "No idea. He just asked us to stay way and mind our own business." Answered another, as intrigued as his friend. "Besides, ever since those guys came, it's like Fairy Tail became the only thing in his mind."

\- "Whatever ! Here's to those pitiful fairies !" Said someone, his voices covering every others as he made everyone cheer once again. Everyone but one, who grabbed a bag and head to the door.

\- "Hey, where are you going ? Meeting with a girl ?" joked a friend of his as the guy simply kept walking.

\- "Well, she's not too shabby looking, but she's just a client. When I threatened her, she doubled the reward for me."

He and his friends snickered at that as he grabbed the door handle but when he was about to open it, noises coming from outside stopped him.

 _ **KAIZOKU ! DENSYA ! BEST MATCH ! ARE YOU READY ?**_

 _ **SHABADOOBI, TOUCH HENSHIN ! SHABADOOBI, TOUCH HENSHIN !**_

 _ **DURIAN !**_

 _ **MIGHTY ACTION X !**_

Everyone in the building stopped what they were doing when they saw some sort of ripple through the whole building and furniture, pixelating everything the wave touched for a second as blocks appeared everywhere, on the floor or floating in the air.

\- "What the…. ?"

 _ **3 ! 2 ! 1 !**_

\- "HENSHIN !"

*BOOM*

The door suddenly exploded, sending the poor guy flying back inside the building, crashing in several tables as his fellow comrades all got up to see what was happening in the entrance, where strange lights were blinding them for a few seconds, lights coming from armored guys. But even if those lights prevent them from seeing clearly, they already know who this was.

 _ **TEIKOKU NO HANGYAKUSHA ! KAIZOKURESSYA ! YEAH !**_

 _ **LAND, PLEASE ! DODODO DODODON, DON DODODON !**_

 _ **SOIYA ! DURIAN ARMS ! MR. DANGEROUS !**_

 _ **GASHAT ! GACHAN ! LEVEL UP ! MIGHTY JUMP ! MIGHTY KICK ! MIGHTY MIGHTY ACTION X !**_

\- "WE ARE FAIRY TAIL !"

Once the lights had died down, Phantom Lord was facing Fairy Tail, the fairies faces contorted with anger and fury, showing they were here to make them pay and that not a single one of them would be spared. Among them, the Riders were also ready for the fight, but even if they came along to avenge their friend, they'd make sure not to overdo it. Phantom wasn't Shocker after all. And of course, out of every Fairy Tail mages, Natsu was the first one to jump into action, his burning feet and hands sending his opponent flying and setting things off as an all out brawl began between the two guilds. And Fairy Tail was quickly getting the upper hand : Gray froze his enemies, Elfman sending them flying with his transformed arm, Erza slicing her way through their ranks, Cana, Loki, Macao, everyone was venting their anger on those Phantom punks. Even Makarov was showing no mercy to them, using his magic to grow in size until he reached the carpentry under the roof, slamming his opponent like the bugs they were.

\- "M-Monster !" said one of those slammed guys, gaining Makarov attention.

\- "You bastards brought the fight to the children of that monster." He said, his voice rendered very deep by his new size. "Don't even for a second think you'll be protected by human laws. José ! Show yourself !" Asked Makarov as he took a normal size once again. As for Erza and the Riders, who were basically toying with their opponents, if they even could get called like that, they had something else in mind. Only the small fry was here, which was more than weird since Phantom couldn't expect the fairies to never come for revenge.

\- "Where are Gajeel and the member of the Element 4 !?" had asked Erza, not realizing that someone was looking at them from the carpentry. A long unruly mane of black hair, red piercing eyes, piercing on his nose and brows, wearing a long black coat, Gajeel Redfox, Iron Dragon of Phantom Lord, was looking at the scene, apparently slightly disappointed.

\- "Erza the Titania… But no Gildarts, Laxus or Mystogan. They are underestimating us." He said as he began to smirk. "But who would have guessed that master Jose's plan would work this well… Go ahead, be your reckless selves… scum…"

And Gajeel had every right to feel happy for this situation to happen, since as he said, their plan was going smoothly. And it implied a blonde girl left behind by her friends.

/- Magnolia -/

After leaving the hospital, Lucy decided to walk back home, sighing in boredom. Since almost everyone had left the city to go pay Phantom Lord a visit, she had literally nothing to do. She was still feeling that deep anger toward that other guild for what they did, but she was also racking her mind, trying to find a reason why they did it. She was walking in the street, deep in though and next thing she knew, a downpour suddenly filled the street despite the fact that the sky was still blue and void of any clouds.

\- "No way… How can it rain while the sun is still out ?"

Soon enough, Lucy realized she wasn't alone anymore. A silhouette appeared in the middle of the rain, slowly walking toward her.

\- "Drip, drip, drop. Juvia brings rain. Drip, drip, drop." The silhouette was in fact a woman who seemed to be more or less the same age as Lucy. She had straight blue hair that curled suddenly at the end, just above her shoulders and sapphire eyes. Her mouth was straight, her face totally neutral if she wasn't looking so cold and distant, she would have been beautiful. She wore a sapphire dress with a navy blue shawl around her upper torso. A small umbrella protected her from the rain and a small, and pretty creepy, ghostly doll stood in the middle of her shawl. "What do you bring ?"

Her question took Lucy aback, the blonde desperately trying to protect herself from the rain by folding her arms and hands above her head, which was doomed to fail as she looked at the blue haired girl.

\- "Erm… Who are you ?" Lucy however never got an answer as the girl turned around and began to walk away.

\- "I had fun. Farewell. Drip, drip, drop…"

\- "What was that all about ?!"

\- " _Non, non, non. Non, non, non. Non, non, non, non, non, non, non_." A new voice echoed through the street as the blunette came to a stop as the ground in front of her began to swell, as if a big mole was about to come out of the ground. But instead of a mole, a man came out of the bump, as if he was one with the ground. He had spiky green hair that pointed upward, a pointy mustache of the same color and black eyes, the right one being hidden behind a monocle. He wore a brown formal attire with a collar that consisted of three protrusions on each side of his head, he had a red tie around his neck and a white shirt beneath it. Other than that, his other strange feature about his attire was some sort of dark brown cape that was tied to both of his elbows. But most importantly, his body was twisting as if he was made of rubber. "A _bonjour_ with _non_ in 3-3-7 rhythm."

\- "Another weirdo !? What's happening here ?" Wondered Lucy who was even more creeped out by that man than the cold looking woman.

\- "Juvia-sama, you can't just walk away from your mission." Said the weird guy, apparently named Sol, tilting his head way too much to the side, judging by what the now named Juvia when she simply said his name in answer to his remark. "My monocle is whispering to me that this _mademoiselle_ over there is none other than our precious _cible_."

\- "Oh my… So she's the one ?" said Juvia, turning back toward the blonde, interest now glinting in her otherwise dull eyes, as Lucy began to feel like something really bad was coming.

\- "Pardon my manners ; I am Sol. You may call me Monsieur Sol. This is Miss Juvia and we're both members of the Element Four." Said Sol, doing a weird version of a bow as he introduced himself and Juvia, the name Element Four sounding horribly familiar to Lucy, who heard it the night before. "We've come from the great Phantom Lord to welcome you."

\- "Phantom Lord !? So, you're the one who attacked Levy-chan !" she shouted, grabbing her key, ready to defend herself. However, before she could do anything, she was suddenly stuck in a big bubble of water that formed around her out of nowhere. She swam and fought against it, trying to get out of it, however, Juvia, who was controlling the sphere, made sure that she couldn't get out of here. And after a few seconds, Lucy's body went limp, rendered unconscious by the lack of air.

\- " _Très bien_ , Juvia-sama."

\- "Let's head back now. We…"

 _ **TIRE KOUKAN : MASSIVE MONSTER !**_

*SLAM* When the two Element Four members realized what was happening, it was already too late. Both of them were struck by something that came at them way too fast for them to see it before, sending to the ground a few meters away from where they stood before. When they stood back up, they were faced with Shinnosuke who was in his Speed Type, with Massive Monster Tire wrapped around his torso, the two green weapons in hands. As the two mages got up, they glared at him, one of them behind more shocked than the other.

 _"How could he touch Juvia ?"_ she said to herself, a hand put on a scratch on her arm. _"Juvia's water body didn't worked ? Why …?"_

\- "What are you doing here ?" asked Sol, looking at Shinnosuke with his head still tilted to the side, almost horizontally. "I wasn't expecting us to be interrupted like that."

\- "I had a hunch so I decided to stay behind and looks like I was right." Said Shinnosuke, not letting go of his fighting stance.

\- "Oh ? And what kind of hunch, if I may ?"

\- "From what I've heard, it has always been… complicated between Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord. But I found that strange for you to attack us suddenly for apparently no reason. So I lead my own little investigation." He said, arms crossed, still holding onto the big greens jaws of Massive Monster. "I first asked myself this question : what had recently changed for you to attack us like that ? At first, I thought that this was because of me and my friend. After all, we have an enemy that could have attacked the guild in hope to reach us, maybe teaming up with you for whatever reason you, or they, may have. But this wasn't that. So I kept searching and realized that we weren't the only change the guild had undergone recently because when we joined Fairy Tail, we joined the same time as Lucy." He then said, pointing at the still unconscious mage who had been freed of the bubble after Juvia got knocked away, thus losing her concentration. "That's why you attacked us. As to why you did it like you did, I'd bet it's because you had a plan formed as soon as you realized that she was part of our guild. You attacked us because you wanted us to attack you back in reprisal. You wanted us to give you an opportunity to come and get her while we weren't all there to stop you. I'd even dare say that's why you attacked Levy. Being her best-friend, you hoped she would stay by her side while we were away. "

\- "You've got a sharp mind, I'll give that to you." Said Sol, toying with his mustache. "However, I want to be clear about the fact that we aren't the one who attacked your guild or your friend. This was all the work of Gajeel."

\- "That bit was kind of obvious." Admitted Shinnosuke, glaring at them behind his helmet. "Those iron pillars and shackles were definitely magic and from what I gathered, there's someone known as the Iron Dragon in your guild. That was a pretty easy deduction. There's however one thing I still don't get and that's why you're targeting her."

\- "A really sharp mind, indeed. And I like that, so I'll tell you what you want to know. For us, this girl is nothing more than what we mages are paid for : a request." Shinnosuke frowned : how can a person like Lucy be linked to a job send to a guild ? "But I already said too much, and master Jose would be angry if we are late. So this is good bye, _Monsieur_ Kamen Rider."

Hearing the name Kamen Rider coming out of his mouth made Shinnosuke stall for just a second, wondering where and how he knew that name, even if the answer was kind of obvious, which was more than enough for Sol to get rid of him.

 _ **ROCHE CONCERTO !**_

The ground beneath Shinnosuke began to crack and explode, sending a geyser of rocks at Shinnosuke who lost his footing because of that. And as he was trying to defend himself with the green jaws, he had forgotten the other mage on the street.

 _ **WATER CANNON !**_

A large swirling bullet made of water was created by Juvia and sent toward the Rider who had no way to protect himself and as such, he was struck and send literally flying away by the powerful projectile and crashing into an old warehouse that fell down on him soon after. Satisfied by the result, looking at the now ruined building were Shinnosuke had disappeared, Sol and Juvia simply grabbed Lucy and dragged her back with them, the rain following them and letting the sun come back on the street, leaving a forgotten key ring to shine brightly in the middle of a now empty street.

/- Meanwhile at Phantom Lord guild -/

The brawl between the two rival guild continued in Phantom Lord base, or maybe it should be called the pummeling since the fairies were actually stomping on the Phantom as if they were nothing. Among them, the Riders were taking care of some, but one who knew them would know they were holding back. Using the Durian Arms, Kouta was beating mages after mages, Haruto using his Land Style to either bind them with rock chains or knocked them out with his enhanced strength, Gentaro keep many of them at bay with Beat while sending some flying into others with Winch or Aero and Emu was jumping and kicking his way through the crowd while Sento was either shooting or slicing them with his Kaizoku Hassyar. But the mages weren't holding back at all, like Elfman who used his Take Over magic to transform his arm into one of a beast, greatly enhancing his punching power as he sent his opponent flying one after the other. Gray froze, Natsu burned, Erza sliced, the guild main hall became a real battlefield, one Makarov had to leave.

\- "Erza ! I'm putting you in charge here." Said the old man as he looked at the Titania who looked back at her master. "Jose is probably at the top floor. I'm gonna tear him a new one."

\- "All right. Take care, master." She said, just as Emu landed beside them.

\- "I'd like to go with you, if you're okay with it." He proposed, much to the mages curiosity as they tilted their head. "I feel something weird. I'd feel better if I came with you."

\- "If you really want it then come. But be aware, Jose is one of the Ten Wizard Saints. He's on the same level of power as me."

\- "I'll be on my guard."

With that, both of them left the main room, running upstairs and leaving Erza to take care of the rest. As for Gajeel, who was still up on the carpentry, looked down with a smug smile.

\- "Gihihi… Now that that pain in the ass id gone… I won't have to hold back anymore."

As he said that, he jumped down from his perch, diving into action, changing his arm into an iron pole, landing in the middle of the brawl, knocking down Nab and Warren but also a few of his own teammates.

\- "So this is that Gajeel ?" said Sento, looking at his arm, seeing that it had the same shape as the pole that destroyed the guild. "So that guy is the one who did that to the guild and attacked Shadow Gear."

\- "What's wrong with him ?" asked Gentaro as he send mages flying with Aero. "He's even attacking his own comrade."

\- "Iron Dragon Gajeel, at your service ! Now come and get it, you scum !" he said, his voice showing his desire to fight.

\- "A man is still a man even if he's scum !" roared Elfman as he threw a punch at Gajeel, who blocked it with his iron arm.

"Why the obsession with manliness, anyway ?" wondered Haruto, not looking at Elfman as he wrapped a group of mages in stone chains. At the same time, Gajeel began to attack Elfman who, despite his size and apparent sturdy body, was quite agile, dodging the iron-made arms and legs, ending the series of attack by grabbing Gajeel's leg, the latter snickering.

\- "Heh… Not bad." Snickered Gajeel, slightly impressed by Elfman's performances.

\- "Men must live strong." Answered the beast-man, looking down at Gajeel with a glare, not forgetting that he was facing the one who attacked his guild and friends. As for Gajeel, his smirk only got wider.

\- "Then, how do you like this ?"

Suddenly, Elfman felt the iron leg in his hand move. Looking at it, he saw bumps forming on it and feeling what was coming, Elfman jumped out of the way as the bumps suddenly sprouted into many others iron pole which extended in every direction around his feet. Luckily, he struck no Fairies, only some Phantoms who were unfortunately in the way.

\- "You bastard ! You are hurting your own comrades !" Seethed Elfman, not liking the idea that this guy could be so careless regarding his comrades well-being. But Gajeel only grinned, not bothering about them at all as he cocked a fist back.

\- "Pay attention." He advised as he threw a punch that extended into the usual iron pole, striking Elfman and sending him flying away. But as he was still airborne, someone jumped on him and used him as a footboard to jump at Gajeel who, despite his sharp senses, couldn't dodge what was coming. Namely a fist covered in fire.

\- "Gajeeeeel !" Natsu punched Gajeel in the face, sending him flying backward, much to the others Phantoms shock, not used to see their Iron Dragon being pummeled like that. As for Natsu, he was glaring at his counterpart, feeling his anger boil in him, remembering that he was the one who destroyed his home. "I'm the Dragon Slayer from Fairy Tail !" He then turned to Elfman. "Elfman ! Let me have him !"

\- "You bastard ! Don't get in the way of a fight between men !" shouted the tall guy in response, still pissed that he was used as a footboard by the Fire Mage. This gave an opportunity to Gajeel to give something back to Natsu for what he did to him. He quickly got close to Natsu and punched him hard in the stomach with his metallic pillar. However, unlike Elfman, he wasn't sent flying but instead, he hold his ground, his burning hot hand melting the metal, giving him a better grip on Gajeel's arm, much to the latter surprise as Natsu glared at him from his spot, fury burning in his onyx eyes.

\- "For our guild, Levy-chan and the others… I'll sent you to hell !" Roared Natsu as he threw the other dragon into the air, Gajeel's body taking back his former shape as he flipped in mid-air, landing upside down on one of the wooden beam of the roof. And when he looked down, he thought he would see the ground, not a close-up of Natsu's face who had jumped after him to punch him once again, sending him flying even higher, much to the other Fairies and Riders joy, all feeling proud of Natsu. However, Gajeel wasn't done for yet, far from it. Using blades that sprouted on the sole of his feet, he stood hanging upside down on another beam, like some sort of bat, looking down (or up ?) at Natsu, arms crossed, the Fire Dragon Slayer glaring at him in return.

\- "So Salamander. Is that all you've got ?"

\- "This was nothing but a friendly hello. From a dragon to another." Answered Nastu, his fists covered with fire.

\- "A fight between Dragon Slayer. I could learn a lot from that fight." Said Sento, looking up at the two dragon as he kept dodging and repelling the Phantoms with OctopusGatling Trial Form. "He's the Iron Dragon Slayer. Does that mean that he ate iron ? Or maybe every kind of metal ? Can he just change his body into iron or can he emit it like Natsu does with is flame ? Can he…"

\- "… Is he always like that ?" asked Alzack to Gentaro who was standing beside him, shooting at their opponents.

\- "He is. Don't mind him."

Up in the carpentry, the two dragons were ready to continue their fight when the whole building suddenly began to shake, stopping everyone in their tracks. And if everyone at first wondered what was happening, they Fairies began to smile as the Phantoms kept panicking, feeling a great power fill the air, The riders also feeling it even if they were half-curious and half-afraid.

\- "Wha… What is that ? An earthquake ?" wondered of the Phantoms, which only made the Fairies smile even more and the Riders look at them in confusion as Erza began to explain.

\- "This is master Makarov's fury. A giant's fury that no one can stop." This made the Phantoms widen their eyes in fear, not believing that the master could have such a strength. And Elfman only threw oil on the fire of their fear by taking back were Erza stopped. "That's the man. Master Makarov. You better be prepare. As long as he's here, we'll never lose."

As for the Riders, they were surprised and slightly worried. Surprised because if they knew that Makarov had to be powerful to be one of the Ten Wizard Saints, but they didn't expect him to have such a powerful aura. And because they couldn't help but tell themselves that if his aura was this powerful from the bottom floor, it would probably be on a whole new level at the source, they couldn't help but feel a little worried for a doctor who decided to follow the old man.

/- With Makarov and Emu -/

And indeed, Emu was not in the best of the places, almost regretting coming with the master. When they had reached the final floor of the building, Makarov had let his magic loose, the sheer aura around him being enough to destroy everything that could be. Cracks appeared on the walls, vase and painting exploded as if they were made of glass, and the door leading to Jose's office were blown out of their hinges and broke in half by the crackling aura of power the master was emitting. Emu even had to take a few step back, his whole body shaking as if he had swallowed a magnetic stir bar and was standing on a magnetic stirrer. But he swallowed and kept walking following the master in the room. In the back of the room, sitting on some sort of throne, was Jose. He was wearing a long black cape, a matching pointy hat and some sort of bat wings. The upper part of his face was hidden, showing only a thin face with long and thin black mustache falling on his chin, long black hair and pointy nose. Emu never met him before, but he felt something weird coming from him, something he already felt before.

\- "Jose…" began Makarov, looking at his 'colleague' with hate in his eyes. "What the hell do you think you're doing ?"

\- "Why hello there. Long time no see, Makarov." Said Jose, ignoring Makarov question, his voice sending another shiver down Emu's spine as it sound weird for him. "It must've been since the regular meeting… When was it ? 6 years ago ? Boy, I was so stumped that day. I must've overdone it with the sake."

His little memory telling was interrupted by a giant fist crashing down on him, courtesy of Makarov who wasn't in the right mind set to play with him.

\- "I'm not here to reminisce with you, Jose." He said when he realize, much to his surprise, that the 'Jose' who was standing in the rubbles of his throne was sizzling like an old TV. "An image !?"

\- "So he's already gone from the building ?" said Emu aloud, now looking around, more ill at ease than before. _"But then, what is that ominous feeling I have ?"_

\- "A battle between two of the Ten Wizard Saints can cause extraordinary natural occurrences." Said the false Jose who looked straight at his guests, revealing green eyes and a face who was filled with malice. "I prefer a rational victory."

\- "Where are you !? Come fight me fair and square !" shouted Makarov, not liking Jose's game as Emu was feeling like something bad was about to happen. And never in his life he had wanted, more than now, for his instinct to be wrong. Because something shone at Jose's feet and a few seconds later appeared Lucy, still unconscious and hands tied, shocking both Mage and Rider.

\- "Lucy !?" Both of them shouted, shocked to see the blonde haired girl who was, like Jose, probably elsewhere. And that's when it dawn on Emu as he point an accusing finger at the black haired master.

\- "That's why you attacked us ! It was to allow you to capture her. This was all a trap !" Emu said, Jose's smile widening as Makarov widen his eyes in realization. He should have realized this sooner. This sudden attack from Phantom was too strange and sudden, he should have known they had an ulterior motive but he let his anger got the best of him and he had led his guild right in a trap. "But why targeting her ? She did nothing to you or your guild."

\- "Please, don't act all innocent. You can't have her in your guild without knowing who she is." What José said made the old man and Rider frown, not getting where he was getting at. "But since you are there, I think it's the perfect moment to show you something." As he said that, the man pulled a knife from under his mantle and kneeled beside Lucy, pointing the knife at her neck, Makarov reacting as soon as he saw the knife getting closer to the blonde, Jose smiling like a dement, Makarov running toward them, only to be stopped by Emu.

\- "No, stop ! Calm down !" he grabbed the master who was struggling in his arm. "This is an image, he isn't here !"

This forced Makarov to calm down, especially since Jose had stabbed the ground right beside Lucy, his smirk still present on his face as he got up, dropping the knife to stare at Makarov, looking like he had just proved something.

\- "Relax, Makarov, I won't kill her. Not yet at least. " He said, his eyes shining darkly. "You are far too close to your mages. You consider every one of them like family and that's your greatest weakness. You'd give your life up way too easily for them."

\- "There's nothing wrong in that !" Said Emu, taking a step forward. "Those are the kind of bond that makes you stronger and not the other way around. He is a better master than you'll ever be. That I'm sure of."

\- "You've got quite the guts to dare talk to one of the Ten Wizard Saints like that." Said Jose as he snickered, looking amused, even if his eyes shown a little bit of anger. "But I guess that's because you still need to realize how petty you are in this world, Kamen Rider."

*Dooooow* Before Emu or Makarov could process what Jose just said, their bodies suddenly became heavy and slow, as if they had been hit by a slowing down magic. But Emu knew this sensation. This was something Shinnosuke knew the best but there was no need to be a genius like Sento to know what was making his body so heavy. In his slowed down state, and while Makarov was slightly panicking, trying to understand what was happening to him, Emu managed to look to the side, enough a robotic humanoid being, completely gray with some kind of red and yellow armor on the whole body. He had huge arms, with some sort of cylinder on both of them, like two hammers, his feet were just as big and his head, like a bull, with two horns pointing upwards, was aimed at him, two plate on his face where his eyes should be and a mouth where two pointy teeth were jutting out.

This was a Roidmude, and it just triggered a Donyori.

\- "You see, Makarov, I consider myself to be a player. I won't make a move unless I'm sure to win. And that's what happened here. You lost the game, old friend. Aria."

A man then appeared out of nowhere in a gust of wind in front of both slowed men. The man, named Aria, was big, even bigger than Reedus, and wearing an equally large green mantle, a purple scarf and a red and white necklace, which made him look like some sort of priest. His head was topped with a green hat and, strangely, he was blindfolded.

\- "So-So-So…. Sorrowful !" he then said suddenly, tears falling down his face through his blindfold as he sudden wave of magic pushed both Makarov and Emu away, the latter looking at the old man who seemed to be suffering, as if his body was withering like a dried up plant. They were pushed away up to the wooden railing who broke making both of them plummet straight to the first floor as Aria kept crying. "It's sorrowful ! Where does this sorrow comes from !? Ah ! Is this sorrow due to the world losing a great mage !?"

As soon as he ended his sentence, both Makarov and Emu reached the ground. But Emu had managed to move and catch the old man mid flight to at least protect him from the fall. Once on the ground, he rolled to the side and laid Makarov on the ground as the Fairy Tail Guild master seemed to struggle, shaking like crazy as if he had been thrown in a pool full of ice.

\- "W-What's happening… My magic power…" he stuttered, completely in shock about what had happen.

Of course, their fall wasn't missed by anyone in the main hall, from Natsu and Gajeel on the carpentry to Erza and everyone else on the bottom floor. Seeing their dear master, a man that many considered their father, the fairies felt all their strength leave their bodies as they looked at the old man who was on the verge of unconsciousness, tears swelling in their eyes. Many of them came to see what was happening. All around them, the Phantoms were now smirking. Apparently, seeing Makarov being defeated like that was enough to boost their morale as they suddenly felt invincible.

\- "What's going on ?!" shouted Erza as she almost literally shoved Emu out of the way to look at Makarov. "I don't sense any magic power from the master !"

\- "That guy named Aria. He probably sucked it out of his body." Said Emu as he looked at the old man, trying to see if his life was in danger. As he found out that he should be alright, he could now focus on something else. Like the Phantom who were laughing at them.

\- "AHAHAHAHAHAHAH ! See ? This is the power of Phantom !" said one.

\- "Even your fucking geezer is out, you can't win !" said another one, laughing loudly. As for Emu, he stood there, a knee on the ground, not saying anything as he felt his heartrate multiply tenfold in anger.

\- "We are too strong for you anyway ! Let's crush them !" said another one as he and his friend began to plow through the Fairies, only to be stopped suddenly when Emu, getting up from the ground, welcomed the first of them with his Gashacon Breaker, sending them flying back to their comrades, making them stop, taken by surprise as they thought the view of Makarov, now unconscious, and beaten, would be enough to kill their desire to fight.

\- "You said you're strong, but yet you needed the help of a Roidmude to help you." Emu didn't spoke loudly, but the name Roidmude reached the other Riders ears, realizing what that meant. As for the Phantoms, they stopped moving, even Gajeel who was still hanging upside down on the roof. "Life is something precious. You only have one. And people who could hurt people as easily as you are my enemies. Or should I say, OUR enemies." He stopped for a second to address a message to the Fairies. "Guys, we have to take Makarov and leave this place. This was a trap."

Of course, this led to a loud protestation from the Fairies who wanted to keep fighting, for what Phantom did to them, the guild, their friends and master. However, Erza looked like she understood what happened. So she wiped her tears and, since Makarov let her in charge, gave her orders.

\- "Everyone retreat ! Let's head back to the guild !" Once again, peoples weren't okay with that decision, but Erza wasn't in the mood to discuss. "We won't be able to stop Jose without our master ! We have to leave right now !"

\- "Don't worry, we will get back at them for that, don't worry. But right now, we have to take Makarov to the hospital or somewhere where he can be healed."

Thinking about their master, the whole guild agreed and left the place, keeping their heads up despite the Phantoms who were laughing at them. Up on the wooden beam, Gajeel was looking down on the as he was joined by Aria, who appeared in a gust of wind.

\- "Aria… You're as creepy as ever. I'm surprised you could beat that geezer." He said as he flipped up and sat beside his comrade.

\- "This is all part of master Jose's plan." Simply said Aria calmly before suddenly crying his eyes out. "Wonderful !"

\- "Can you stop crying over anything ?" asked Gajeel, the crying annoying him. "So… About his plan. Did we capture that Lucy ?"

\- "Yes, Juvia and Sol managed to get her. She's confined at our headquarter."

Gajeel simply nodded as he looked down, Natsu looking up at him, not saying anything but fear and worry was written on his face, which only made Gajeel smile even more. "We'll settle that latter, Salamander."

And with a simple hand gesture from Aria, they'd disappeared. Emu was walking out of the building with the others, looking at the top of the building as he thought about Lucy. He said nothing about her kidnapping because as he said, they would come back and besides, he felt that if the Fairies learned about her being held by Phantom, they would have gone to save her immediately and seeing how low their morale currently was, this is something they'd better avoid. However, he failed to notice something that could be quite problematic. Natsu was gone.

Indeed, Natsu's sharp earing allowed him to hear what Gajeel and Aria were saying, and thus, he learned about Lucy being kidnapped. So he did the only thing he thought he had to do. He grabbed one of the Phantom Lord members and began to walk away from the building and away from his friends, Happy flying next to him as usual, dragging the Phantom mage behind him as he followed a little dirt path behind the building he just left.

\- "Tell me. Where's Lucy ?" he asked not looking at him, his eyes fixing a point on the horizon.

\- "I… I don't know what you're talking about… Who is that ?" this answer not being the one Natsu wanted, the Fire Mage set his whole body on fire without even looking at him, his body filled with nothing more than fury, with a little bit of worry for the blonde.

\- "You better speak up." Seethed Natsu as he turned around, baring his teeth at the guy, veins popping on his forehead. "If she's hurt, I might burn you to a crisp."

\- "HIEEK ! I… I really don't know ! I know no one by that name !" Said the guy, now crying in fear, his face all charred up by the flames that had stopped burning by now. "But our HQ is located straight ahead ! But it's pretty far from here."

Natsu growled, fearing that he might to late to save Lucy. He turned to Happy, and without a word, the feline knew what he wanted. Natsu knocked the dude out as Happy wrapped his tail around him, taking him a few meters up in the air before accelerating suddenly, gone in a blink of an eye.

/- Phantom Lord HQ -/

In the middle of the fields filled with ruins and a few trees, stood some kind of stronghold, surrounded by a half destroyed wall of bricks, an arch still holding up in the middle of it. Inside the perimeter delimited by the wall stood a building that seemed to be made of many others buildings. There were four tall towers in each corners, a large building with a dome like roof, a building that looked like a beehive with a loot of openings and, in the middle, a slightly taller building with the Phantom Lord flag on it, waving in the wind. This building was almost completely empty and devoid of any life. Except for someone who had nothing to do here.

Lucy woke up in a small room that looked like a cell, with an iron on one of the wall, small unlit candles, cobweb in the corners and the stone which composed the walls, roof and ground were outwore by the time. Immediately, as she was putting herself on her knees, Lucy knew she was in trouble, and her hands, tied up behind her back, weren't helping her feeling better as she looked frantically around her.

\- "What ? What is this ?! Where am I ?!" she asked to no one in particular, her voice filled with fear and anxiety.

\- "Are you awake, Lucy Heartfilia-sama ?" said a voice Lucy didn't knew, coming from behind the door as she asked for who it was. The door opened, and Jose walked in, a smug smile gracing his lips. "I'm Phanom Lord's master, Jose." The mention of Phantom made Lucy realize two things. First, she remembered the kidnapping by those two weirdos back in Magnolia and also something faint about tires and monsters, whatever that was. Secondly, she understood that she was now faced with the one who orchestrated everything that happened to them recently and she felt anger build up inside her. "I apologize for tying you up and putting you in this filthy cell, but you're still a captive. Please try to understand." Jose was explaining to Lucy the reason why she was tied and she couldn't believe how normal he made it look like.

\- "Untie me !" she ordered, struggling against the rope tying her hand. "Who's a captive ?! How dare you do all of that to us ? To Levy-chan and the others ?!"

\- "Please calm down, little lady." Said Jose, trying to act like some sort of mediator. "Depending on your attitude, we might treat you as a 'VIP' instead as a prisoner." This made Lucy look at him in wonder. What did he meant by a VIP ? As she asked herself that question, she felt something moving on her thigh and looking down, she saw a centipede crawling on her skin, which of course made her shriek and scurry away from the bug, which only served to prove Jose's point as he had a satisfied smile on his face. "See ? You really don't wanna stay in this jail. If you agree to behave, we'll have no problem moving you to a suite room."

The proposition might have been nice, but Lucy wasn't that easy to fool. She stood her ground, looking up at Jose with determination.

\- "Why did you attack us ? I heard you weren't in good term with Fairy Tail, but this was uncalled for."

\- "Fairy Tail, huh ? Well, to be completely honest, this was nothing more than an extra, and nothing more." Lucy's eyes widen at the revelation. She also understood that if Fairy Tail was an extra, as Jose said, then that meant that they had another objective. Another reason to do what they did and it had to be something huge if it justified an all-out war with another guild despite the law saying warfare between guild wasn't allowed. "Our real objective was to find and get our hands on a certain individual. Individual that happened to belong to Fairy Tail, so why not kill two birds with one stone."

\- "A certain individual ?" repeated Lucy as Jose took a step toward her, sweat running down her face as she began to put the pieces together, not liking what it meant for her as she feared he knew of her secret.

\- "*sigh* You're pretty slow. I have a hard time you are a daughter of the Heartfilia Family." Said Jose as he came to a stop, squishing the centipede under his foot as he did so. "You probably know what, or who, I am talking about? Isn't it, daughter of the Heartfilia conglomerate, Lucy Heartfilia-sama."

If Lucy had doubt before, she now couldn't deny it. Jose knew of her secret, something she tried to leave behind her when she left her home. Shaking and gritting her teeth, she looked down as she seethed at Jose from the ground.

\- "H-How do you know about that ?" She had asked, trying to figure HOW he could have learned of her true identity when even her closest friend ignored it.

\- "I heard you were hiding your real social standing in the guild." Said Jose, ignoring her question. "I wonder why the daughter of one of the richest men in all Fiore would go and undertake such cheap and dangerous jobs."

\- "So then, you kidnapped me ?" guessed Lucy, looking up at Jose, her lips tight and glare hard as steal. However, she guessed wrong, and the truth won't please her. At all.

\- "No, no. Don't be absurd. We aren't kidnapping you." Revealed Jose, raising a hand in a defensive gesture. "We got requested to get you by none other than your father, Mr Jude Heartfilia."

It was like someone just plunged her heart in freezing water. The revelation struck her more harder than a ton of brick falling from a 10 store building. Her own father had hired a Mage Guild to get her back. But if shock was what first came to her mind, incomprehension quickly replaced it as she tightened her fists, looking down shakily at her legs, her voice quiet, echoing with her disbelieving state.

\- "No… Lies… Why did he …?" she couldn't even make full sentence, her surprise way to intense for that. As for Jose, her reaction amused him greatly.

\- "Why ? Isn't it normal for a father to search for her daughter if she ran away from home ?"

\- "He wouldn't !" shouted Lucy, anger overcoming her shock as she looked up at Jose, her eyes filled with a newfound determination. "He would never bother with that ! I won't go back ! I will never go back that place ! Release me here and now."

\- "My, what a troublesome lady." Sighed Jose, totally unfazed by her reaction. "I'm pretty sure it's useless to tell you that I can't do that."

\- "But I need to use the restroom. I… really can't hold it…" she said, squirming as she almost died in shame internally, not believing she had to use such a cheap trick. But unfortunately, Jose wasn't someone who could be caught off-guard that easily.

\- "That's the oldest trick in the book. Go ahead." He said shaking his head and pointing at a old and dusty bucket that stood in a corner of the room, making Lucy gasp in shock. "what ? You thought we wouldn't thought about that ?" He added, feeling like he out-smarted Lucy. However…

\- "Well, if I have to…" Lucy unexpectedly got up, setting herself in front of the bucket, slightly bending her body so her hands could reach her skirt, allowing her to lift it up, all right under Jose's nose whose eyes bulged out, not believing that she would really do it. He looked at her do as his face began to contort and become redder and redder in embarrassment up until the moment he couldn't take it anymore and turned his back at her, muttering about her shameless attitude. But that was exactly what Lucy wanted, a victorious smile gracing her lips as she took a step forward and got in a kicking position, aiming for Jose's crotch.

*Doooooow* As Lucy began to threw her kick, a sudden feeling of heaviness overcame her, making her so heavy that she had basically stopped moving. Despite her surprise and slowed down state, she struggled to try and make the kick reach its target, but no matter how much she fought it, she couldn't move. Jose also felt that heaviness but strangely, he was immune to it as he turned around to face Lucy, her legs half extended, her face contorted by the effort she put in the kick.

\- "Well, would you look at that ? You think you mess with me ? I'm not stupid, so I took some precaution." He said to her, turning his head to the door he used, the same Roidmude as before sitting on the roof, just above the cell, Jose turning back his attention on Lucy soon after, taking a step closer to her. "Anyway, I gave you the chance to behave, but since you decided to be stubborn, I guess that mean you want to be treated as a prisoner. So be it. You'll… GEHAAAAH !"

IT happened so quickly that even Lucy was confused about what happened. One moment she was frozen and Jose was threatening her and the second after that, she got her speed back and her leg, who was still in mid-kick, covered the space left between it and its intended target, namely Jose's family jewels, with the same strength Lucy had put in it at first. While Jose fell to the ground, his hands covering his suffering crotch, Lucy fell on her butt, still wondering about what happened and how she could escape that thing when she felt something in one of her hand, something that wasn't here before. She didn't knew what it was, but she squeezed it, knowing that this was probably the reason why she could move again.

\- "Well, everything's good, in the end." She said to herself as she got up, looking down at Jose as she passed by him, winking playfully at him. "Well, goodbye, dear sir !" she then jogged to the door, not noticing that Jose was smiling despite his pain and when Lucy reached the door, she realized that she may have done a mistake.

Wind blew strongly around her as she looked down at the ground who was at least 100 meters under her feet. Her cell wasn't a usual cell, since it was on the last story of one of the four tall tower surrounding the guild HQ, she could barely look down without feeling nausea twisting her intestine. Behind her, Jose was crawling to her, still on the ground as the pain hadn't calmed down yet.

\- "It's a pity, isn't it ?" he managed to mutter from the ground, smirking victoriously. "This is our Sky Prison…" Lucy turned around, now facing Jose who began to got up, even if his body was still shaking. "How dare you… do that to me… Now, I'll have to punish you… I'll show you how atrocious the Phantom can be."

Lucy was in a really bad position. She was literally stuck and had only two possible way to get out of it, and none of them were good. If she stayed here, she'll have to face Jose's wrath and then she'll be send back to her father. On the other side, if she jumped, without her keys nor anyone to help her, she would die from the fall. In her mind, she saw her father, with his usual suit and combed hair, his hand reaching for her. It was brief but this was enough for her. She couldn't, or rather wouldn't, go back and then, her mind was set by something that came to her like a whisper. She then took a decision, faith pushing her in what was, she hoped, the right direction.

She took a deep breath… and jumped out of the building.

\- "WHAAT !?" Jose couldn't believe his eyes as Lucy did what she did, the master falling to his knees once again, the pain coming back again.

Wind was roaring at Lucy's ears, her hair flailing wildly around her head as she plummeted toward the ground, toward what many would think was instant death. However, as she squeezed her hand even harder on the small thing that helped her in the cell, she had a feeling, something in her guts that was telling her that she did the right thing. She didn't knew how, but she was sure that she would be saved. That HE would save her.

 _"I'm sure… He's here… I heard his voice !"_ she thought to herself, eyes closed and teeth clenched as the ground was approaching quickly, maybe too quickly.

\- "NATSUUUUUUU !"

Someone who would have witnessed her, shouting the Fire Dragon Slayer name in mid-fall when the ground was barely 20 meters away, Death waiting to dig her grave just where she was about to hit the ground like an asteroid would have though that this was cry of despair, the same kind one emitted when Death was about to harvest his soul. But Lucy had faith. She felt it. He was here and he will save her. Her hopes never wavered, even when the ground was 30 meters away.

20 meters…

10…

5…

\- "NUOOOOAAAAH !"

Fate was definitely on Lucy's side as Natsu leapt at her, catching her as her head was literally 10 centimeters above the dried ground. Natsu had been so fast that some could wonder if he didn't learned Speed Magic on the way to the HQ. When he caught Lucy, he put such a sudden halt to her fall that the strength of her fall had been almost completely nullified, Natsu rolling on the ground, protecting Lucy the best he could until they both finally were stopped by one of the ruined brick wall surrounding the HQ. They were both laying out on the rubbles, Happy flying to them as they stood there, unmoving for a few seconds.

\- "Lucy fell from the sky !" Shouted Happy in disbelief, eyes wide as he looked at the blonde who was laying on top of Natsu.

\- "I knew it !" she said as she looked down at Natsu who was still under her, taking her time to put her breath back under control, the fall and sudden stop having proved to be too much. "I knew you'd be here."

\- "No… No problem." Answered Natsu, his voice muffled and face taking a nice shade of red as her breast were pressed on her face. "But this is really dumb to just jump from a tower like that." He then helped her to sit down, immediately working on her hands. "Are you okay ?"

\- "Yeah… sort of." She said, moving to nurse her wrist when she realized that her hand was still closed on the thing that probably saved her up here. Natsu and Happy saw her hands and got closer, wondering what she was looking at.

\- "What is this ?" wondered Happy.

\- "I don't know but it helped me greatly." Said Lucy as she finally opened her hand and discovered, much to her and her friends surprise, a little yellow car with black squares and green wheels.

\- "Hey, isn't that one of Shinnosuke's car ?" Natsu got his answer when the little car began to drive away, heading to the Tridoron who was getting closer to the group. Stopping a few meters away from them, Shinnosuke got out and caught the car while walking to the three.

\- "Lucy ! Nice to see you're alright !"

\- "Shinnosuke ! What are you doing here ?" wondered Lucy as she stared at the Rider.

\- "I was there when those guys from Phantom Lord attacked you. I tried to stop them but it didn't goes as well as I hopes, so I let Dimension Cab come with you." He explained, pointing at the taxi who beeped joyfully.

\- "But I never saw it before now. Where was he hiding while I was out cold ?"

To answer that, Dimension Cab drove to Lucy and did something unexpected but who made the answer pretty obvious when he dived in Lucy's cleavage, much to her and everyone else embarrassment.

\- "You hide yourself between her breasts ?!" shouted Belt-san as he scolded Cab. "How dare you do that ?!"

Ignoring the strange dispute between the belt and the car, the boys began to talk, starting with Shinnosuke.

\- "So, what happened exactly ? Where are the others ?"

\- "They all got back to the guild and we should to." Began Happy, hovering to be head level with Shinnosuke. "Master had been heavily wounded. Emu said something about a Roidmude."

\- "A Roidmude ?!" shouted Shinnosuke and Belt-san, the latter forgetting Dimension Cab, while Lucy's eyes widen in shock when she learned about the master. "This isn't good. So they do work together."

\- "Since we are here, I'm going in to beat them all down." Said Natsu, looking at the building with clenched fists. "I'll make them pay for hurting my family."

\- "No, Natsu ! Erza said we have to retreat !" Reminded Happy, scowling at Natsu who just glared at him.

\- "She's just afraid ! But I'm not !" Growled Natsu. "I won't let them get away after what they did to Ji-chan, the guild, Levy-chan and the others !"

\- "Both of you calm down !" Shinnosuke said, trying to stop them from arguing, but this was a lost cause. However, despite the loudness of their arguing, they were stopped by an almost inaudible word, coming from Lucy.

\- "Sorry…" she said, her quiet voice shaking as she tried to suppress sobs. "I'm sorry… It's all my fault…" as she said that, everything came to her mind. The destroyed guild, Levy, Jet and Droy beaten up and bloody crucified to Magnolia's great tree and now what happened to Makarov. Everything happened because Phantom Lord was after her. Which meant, at least for Lucy, that everything happened because of her joining the guild and that's a guilt she had a hard time living with. "But I … Still want to stay in the guild… I love Fairy Tail."

\- "H-Hey ! What's the matter ?!" asked Natsu, his voice filled with worry and incomprehension as Lucy began to sob. Why was she acting like this was her fault ? And why was she talking as if she couldn't stay ? Strangely, the idea of Lucy leaving was something he just couldn't process. It was something that couldn't happen. "You can stay ! What's wrong with you … ?"

\- "Natsu. We should head back." Said Shinnosuke as he put a hand on his shoulder, looking at Lucy. Knowing that Phantom was after her, he understood what was going on in her head right now. She felt guilty for something she wasn't responsible of. And he knew that feeling all too well, the memory of Hayase's incident the night of the Global Freeze forever embed in his mind. "We have many thing to discuss and I've got the feeling that Phantom will come after us once again. We have to be ready."

/- In the Sky Prison -/

After Lucy decided to skydive to escape him, Jose stayed where he was, the pain being too much for him to move. Every time he tried, he could only take two steps before falling to his knees, the pain overwhelming him. As that happen, the Roidmude came closer, arms crossed, which was an impressive feature considering how big his arms were.

\- "She got you good." He simply said to Jose, his voice deep and rumbling as if he was talking through a didgeridoo.

\- "You… I though your power stopped everyone. Why could she move ?" he seethed from his position on the ground, grinding his teeth in annoyance and fury.

\- "For the same reason you aren't affected. She had one of those damned Shift Cars with her and it protected her from the freeze." Explained the Rider. "But now that she's gone, I think we'll have to be a little more… straight forward, isn't it ?"

\- "You're god damn right !" Admitted Jose looking up at the open door. "This little bitch will pay, and I'll eradicate that wretched guild at the same time !"

 **Well, as I said, that's one hell of a chapter. I was inspired to say the least. I really hope you liked it because I would be damn disappointed in myself if a chapter that long wasn't good enough. I'll see you next time with the beginning of the end. See ya !**

 **Next time : The fight come to the Fairies. It's 15 to Doomsday. Swarming the shade and upgrading the beast.**


	22. Chapter 22 : Phantom's counterattack

**Greetings, dear readers ! I hope you're all well. As for me, it has never been better. All those reviews, follows and PMs are all super nice and it really help me, whether it is with ideas for my story or just nice messages about the story. Thanks to phamquocdat25122002, OBgaming and tcurey98 for their follows, favs, and reviews and to all those readers who just come and read this story.**

 **I'd also like to address the review left by phamquocdat25122002, about the Riders using different forms. Regarding the Riders upgraded forms, like Emu's Level 3 or Sento's Sparkling, they'll use it soon, don't worry. Concerning the Rider getting new forms due to magic, I'm introducing the first use in this chapter, a form that will be used during this arc. I'm still deciding if this should be a 'true' new form, with armor and all, or just some kind of upgrade adding a power to the rider depending on whose magic is in the trinket when they use it. But you'll soon get an answer.**

 **As for the chapter size, well I'm starting to realize that, since I want to include in a chapter what I teased in the previous one, I'll write until those promised things are done and since the fight and even will became even longer and complicated as the story goes on, I fear they could become way too long for my liking. So if I feel a chapter being too long, I'll split it in half and publish two chapter instead of one, with or without a 'next time' between them.**

 **Anyway, let's get down to it !**

 **Chapter 22 – Phantom counter-attack**

In the middle of the forest east of Magnolia, among the large trees stood a tree that was unlike any others. If it was way much wider than the others, what was really odd about that tree was that he had a door and some windows embed in it and for a good reason since this was a house. And not just any house. It was the house of an old acquaintance of Makarov, a woman, expert in healing and cures named Porlyusica. She was an elderly woman with pink haired tied in a bun that was held in place by two long and golden pins with moon-shaped edges. Two bangs were framing her face, which seemed to be stuck in a permanent frown, her red colored eyes squinted as she was focused on the vial she had in her hand. Since she is an old friend of Makarov and an healing expert, she was the first and only person the Fairies could send their master to, in hope he could be healed. Makarov was laying on a bed, heavily sweating and breathing soundly, his face a pale green, testifying of his current state. Porlyusica was looking down at him, not saying a word, before she suddenly slapped him hard, much to the shock of the three people standing behind her.

\- "H-Hey !" shouted Alzack, the gunner mage who had a few bruise on his face and body after the brawl against Phantom.

\- "What are you doing to our master… I mean the patient !" said Bisca, correcting herself as she looked at Porlyusica.

\- "A doctor's job is to take care of his patient, not hurt them more than they already are !" added Emu. The Rider, being a doctor in the first place, volunteered himself when he heard Erza ordering the two sharp shooter to bring Makarov to the old healer. He felt that desire to go for two reason. First because he felt like he failed to protect him back at Oak, and the second being purely personal as he wanted to see how a healer worked in this world.

\- "He rushed into things without considering his age, and look at him now. Such a fool." said Porlyusica, looking down at the master with a slight scowl, as if this wasn't the first time she warned Makarov about those risks. And suddenly, she turned to the three onlookers, her eyes white and her face painted with annoyance. "How long are you gonna stay here !? Go home already !" she ordered, Bisca and Alzack taking a step back as Emu stood his ground, even if he was slitghly unnerved by her sudden outburst. From what he heard, the old healer lived here, away from the city because she hated humans. He didn't believed it at first, but he was beginning to see the truth behind it.

\- "We won't leave just yet." He said, his voice carrying a professionalism that took the two mages by surprise before remembering that Emu was a doctor. "We are worried about him. I was even there when this happened. He was hit by a magic that seemed to weaken him almost immediately, as if his strength was sucked out of his body. So would you kindly please tell us what happened exactly and if he's going to be alright ?"

Porlyusica turned her head to glare at him and at first, Alzack and Bisca felt like she was about to vaporize him on the spot. But she simply turned back to Makarov, beginning the explanation.

\- "Drain… This is a form of 'wind' magic. It's a dreadful magic that drain the magic power of the target. And once it has been drained, the magic will float in the air, and eventually disappear."

\- "So, is his magic lost for good or is there a way to heal him ?" asked Emu, toying with the Mighty Action X Gashat, or what was the Mighty Action X Gashat.

\- "If we could've gathered Makarov's magic as it was floating around, we could heal him faster. But it's too late now. His magic will come back, but it'll take a while."

\- "Is that so … ? We'll tell everyone." Said Bisca, as she and Alzack felt a small wave of relief at the idea that the master's life wasn't in danger. As for Emu, he simply looked at Makarov, his fingers twiddling with his Gashat, until Porlyusica suddenly snatched it away to look at it.

\- "Hey ! What's the problem ?!"

\- "This thing…" she said, looking at the Gashat with squinted eyes. "There's some of Makarov's magic in it…"

The sharpshooters eyes opened widely, shocked by what she had just said. But now that she mentioned it, this was logic in a way to Emu, who looked at the Gashat who was now half white with an illustration which was different than the usual one.

\- "It might have happened when his magic was taken away. I was right beside him but since I have no magic, that Drain did nothing to me, but my Gashat probably absorb some in the process." Theorized Emu, while Alzack gasped, realizing something.

\- "Wait ! Maybe we can use that to help master feel better by giving him this magic back."

\- "I'd rather not." Porlyusica said, shooting down Alzack plan, even if the idea was a good one. "This could work, but I'd rather avoid doing this. Their could be some risks."

\- "There is." Confirmed Emu, the mages and healer looking at him with curiosity as he gazed at the Gashat. If he tried to send the magic back to Makarov with his Gashat, he could also infect him with his own "disease". Besides, he might need that modified Gashat for latter since it had the magic of such a powerful man in it. He put his Gashat back in his pocket, sighing when he was suddenly hit in the face by a broom, held by a furious looking Porlyusica.

\- "What are you three still doing here ?!" She roared, eyes white in anger as she stared at them, Alzack and Bisca helping Emu back up, the doctor nursing his bruised cheek as he stared fearfully at the old healer. "Go home already ! You damn humans !"

Not wanting to become a punching ball for old woman, the three humans left the house, running for their life, slamming the door close as they ran back at the guild. Porlyusica sighed tiredly as she turned back to Makarov, looking down at her old friend, worry showing on her face. She didn't told them everything, knowing they would be too worried to do anything if they knew everything. But for a mage, magic is like his life force. If Makarov didn't fought his best to overcome his current state, he'd die.

/- Back at the guild, first basement -/

When Emu, Alzack and Bisca came back at the guild, it was plunged in the same kind of chaos as when they left. Every single one of them, with a few exception, were bandaged, some more than others, and they were nothing more than pissed off. They couldn't get over the fact that they had to retreat and leave Phantom Lord just like that, even if they all knew, deep down, that they had a good reason to leave and were all worried for the master. But they still hadn't given up the fight. Some of them were gathered around a map, trying to think of a plan to fight back, others were filling bags with as many Lachryma Bomb as they could and gathering everything they needed to blow Phantom Lord to kingdom come. Erza, who was taking a shower, was just as pissed, angry at herself for letting the master go up there alone. She trusted Emu, of course, but the Riders proved that they weren't as strong against mages. And in the middle of that mess stood Lucy. Sitting on a barrel, looking at all those wounded mages, she couldn't help but feel that guilt forming a ball in her throat. She explained her origin to her friends and they didn't seemed to mind, but that didn't helped her feel any better.

\- "Lucy. Why were you hiding this ?" asked Happy, wondering why she would keep such a thing for herself.

\- "I wasn't so much hiding it… " She began, her head hanging down, her voice quiet as if she feared she'd cry. "I ran away from home so I didn't felt like talking about it. My father… He didn't care about the daughter who ran away for a year and now he suddenly wants me back. He did all that so he can get me back. He's horrible." As she said that, Natsu simply listened, looking at her as if he was trying to see in her own soul. "But in a way… All of this happened to you because I ran away from home in the first place, right ? Because of my selfish action… I've caused you all so much trouble… I'm really sorry… Everything will go back to normal if I just go back, right ?"

\- "Really ? To me, the term 'Lady' doesn't really suit you." Nastu had cut her so suddenly it looked like he was waiting for her to stop to prove her wrong. "You're more fit to be here in this dirty bar, laughing and going on adventures. You said you wanted to stay ? What good would it do for you to return to a place you hate so much ? You're Lucy from Fairy Tail. THIS is your home."

His words moved Lucy so much that she couldn't hold it any longer and cried, which made Natsu feel a little ill at ease for making her cry, even if those weren't really tears of sadness, Gray try to calm her and Elfman to cry just as much. At the bar, Cana was sitting on the ground, looking at her tarot card, deep in thought. She grabbed and turned a card over and, not liking the result, threw them in the air in frustration.

\- "Damnit ! I can't get anything on Mystogan ! I can't find where he is !" she shouted, turning to look at Mirajane who was standing in front of a big spherical Lachryma. "If they are after Lucy, they'll come to attack us again."

\- "Master is seriously wounded, Mystogan is nowhere to be found. You're our only hope… Laxus." Mirajane said to Luxus whose face was showing in the large crystal, looking at Mirajane with disdain. " Please come back. It's an emergency." It almost hurt Mirajane to say such thing to Laxus of all people, but they had no choices. However, she was quickly reminded of why she didn't liked Laxus a few seconds later when Laxus answered her.

\- "So the old geezer is out ? Serves him right ! Hahaha ! It doesn't concern me. Go ahead and take of it yourself. That geezer started this fight. Why should I have to clean up his mess ?"

\- "Laxus ! Lucy, our comrade, is being targeted." Added Mirajane, even if she could feel her patience wearing thin.

\- "Lucy ? Hmm… Oh, that busty newbie, huh ?" Wondered Laxus, trying to remember who Mira was talking about when it came back to him, a nasty smirk appearing on his face. "If you want my help that much, tell her to become my woman. And tell that old geezer to retire and give me the Master's position."

\- "How dare you…" seethed Cana, glaring at Laxus, the idea that he could ask such thing fueling her fury.

\- "Hey, is that how you talk to someone you're asking help to ?" scolded Laxus playfully, that nastiness in his eyes doubled. "Why don't you strip for me ? I'm pretty weak for sexy…"

*CRACK* Laxus voice got cut when the Lachryma suddenly shattered, much to Cana's surprise as she stared at Mirajane who was crying in frustration and anger toward that blond mage who was supposed to be their ally.

\- "I cannot believe it… Is such a man…really a member of Fairy Tail… ?" she said, her frustration reached its peak as she turned around, tears flowing down her face as her mind was now set. "Fine, nest time, I'll fight, too ! I was here last time but Lucy got kidnapped and…" She was in a rant when Cana got up and put a hand on her shoulder, stopping her.

\- "No, Mira. You'll be a burden to the others in your current situation." She said, completely serious as she put an end to Mira's rant, the latter turning to look at her with hurt on her face. "Even if you're a former S-Class mage."

*PFFFFFFFFFT* Both women turned to their right to see that Gentaro and Kouta, who were drinking juices, just spit everything they had in their mouth on Shinnosuke, who was busy discussing with the others Riders about something. The two mages glared at the two guys, Gentaro still coughing while Kouta, who had stopped coughing, explained their reaction.

\- "Sorry, don't be mad. We reacted like that because, well, we knew Mira was a mage, but for her to be an ex S-Class, that was surprising." He explained, which was the truth since they had a hard time imagining the sweet and caring Mirajane on the same level of power as Erza.

\- "I see. Don't worry, I understand how you feel." She said, wiping her tears off. "By the way, what are you discussing about ?" she asked, motioning to their friends who were busy talking about something.

\- "Oh, that. We got a call from our world." Said Gentaro, standing up from his chair. "They are about to stabilize the power of the portal we used to come here and that means that they might be able to send us some permanent help."

\- "Really ? That's cool." Said Cana, liking the idea of another Rider joining them. Even if he came just for Shocker, they needed some extra help since those guys seemed to pop out everywhere the Riders are.

\- "But there's more." Said Sento as he grabbed his phone and joined the discussion. "Apparently, once the reinforcement will be sent, even if the portal lose powers, rendering the sending of more permanent help impossible for a while, it will still be strong enough for the temporary help to stay and help for an extended period of time. And I feel like this is going to come in handy. Kengo said something like about a 24 hours stay."

This was a good news for everyone and all of those who heard it smiled and even sighed in relief. After all, they needed some good news after everything that happened to them recently. However, the dream soon came crashing down as the whole building began to shake, a rumbling noise making the wall and ground tremble in a rhythm, similar to a beast walk. And when Alzack came, running down the stairs with eyes wide in fear and shock, they knew something really bad was happening.

\- "EVERYONE, COME OUT ! SOMETHING IS APPROACHING !"

Immediately, everyone ran to the stairs and outside the wrecked guild, only to be face with something no one expected, that struck fear and surprise deep in their minds, making them wonder for a minute if they weren't having a horrifying nightmare. The rumbling was coming from some sort of huge machine, walking through Magnolia's lake like some sort of spider with six legs, but with a building instead of a body. A building that Shinnosuke, Natsu, Lucy and Happy knew since the blonde had been locked in one of its four tall tower. But even the others knew what this was due to the huge emblems drawn on the legs joints ant the flag waving on the central building.

All their plans to return to Phantom Lord had been shut down since their HQ was literally standing in front of them, in the middle of the lake as it stopped moving, standing like an overseer gazing down at the town at his feet.

\- "WHAT THE HELL ?!"

Everybody, without a single exception, was awestruck and horrified by what just happened. They were still getting themselves patched up after their first encounter with them that Phantom already came back, and this time with the heavy artillery.

\- "I'd never imagined they'd attack us like this… Wh-What should we do ?!" Even Erza was at a loss for words, standing in the middle of the mages still wet, a simple towel wrapped around her as she had rushed out of the shower as soon as the shaking began.

Meanwhile, Jose was standing tall, looking at Magnolia and the guild through a window from some sort of command room. He said nothing as the building finally settled down, the legs folding up as it now sit in the lake like an island.

\- "Prepare the magical convergent cannon, 'Jupiter'. And obliterate them !"

As soon as the order was given, a large opening appeared in the main arch of the building front, revealing a large cannon that deployed to the outside, pointing at the guild as magic began to gather inside it, which made the Fairies realize that they were in a dire situation.

\- "This is bad ! Everybody, get down !"

\- "Wait ! Erza, what are you doing ?!" asked one of the fairies as he looked at Erza who was running toward the guild, not listening to anyone who was asking her what she was trying to do.

 _ **REQUIP : ADAMANTINE ARMOR !**_

Much to everyone shock, Erza threw her towel to the side as her body got engulfed in a bright light, revealing a large and sturdy blue armor as she stood in front of everyone.

\- "I won't let you take down our guild !" she roared, ready for the fight as everyone around her looked at her as if she was crazy. "Get down !"

\- "The Adamantine Armor ?! Do you really think she is…" wondered Nab, shocked at what he was seeing.

\- "She is ! She's going to take the blast full on !" This revealation coming from Max made the Riders gasp in shock, fearing the worst. "This armor is known for its tremendous defensive power, but this is just too much !"

\- "Oh my god !" the sudden exclamation from Sento and Belt-san grabbed everyone's attention as they looked at the two geniuses, their faces displaying shock as Sento held some sort of scanner in his hands. "This cannon… There's reading of Shocker technology in it !"

The Riders understood what that meant, and it wasn't good for anyone. If Shocker had spiked that cannon, Erza's survival rate was now down to zero. So Kouta did the only thing he had in mind. He grabbed a Lockseed and transformed.

\- "HENSHIN ! "

 _ **SOIYA ! SUIKA ARMS ! ODAMA BIG BANG ! YOROI MODE !**_

Much to all of those who had never seen this Arms, namely all the mages, the huge watermelon shaped Arms fell on Kouta as it unfolded to form the huge green robot like warrior, fists at the ready as it stood just behind Erza, taking a stance not unlike one of a sumotori.

\- "Kouta !?" Asked Erza, having some hard time seeing him in the armor. "What are you doing ?!"

\- "Sento and Belt-san detected some Shocker technology on the cannon ! If they spiked it, you'll need some help to have a chance to stop it !"

\- "I see. Then let's do this !"

And as soon as she had said that, the cannon fire a huge blast of magic that was covered in lightening, sign that Shocker had indeed done something. Everybody got ready, Kouta covering his fists with a green energy that seemed to seep into Erza's armor in preparation for what was coming. When the blast reached them, they both intercepted it, holding their ground as much as they could. However, the combined power of the Jupiter cannon and Shocker energy was too much and even if the blast had been stopped and hurt no one, Erza and Kouta's armors were destroyed, both of them being send flying away, Kouta unmorphing as he touched the ground, Erza still covered with what was left of the Adamantine Armor who couldn't hold up, even after receiving the boost from Suika.

\- "ERZA ! KOUTA ! Hang in there !" Many mages and Riders rushed to their wounded friend, to check if they were alright, the answer being yes. Even If they were hurt to the point were even moving was a struggle, they still managed to glare at the moving fortress, where Jose decided to make an announcement.

\- "After Makarov, now Erza and one of your new friend is unable to fight." Said Jose, talking through some sort of intercom. "You don't stand a chance. Hand over Lucy Heartfilia, right now."

\- "You're out of your mind ?! What kind of guild could go and give up one of his comrades to the enemy !?" roared Bisca who, just like every one around her, wasn't liking what Jose was asking them. There was no way in hell that they would abandon Lucy. On her side, Lucy was shaking. She had witnessed two of the strongest people she knew get wiped out like nothing and the fear of something similar happening to someone else was really making her consider the offer. She was struggling, right now, stuck in an inextricable dilemma. She wanted to stay here, at Fairy Tail, but if she stayed, this would make them suffer even more. But her thought were interrupted by Erza who, dispute her current state, managed to shout loud enough for Jose and everyone else to hear.

\- "We'd rather die than give up on our comrade !"

One sentence that immediately send a wave of fiery determination through the mages, every single one of them agreeing with her, lifting an uproar that moved Lucy. And it wasn't the end of it.

\- "As if I'll go and let a bud down ! Bring it on, Phantom ! We'll show the strength of our friendship !" shouted Gentaro.

\- "We've all already lost someone, there's no way we'll lose someone else, and certainly not like that !" Added Gentaro as the Riders all agreed to that, their mind drifting to people they lost, family, friend or even lives they had taken themselves without wanting it.

\- "Our answer won't change, no matter what ! We'll take you down !" That last bit from Natsu was too much for Lucy who began to cry, her hands on her mouth to muffle her sobs. She could have never dreamed of better friends and it moved her that they were ready to fight for her like that. However, this wasn't going to stop Jose, on the contrary.

\- "Very well… Then we'll fire an even bigger and stronger Jupiter ! Now struggle in the 15 minutes terror until it's ready to fire again !"

This threw a cold among the mages who feared a second shot, the fact that Erza and Kouta, who stopped the first, were now out cold, to tired to move. And to add insult to injuries, an army of white and black clothed warrior jumped down from the building, rushing at the fairies. But among those guys stood weird humanoids creature that looked like mummies with some sort of porthole on their face.

\- "Damn. There's Yummies among them, and a whole lot apparently." Said Haruto, looking at the monsters with a slight apprehension. This was a threat neither one of them was equipped to fight.

\- "Wait a second ! Is he really going to fire the cannon at his men ?" asked Gentaro, hoping he was wrong and luckily, or unluckily, Cana explained.

\- "He will, because those aren't humans. That's Jose's magic, Shade. They are ghost soldiers that he created."

\- "I see, so he's going to make us stall with those warriors until the cannon is ready." Concluded Sento, understanding the plan. "But we have to do something about the cannon."

\- "I'll go and I'll smash it down !" said Natsu, cracking his knuckles, feeling the need to smash something and the cannon was the most obvious choice. "I've got 15 minutes right ? I'll do it."

\- "Wait, Natsu. I'm coming with you." Said Shinnosuke, taking a step forward. "From what we knows, there's at least a Roidmude among them. I'll go with you in case we met it."

\- "Alright, let's go then. Happy !"

\- "Aye, sir !" said the flying cat as he grabbed Natsu and took him to the cannon, leaving Shinnosuke behind, much to his dismay.

\- "DON'T LEFT ME BEHIND, YOU STUPID… ARGH, Nevermind."

 _ **START YOUR ENGINE !**_

\- "Wait, you know how to fly, right ? Because this thing it in the middle of a lake, in case you didn't noticed." Said Gray, Shinnosuke answering while grabbing a little formula 1.

\- "Don't worry, I have my ways, eve never thought I'd use this one like this. HENSHIN !"

 _ **DRIVE ! TYPE : FORMULA !**_

Clad in his blue and white Formula 1 themed armor, Shinnosuke ran at the guild, his sudden start creating a small shockwave as he literally ran on the water, shocking his mages friend who stared at him before shaking themselves out of their daze, Gray and Elfman deciding to go after him. As for the others, they stayed and got ready for the upcoming fight.

\- "Well, guys. Let's get ready. We are in for a war." Said Sento as he took a step forward, followed by Emu.

\- "There's a lot of them coming. Looks like a shooting style is advised." Said the Doctor, grabbing a Gashat a friend lend to him.

 _ **GASHAT ! GACHAN ! LEVEL UP ! BA-BA-BANG ! BANG-BA-BANG ! BANG BANG SHOOTING !**_

 _ **HURRICANE, PLEASE ! FU-FU, FU-FU-FU-FU !**_

 _ **TENKUU NO ABARENBOU ! HAWKGATLING ! YEAH !**_

 _ **GATLING ON !**_

\- "Lucy ! Come this way." Mirajane said suddenly, grabbing Lucy by the arm, dragging her away from the others, Loki looking at them with a scowl on his face. "We have a hideout ! We'll stay here until the war is over !"

\- "What ? But… I have to fight too ! It's all my fault that this happened."

\- "No one thinks it is, Lucy." Affirmed Mira, looking at Lucy who was about to turn around to go and fight. "For our defeated friends. For our guild. And to protect you… This is a war everyone's proud of. Please listen to me."

Lucy hand her head slightly, not liking to admit that Mirajane made sense. But she had no time to admit it, Mira had used a little magic to make her fall asleep, the barmaid catching the blonde in her arms as she turned to Reedus who was standing next to her. "Reedus ! Brings Lucy to the 'hideout' !"

\- " _Oui_ !" Agreed the painter who painted a carriage with horses on his belly, using his magic to materialize it before grabbing Lucy and putting her in the carriage, before wheeling away, to a safer place, leaving Mirajane behind.

\- "I… I don't have power to fight anymore…" she said to herself as she used a bit of Transformation Magic to take on Lucy's appearance. "But I'll protect my comrades at any cost !"

She then walked back to the guild, hiding inside it with the wounded Erza and Kouta, looking at her friends who were fiercely battling with the Shades and Yummies in an all-out brawl, all hoping that Natsu would succeed in stopping Jupiter before it could fire. Speaking about the Fire Dragon, he was currently on the cannon, punching it repeatedly to try to destroy it, without any success so far.

\- "Damn ! That's no good. It's not budging an inch !" he shouted out of frustration.

\- "Maybe we can stop it from the inside ! It has to have some kind of power source !"

\- "You're right. Let's go !" encouraged Natsu as he jumped inside the cannon and began to crawl all the way in, following Happy who were much more at ease than him.

After a few seconds, they reached the other side of the cannon and entered a large room that looked like some sort of heavy machinery. The main thing was a huge lachryma that stood in the middle of the room, connected to pipes coming from the roof and ground.

\- "Looks like we found the power source of the magic convergent cannon." Said Happy, looking at what was the biggest Lachryma he ever saw.

\- "Well, it's going to be pretty easy. I'll destroy it here and there !" said Natsu as he slid down the funnel the cannon was connected to, only to land in front of someone.

\- "I'm afraid I can't let you do that…"

\- "A guard !? As if you'll stop me ! We'll just get rid of anyone who stands in our way !" Natsu then jumped at the guy, setting his hand on fire and threw a punch… right at his own face, which sent him sliding to the side. He quickly got back to his feet but he was surprised. "What the… My body moved by itself !"

\- "I said that I won't let you do… did I not ?" the guy who said that was a young man with hair that was black on the left and white on the right with a black line across his face. He wore some sort of ninja-like attire with a long orange-reddish karate gi with a black belt and a katana on is waist.

\- "I don't have time for that ! Stop wasting my time !" Roared Natsu, trying to attack the guard once again but just like before, his arm moved by itself and punched him in the face, stopping the attack and sending him back once again.

\- "You seemed to be in a rush. Wouldn't it be great for you to slow down a little ?"

*Dooooow* As soon as the guy had said that, Natsu was once again stopped, but this time by a sudden feeling of heaviness as he and Happy felt their movement becoming really slow, as if they were suddenly heavier than a barrel full of lead.

\- "What… the … hell… ?" Even Natsu's voice had been slowed down, struggling to move, urging his body to get out of it, but without any success. He did however managed to see a weird man, who looked more like a machine than a human, with a huge body clad in a red and yellow armor, with two horns and jutting pointy teeth.

\- "This is great. I'll be delighted to see your face contort in despair in slow motion when you'll see the Lachryma fire at your friend, standing there powerlessly. It's going to be great." Said the guard with a smirk.

\- "Or we could kill him here and now." Added the Roidmude with his metallic voice. "We can't take any risk, after all."

\- "Calm down, dear friend." Said the ninja. "No one's going to come and save…"

 _ **TIRE KOUKAN : FORMULA 02 !**_

*BLAM* Out of nowhere, a green floor jack extended out of nowhere and had struck the Roidmude in the chest, sending him flying back, taking the mage with him as they both crashed in a pile of crates. As for Natsu and Happy, they suddenly felt back to normal, their bodies now out of their slowed down state.

\- "Are you guys alright ?"

\- "Shinnosuke ! You're late !" taunted Natsu with a smirk as Shinnosuke rubbed his head in embarrassment.

\- "Yeah, sorry about that, but I had a little difficulty finding my way inside that thing. Anyway, we have a cannon to destroy."

\- "Beware, Shinnosuke ! That mage seemed to control your bodies to make you attack yourself !" warned Happy, only for Shinnosuke to shake his head.

\- "I don't think that's it. Natsu, the part of you he controlled, they were on fire, right ?" Shinnosuke asked, Natsu nodding in answer. "I've already met with a guy who used Earth Magic and a girl with Water Magic. If some sort of Air magic depleted Makarov of his strength, then that left only 1 element. Fire."

\- "You really are sharp. But you're right. I'm Totomaru the Great Fire, of the Element 4." Revealed Totomaru, confirming what Shinnosuke though.

\- "Then he didn't controlled my body, but the fire around it." Realized Natsu, gritting his teeth when he deduced what that meant. "Those are MY flames ! They aren't yours !"

\- "Natsu ! Now's not the time ! Let's destroy the cannon first !" And just as he said that, the huge Lachryma began to shine, magic filling it once again, meaning it would be soon ready to shot.

\- "Happy's right. We have to destroy that cannon first."

Easier said than done. Shinnosuke was immediately attacked by the Roidmude whose big arms went just for show, sending him flying to the wall behind him, the blow shaking him for a moment. As for Natsu, facing someone who could control his flames wasn't the best thing that happened in his life so far.

 _ **BLUE FIRE !**_

Totomaru summoned blue flames that engulfed Natsu, who only had to open his mouth to eat those flames, for the first time in his life tasting cold flames.

\- "Wow ! Eating cold fire sure is something."

\- "So you're the rumored Fire Dragon Slayer from Fairy Tail. That's bad for both of us. I can control your flames, and you can eat mine." Noticed Totomaru, almost founding that situation funny. "But if you're a Dragon Slayer, that means you also have some things in common with our own Dragon Slayer."

 _ **ORANGE FIRE !**_

\- "Flame magic is like food to me. I wonder what those tastes like." Natsu said with a grin as the orange flames engulfed him and after tasting cold fire, he got his first ever meeting… with stinky fire. "What the hell is that ?! It stinks !" he cried, rolling on the ground, nursing his oversensitive nose.

\- "AHAHAHAH ! what do you think of my wretched egg scented flames ?!" laughed Totomaru, which only served to make Natsu reach his boiling point.

\- "Alright ! I've had it !"

This time, the fight became much more serious, Natsu even forgetting his flames to make sure Totomaru couldn't use them against him, and he was met with Totomaru's katana, which he was also skilled at, both of them exchanging blows. As for Shinnosuke, he was currently busy with the Roidmude who, despite the blow he dealt before, wasn't that in the lead. Drive was too quick for him but on the other side, the Roidmude had a sturdy armor that Formula had a hard time breaking. Basically, their fight was going nowhere, and with Jupiter charging, Natsu and Shinnosuke had to do something.

\- "If this armor can be broken, I'll need something better suited to do it."

 _ **DRIVE ! TYPE : WILD !**_

Switching to his black colored armor, Shinnosuke grabbed another Shift Car, to change his tire, but since his speed had been downed, this gave the Roidmude an opening as he grabbed the Rider and slammed him to the ground before standing above him, both of his huge arms high in the air, ready to crush him.

 _ **FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FIST !**_

Natsu, seeing that Sento needed help, jumped over Totomaru's sword to jump at the Roidmude and, using the fact that the mage wasn't paying enough attention, lit his hand on fire to punch the robot, sending him away from Shinnosuke who noticed that Totomaru had followed Natsu and was about to impale him, the Rider reacting by drawing his DoorJu and shooting at Totomaru. The bullet weren't real and didn't pierced the mage, but this was enough to repel him as Shinnosuke stood up, next to Natsu as they stared at their opponents who were in front of them, the Lachryma behind them flaring with magic as Happy was flying around like he had gone crazy under the pressure.

\- "It's about to shoot ! Natsu ! Shinnosuke !"

\- "Yeah, I know. I'll destroy it here and now !" shouted Natsu, immediately setting his hand on fire. And just as quickly, Totomaru tried to took control of them. Tried being the keyword here.

\- "You never learn, huh ? I'll just take control of them." However, despite his magic, Natsu's flame, who was growing in intensity, wasn't obeying him as they stood by Natsu's side. "What ? How can it be ?"

\- "Those are my flames. And you won't move them without my consent !"

\- "Whatever. We'll just have to crush you."

 _ **TIRE KOUKAN : RUMBLE DUMP !**_

Before they could do what the Roidmude said, they were both thrown of their feet by the ground who cracked under them, thanks to the Rumble Smasher Shinnosuke had buried at their feet, sending stones at their face.

\- "Sorry, but this time, no one interrupt anyone." Said Shinnosuke as he pulled his drill out of the ground and thrusted it at the Roidmude as hard as he could, successfully making cracks appear on his chest, which made him cry in pain as Totomaru looked at him go, forgetting for a moment Natsu whose flames were now the size of a firetruck. When he remembered him, he turned his head to see a huge torrent of fire being sent his way as he sidestepped out of the way at the last seconds.

\- "HAHA ! It's a miss, you idiot !"

\- "It ain't a miss…" Natsu said, whispering the first half of his sentence before shouting the other half, his determination showing in his flames as they curved up. "…SINCE YOU AREN'T MY TARGET !"

Totomaru realized too late what was happening and Natsu's flames reached the Lachryma, shattering it completely as it was about to shoot. Shinnosuke smiled as all the pipes and machinery around them exploded to, the chain reaction also affecting the cannon itself, making it fall into pieces, their friends still fighting outside smiling at the destroyed cannon, relieved that they wouldn't have to fear another shot. In the cannon room, Natsu was now glaring at Totomaru who was still shocked by what happened.

\- "Okay. Now, it's time to crush you, Phantom."

Totomaru was shaking in fear, and the Roidmude falling next to him wasn't helping, his armor covered in cracks as Shinnosuke walked to stand next to Natsu, his drill in hand.

\- "I second that. Now, let's finish this."

 _ **DU-DU-DUMP ! HISSATSU ! FULL THROTTLE : RUMBLE DUMP !**_

 _ **FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FIST !**_

The two comrades attacked at the same time, Natsu willing his flame to stay in place just in case, but Totomaru's state of shock was preventing him from doing anything to stop him. Both attack connected at the same time, Natsu's fist colliding with Totomaru's face, sending him flying to the other side of the room while Shinnosuke rammed his drill, which spun as fast as it could, in the Roidmude, piercing his already weakened armor, destroying it in the process. After a few seconds, everything seemed to be okay, but as usual, when everything is going well, chaos came to mess things up. Totomaru, despite the blow stood up when the whole building began to shake, much to the fairies wonders and Totomaru's shock.

\- "Wait… Is he planning to do that ? But this room have no means to stay horizontal !"

\- "Horizontal ?" wondered Natsu and Shinnosuke, wondering if they heard correctly when the ground began to tilt dangerously, till the ground end up to be vertical, a wall now acting as a ground.

\- "What the hell is happening ?"

\- "This is our guild ultimate weapon…" said Totomaru, shaking with anticipation. "The Super Mage Giant : Phantom !"

And with a name like that, it left very little to the imagination and it wasn't those who were defending the guild who would deny that. Right under their nose, the guild had stood up again and began to fold and change. This was looking awfully close to something some riders had witnessed back in their world and alas, they were right about this feeling, which was the same as the times they'd seen a Super Sentai giant robot. And where once stood a guild now stood a huge humanoid robot, with huge pipe blowing smoke on its shoulder, two small legs and long arms whose hands seemed to be made of some sort of flexible matter.

\- "Where are the Super Sentai when you need them ?" said Gentaro, looking at the robot without trying to hide his worries as the robot began to walk toward the guild, that he could stomp on as if it was nothing.

Meanwhile, in the robot, Shinnosuke was as shocked that the others, but he also had to deal with something unexpected.

\- "Ugh… Why… Is this thing… moving ?"

\- "Don't get sick on me now, Natsu !" roared Shinnosuke as he turned to look at Natsu whose face was green, nausea hitting him as hard as usual. And that sight pleased Totomaru.

\- "He can't deal with vehicles ?! For real ?! That's hilarious ! And that's the chance for me to turn things around !" Totomaru said, jubilating as he created 7 flames, each with a different color, combining them to create a 7-colored flame. "This is my ultimate magic… Rainbow Fire !"

\- "Shit ! Natsu, get over it, now !" shouted Shinnosuke, Natsu looking at the flame with a shocked hiccup.

\- "Eat this ! … Huh ?" Luckily for the Rider and sick mage, Totomaru's attack was canceled as his hands suddenly got frozen, much to the three guys shock and surprise as the ice began to cover the fire mage whole body. "W-What is that ?!"

As soon as he was completely incased in ice, a large black arm came into the scene and grabbed the frozen Totomaru, throwing it away through a hole in the wall that now acted as a roof. The large arm belonged to Elfman and he was accompanied by Gray, both of them looking at Natsu with pity, Gray also holding Happy in an arm, the poor cat waking up after being knocked out by a stone when the robot came to life.

\- "You're truly pathetic, Natsu, you know that ?" said Gray, looking at the green mage.

\- "Vehicles shouldn't make a man sick, he should make them sick !" added Elfman, true to himself.

\- "Being a man or not isn't the main problem here." Said Belt-san, his small face showing concern. "Did that building really became a giant robot ?"

\- "Yes it did. And it's walking straight at the guild." However, as soon as Gray had said that, the room stopped shaking. "Or at least it was. Why did it stopped ?"

\- "I'll go check on what going on !" said Happy as he took off and flew through the hole Totomaru had been thrown through, to see what the robot was doing.

He simply stared as the robot had stopped about two steps away from the guild towering over the building and the ones fighting to protect it who, despite the fight, managed to look up to see what it was doing. And much to everyone shock, the robot began to write symbol in the air, forming some sort of circle.

\- "What the hell is that thing doing ?" wondered Gentaro, dodging another Yummy, swinging his Scissors to cut him and send him to the ground.

\- "Don't tell me…. Is that… a magic circle ?!" Exclaimed Haruto, not believing what he was seeing. "Does that thing is also a mage ?!"

\- "This seal is… Abyss Break !?" Wondered Mirajane, shuddering with fear as she looked at the magic circle slowly forming in front of them.

\- "Abyss Break ? With a name like that, this cannot end well for us, isn't it ?" asked Sento, his HawkGatlinger firing at every enemy he saw as Loki answered his question.

\- "It's a forbidden spell ! The blast will be so powerful that it will destroy the guild and everything else up to the cathedral !"

\- "There has to be a way to stop it ! We'll have to trust Natsu and the others for now !" was all Emu added, too busy shooting at the Shades and Yummy from the roof of the guild's first floor, Gashacon Magnum in Rifle Mode at the ready.

As for Happy, he had seen enough and had flew back inside to keep the boys aware of what was happening.

\- "Guys ! This is really bad ! That robot is casting magic !" His revelation was received with a gasp from the guys. "The others said that this magic will destroy everything up to the Kardia Cathedral !"

\- "But that meant that half the town will be destroyed !" realized Gray.

\- "But what kind of magic can do that ?" asked Natsu as Shinnosuke, or rather Belt-san, took after him.

\- "This isn't important. You'll have to find where that robot got his power from and stop it before it's too late !" The mages nodded, agreeing with the Driver until they realize that he said 'you' and not 'us'.

\- "Wait. You aren't coming ?"

\- "I don't feel any others Roidmude in the building but I do feel some Shocker powers." Admitted Belt-san, partly answering Happy's question. "We'll go and help the others and send some help to you. Now go, we don't have much time !"

The three mages nodded again and they all ran in different direction as Shinnosuke switched back to Formula Type to go back to his friends. He didn't know what it was, but something was wrong with this guild and Natsu and the others will probably need help.

Back at the guild, Cana was taking a small break to talk to Mirajane, Emu listening to the conversation from the roof above them, still shooting at their opponents, the Yummies proving to be harder to be dealt with than they first though.

\- "Mira… How long will it take for that thing to activate Abyss Break ?"

\- "I'd say… about 10 minutes…"

\- "That's short." Commented Emu. "Besides, even if the others found its power source, who know if they could destroy it in time.

\- "The guys inside will succeed, they have to." Said Cana, looking confident as Mira frowned.

\- "The guys ? Natsu's not the only one in there ?" she asked, for the first time realizing that Natsu wasn't the only one to go.

\- "No. He's been followed by Shinnosuke… And Gray and Elfman followed suite." This last name made Mirajane widen her eyes in shock and worry.

\- "Elfman ?! Why ? He can't fight, Cana ! You should know that !" she shouted, worry for her brother clear on her face, despite the fact that she still looked like Lucy.

\- "Elfman fought at Phantom Lord base. And he looked more than fit for that." Said Emu, looking down at the barmaid. "Why couldn't he fight ?"

\- "Mira, I know you and Elfman were both terribly hurt by what happened that day." Said Cana with seriousness, effectively stopping Mirajane. "But Elfman is trying hard to keep moving onward."

Cana thought that saying this would help Mirajane realize that she coulnd't worry too much for her brother, and it did. But it also made her realize that despite her current state, she should figth and do something to protect her family. With that new mindset, she opened the window of the room she was in and got out, running toward the giant, much to her friends protestations who were begging her to stay away, but with Lucy's voice and body, she knew she could do something to stop everything. So she stood in the middle of the crowd, looking up at the giant.

\- "I'm the one you're after, right ?!" she shouted, addressing Jose through Lucy's voice. "Stop attacking the guild right now !" Everyone and Everything stopped as she stood there, hoping she could buy some times. But if fooling a mage was something easy, fooling one the Ten Wizard Saint was on a whole other level.

\- "Disappear, little impostor." Jose's voice threw a cold through Mira's vein as she stood there, shocked that he could have seen right through her. "There's no way the target would have been kept here at the front lines. I knew from the very beginning that Lucy wasn't here."

Mirajane's transformation undid itself as she began to silently cry over her uselessness as the fight continued. And she was so busy crying she didn't even realized that a Shade was coming at her, sword held high but before it could do anything, it had been destroyed by a blue and white blurry silhouette, skidding to an halt next to Mirajane.

\- "Shinnosuke !" Exclaimed Sento as he walked to his friend, Emu joining them. "Why are you back here ? What's happening ?"

\- "Natsu and the others are trying to find how to stop that thing." Said Drive, pointing at the robot over his shoulder. "But we also felt Shocker's presence inside it that weren't Roidmude."

\- "There's at least two of them and from what I could sense, those were pretty close to yours." Belt-san said, Sento and Emu looking at each other, understanding what he meant. If he felt something close their own powers in the robot, it meant that it was probably the Bugster Virus and the Nebula Gaz.

\- "So we have to go, but we can't let the others alone. Even with you, the Shades and Yummies are way too numerous." Indeed, as Shinnosuke looked around him, their friends were having a hard time keeping the enemies at bay, even the Riders, and the fact that their own powers weren't as effective against the Yummies added to the difficulty. And that's when Shinnosuke got an idea. He said nothing and immediately grabbed their reinforcement calling device and chose a symbol among those available and when he showed it to the others, the Riders immediately understood what he meant.

\- "Brilliant. I wonder why I didn't thought of that sooner." Said Sento as Emu grabbed another Gashat, activating it immediately.

 _ **JET COMBAT !**_

\- "Well, now that it's settled, it's time to go."

 _ **A GATCHA ! JET ! JET ! IN THE SKY ! JET ! JET ! JET COMBAT !**_

\- "Okay. Let's do this." And with that, Emu was gone, Mira and Cana amazed at his orange flying armor as he flew straight toward the giant as Shinnosuke called their friend, one that was more than fitted to take care of Yummies. A portal soon appear and out of that portal appeared a young man wearing some sort of poncho with a creepy red flying hand by his side.

\- "Ho, hey Shinnosuke. It's been a while." Said Eiji, happy to see his old friend again.

\- "I'm happy to see you too, but we've got a problem at hand and we need your help." With that, he pointed at the army assaulting them, Eiji and Ankh immediately spotting the Yummies.

\- "There's a lot of them." Muttered the Greed as he pulled three medal out of nowhere. "Eiji, take this !"

\- "Thank you, Ankh. Now, let's go."

\- "HENSHIN !"

 _ **KUWAGATA ! KAMAKIRI ! BATTA ! GA~TA-GATA-GATA-KIRI, BA ! GATAKIRIBA !**_

Once in his green Combo, Eiji roared as he often do after taking on a combo, the sheer power emanating from him grabbing everyone's attention, allies and enemies alike as they saw him duplicates himself to create his own army, all the clones attacking the Shades and Yummies immediately, joining the mages who had questions about that newcomer, but they welcomed him as they began to finally repel those creatures.

/- Meanwhile, in the robot, with Elfman -/

\- "UOOOOOH ! I'm a man and as such, I'll protect Fairy Tail if it costs me my life !"

After splitting up with the others, Elfman had ran non-stop, looking for what was powering the colossal robot mage and until now, he found nothing at all, currently running through a large hallway with small flower patch in the middle of the hallway. Suddenly, a slight rumbling noise coming from behind him grabbed his attention as he came to a stop, looking behind him to see the ground swelling, as if a mole was about to pop out of it but instead, it was Sol who appeared, his feet still fused with the ground as he bend to the side in an awkward reverence.

\- " _Bonjour, monsieur_." Greeted the member of the Element 4 as his feet became apparent. "My name is Sol, but you may call me _Monsieur_ Sol."

\- "What a great timing." Said Elfman, taking his vest ofleaving him with his red shirt on. "You can tell me how to stop this giant."

 _ **BEAST ARM : KOKUGYUU !**_

Elfman's right arm got covered with some sort of square scales before disappearing, revealing that his arm had changed into a muscle black one, which almost seemed to amuse Sol.

\- "Oh ? Is it going to be really enough, with just one arm ? I guess the rumors were true." He said, Elfman wondering what he meant by that. "I know everything about you… _Non_ , I'd dare say that I know everything about the mages of Fairy Tail."

\- "Do you even know how to stop talking ?!" shouted Elfman as he rushed at Sol, throwing a punch that Sol dodged easily, jumping over it and up above Elfman.

 _ **SABLE DANCE !**_

While airborne, Sol summoned a whirlwind of sand that surrounded Elfman, who tried to protect his eyes but by doing so, he clearly reduced his view, the fact that Sol was hidden by the sand not helping.

 _ **ROCHE CONCERTO !**_

While Elfman was busy trying to locate him, Sol had landed in front of Elfman and he had used his magic once again to send a flurry of rocks at the Beast Mage, sending him back and on a knee. His face was bleeding slightly from his forehead and mouth but he kept glaring at his opponent, who looked like he was having the time of his life.

\- "It's way too easy. It seems like I might not need help in the end. But at the same time, he deserve to have some fun too."

Elfman squinted his eyes, not knowing what he meant by that, not noticing the form appearing from the ground behind him until the last seconds where he used his arm to protect himself from a large hammer that sent him in a wall. A meter behind where Elfman stood a few seconds before was a humanoid monster that looked like some sort of mix between a mole and a miner. He was bulky and mainly brown in color with some sort of ragged black pants. He wore a yellow hard hat pulled so deep on his head that his eyes were hidden behind it, a pair of broken yellow goggle stood on the helmet where his eyes should be. His face was reminiscent of a mole with pointed snout covered with the sensory whiskers. His hands were sporting large claws, on of them holding onto a large weapon who looked like a hammer with a pickaxe on the other side.

\- "Yes I do. I wanted some challenge before nailing you in the ground, but it seems like you won't be much of a challenge." Said the beast with a deep voice that had some squeakiness in it. Elfman gritted his teeth, realizing that he was in deep but luckily, help suddenly came to him through a near window. The window broke down, sending glass shards everywhere, followed by a flying armored guy, in a blue suit and orange jet-themed armor.

*BA-BA-BA-BA-BA-BANG* As Emu flew inside, he immediately opened fire upon the mole and Sol, both of them taking some hits before diving in the ground to reappear a little farther, not that hurt by what happened, but still surprised as the Rider landed next to Elfman.

\- "Elfman, are you alright ?"

\- "Emu. What are you doing here ?" asked the mage, not expecting a Rider to came to his help.

\- "I sensed a Bugster and I flew here to take care of it. And it looks like I was right." He said, turning to look at the Bugster, as if he was analyzing. "Hum… This one come from Taddle Quest. Guess I'll have to adapt." As he said, that, he unplugged the two Gashat he currently had activated, undoing his transformation in the process to start again with Hiiro's Gashat.

 _ **TADDLE QUEST !**_

\- "DAI HENSHIN !"

 _ **GASHAT ! GACHAN ! LEVEL UP ! TADDLE MEGURU ! TADDLE MEGURU ! TADDLE QUEST !**_

 _ **GASHACON SWORD !**_

\- "Okay, Elfman. Let's beat those guys !" declared Emu as he grabbed the sword, ready to fight.

\- "Do you really expect help from him ? He's weaker than a Bugster Virus." Mocked the Bugster as Sol added his own little taunt, which was much more deep than that.

\- "I agree. Ever since that accident, he had never been the same." What he said made Emu perplexed. What was he talking about. "You see, he had a little sister but one day, he underwent a full-body Take Over and he had ran wild. His little sister gave up her own life to stop him from rampaging. And ever since that day, he never used a full-body Take Over again due to the trauma it left in him."

 _ **BEAST ARM : TETSUGYUU !**_

Emu was still trying to process what he had just learned that Elfman, his arm now totally made of iron as he tried to punch sol, the latter dodging by diving in the ground and reappearing behind him before jumping at him and literally wrapping his whole body around Elfman arm who tried to get that guy off him but he was met by a kick at in the face, sending him to the ground.

\- "Oh ? Have we already reached the finale ?" taunted Sol as Elfman glared at him. This guy might not look like it, but he was strong.

As for Emu, once he had managed to get his body to move after Elfman rushing to attack, he also ran to attack the Bugster. But the Bugster was a hell to deal with. The enemy was constantly diving into the ground to reappear somewhere else near him to hit him with his hammer and each time Emu managed to dodge the blows and turned around to attack, he had already disappeared.

\- "What the hell are you doing ? Playing whack-a-mole ? " Wondered Emu, his frustration growing with each failed try to reach his enemy.

\- "Well why not ? As long as it's working, I don't see the problem." Answered the Bugster, throwing his hammer at Emu who got struck hard in the side, rolling on the ground for a moment before stopping, chuckling slightly.

\- "Well, if you want his to be a game, I'll play too." With that said, he pressed the B button on the sword, igniting the blade as he swung at the Bugster who, just like before, disappeared in the ground to reappear behind him, but that's exactly what Emu wanted as he used the momentum from his first swing to spin on himself, slashing at the Bugster with his fire covered blade but it didn't stop there as he began to spin like a top at a blinding speed, slashing the Bugster again and again, the last hit, marked as 'Great', sending the Bugster flying away, tearing him off the ground, allowing Emu a moment to look at Elfman who wasn't in the best condition. But when he suddenly got up, arms flexing as magic began to gather around him, he hoped for the best.

"That guy's strong. I have no choice but to do it !" thought Elfman as his whole body began to cover with those same squares scales as he aimed for a full-body Take Over, Emu smiling under his helmet, knowing that this would turn the tides for sure. But alas, the memory of his sister was too strong and he couldn't bear with it, falling to his knees, his magic at the lowest as he gave up the Take Over, much to Emu's disbelief and Sol's joy.

\- "Looks like you're just as I thought." He had said as he jumped at him. "You should avoid attempting things you can't achieve ! _Voilà_ !"

\- "AARGH !" Elfman spat blood as Sol threw a strong diving kick in his stomach, sending him stumbling backward as the earth mage began to do some hands movements. Emu wanted to come and stop him but he was once again smashed by the Bugster who had come back and used his lack of attention to attack him, making him unable to do anything but witness what came after that.

\- "As a gentleman, it is only right that I should end this with my most powerful move."

 _ **PLÂTRE SONATA !**_

Summoning a huge fist made of plaster, Sol dealt a powerful blow to Elfman who was sent in a wall which broke under the strength of the blow, Elfman now laying in what was left of it, his head handing in the air, the hole showing the outside.

\- "Elfman !" cried Emu, worried for his friend as he managed to dodge another hammer swing from the Bugster, slashing him in the process to force him back a little. However, his mind quickly diverted from Elfman to something else that was happening in front of them, Elfman and Emu staring in shock at what they saw. In the hand of the robot who was still busy drawing the seal for Abyss Break was Mirajane, apparently suffering from the pressure the large fingers exerted on her, turning her head to look at her brother.

\- "E…Elfman…" was all she managed to say as the young man rolled to look at her sister, worry showing in his voice.

\- "NEE-CHAN !"

\- "Oh… Your older sister… In other words, the famous Mirajane Strauss, once feared as the 'Demon'." Said Sol, looking at the scene with his head still overly tilted. "My, my… It would appear that her magical power has greatly dwindled."

"Probably for the same reason Elfman can't Take Over completely. The death of her sister must have been a shock on her too." Deduced Emu. "That could explain why she's just a barmaid now."

\- "Looks like she tried to outsmart that Jose and is now paying the price." Said the Bugster, twirling his hammer in his hand. "She will soon be smashed by those fingers."

\- "R-Run…" ordered Mirajane, as she clearly suffered from the pressure, Emu not believing her as Sol walked to stomp on Elfman's head adding to both siblings suffering. "Stop it ! It doesn't matter what happen to me ! Just leave Elfman alone !"

\- "Will you really have to go through it all again ?" Said Sol, addressing Elfman with a shit eating grin. "Such a pity, losing a sister and seeing the other die right before your eyes… And you aren't strong enough to prevent that. So pitiful."

\- "Elfman ! Run, please !" cried Mirajane, tears in her eyes and this time, Emu decide to put an end to this.

\- "BOTH OF YOU STOP IT !" he roared, punching the Bugster so hard he had sent him in a wall, his sudden burst of strength shocking the monster. "I don't know exactly what happened that day, about your sister, but you can't let that stop you from growing and living. Mirajane, Elfman CAN fight and he WILL fight ! Saying the opposite won't help anyone ! Elfman, you've lost a sister and that made you unable to use a complete Take Over and I understand that, but you're hampering your own potential. Your older sister is in danger ! If you can't move on, you'll lose your another one ! Is that what you want ?! Fight back if you're a man, ELFMAN ! "

\- "My, my… what an heartfelt speech." Mocked the Bugster. "Alas, you only waste your breath on a weakling. Time to die, Kamen Rider !"

The Bugster then dived in the ground as Emu, still unmoving, pushed some the A button of his sword.

 _ **KO CHIN !**_

Now in Ice Mode, he pressed the B button four times and stab the ground at his feet just as the Bugster began to reappear, and that's exactly what Emu was hoping for. By stabbing the ground an ice wave had began to cover the ground and by doing so, he had trapped the Bugster who had now his upper half free and his bottom half still in the ground, unable to move. And to add insult to injuries, his arms and hammer were incased in ice, making him defenseless.

\- "I didn't wasted my breath. And Elfman is no weakling. He just needed a wakeup call. The only one here who wasted his breath was you." With that, he took the Taddle Quest Gashat and pulled it inside the Gashacon Sword who was now back in Fire Mode.

 _ **GASHAT ! KIMEWAZA ! TADDLE CRITICAL FINISH !**_

The sword began to cover with a large layer of flame as Emu slash it at the Bugster from the side, the ground almost exploding as the massive Bugster was sent flying with a large flaming gash on his body, the Bugster exploding soon after, a big GAME CLEAR appearing from the explosion. And when Emu turned back to look at his partner, he saw that nothing had changed. Until now.

\- "Wh…Why… ?" Began Elfman as he lifted his head, showing a face full of fury and anger "I swore that I'd never see your tears ever again, nee-chan… So why are you crying… ?! WHO WAS IT THAT MADE YOU CRY ?!"

This last outburst came with a regain of strength from the mage who forced Sol off of him, making him take a few step back as Elfman roared, his magic beginning to cover his whole body.

\- "No, Elfman, you mustn't !" cried Mira, fear for her little brother washing over her. "You can still only use a single arm… !"

\- "She's right… you know you can't do it. It's too risky." Added Sol, trying to shut down Elfman but this time, the big guy wasn't listening.

\- "Lisanna died… All because I wasn't strong enough…" he began his sister protestation not stopping him as he looked at her, the scales starting to cover his face. "Emu is right… I have the strength to protect you all… I don't want to lose anyone ever again ! I'll become a strong man, someone who can protect you, nee-chan !" And with one last cry from her sister, Elfman had done it. "LET NEE-CHAN GOOOOOOO !"

Much to Sol shock, whose face was slowly distorting with fear as he realized what was happening, Elfman was undergoing, for the first time in many years, a full-body Take Over Beast Soul. He was now much taller, with a greenish heavily muscled upper body covered in dark red fur, with a wild mane of white hair and yellow horns with two protrusions identical to those horns on his shoulder. His strong arms were adorned with sharp claws and his legs, hidden under what was left of his pants, were now finished by hooves. And unlike the last time, Elfman had complete control of his Take Over, and as soon as it had started, it was finished, Elfman plowing a frightened Sol, not leaving him the time to breath as he pummeled him, sending him flying away, out cold in a matter of a few seconds. Emu was smiling, seeing that the beast still had Elfman eyes, something that pleased him. He however had no time to congratulate him that Elfman had jumped outside, walking on a ledge as he rushed along the robot arm, heading to Mira who, not knowing that he was still in control, feared for the worst.

\- "E…Elfman. Can you hear me ? You… You haven't lost all reason again, have you ?" she asked with a quiver in her voice as Elfman landed next to her, the guy not answering as he slid in between the fingers, pushing them apart to free her sister he kept close to make sure she wouldn't fall.

\- "I'm sorry, Nee-chan… You probably never wanted to see this face again, especially after what happened with Lisanna… But…" he stopped for a moment to catch his breath, Mirajane looking at him with wide shocked eyes, not believing he was lucid. "But… There was nothing else I could do. I had to become stringer to protect you… Or Fairy Tail…" he then began to sob, not holding his tears as he revert back to his human form. "I couldn't do it… Lisanna… She died…"

\- "But I'm still alive." Said the young woman, smiling at her brother. "Emu was right… We made a decision to live a full life, for her sake…" This was too much, Elfman broke down, letting the tears fall down as he cried in joy for his sister, glad that she was okay, the girl sighing at her brother's antic. But their little moment was soon ended by a cry for help.

\- "ELFMAN !"

\- "That was Emu !" realized Mira as she looked at where the boys fought before, Elfman going back on a full-body Take Over to carry her over there and when they reached the place, they were faced with a freak show. Emu was unmorphed, laying on the ground, stuck by so band of rock around his waist, preventing him from moving. And above him stood the Bugster, but he was slightly different. He had no hammer, but one of his eye was bigger and in another color, he had spikes around his neck and some sort of cape. He was also slimmer and wobble from side to side in a way that vaguely remind Elfman of someone.

\- "Wait. This remind me of that guy…"

\- "Emu ! Are you alright ?" asked Mira as she walked to kneel beside Emu, but the ground suddenly swell like the ocean, making her fall back as Elfman was almost buried under a wave of rocks.

\- "Watch out ! The Bugster infected Sol and he now control the earth better than before." To prove his point, two masses of stone formed two hands and tried to squash Mirajane who was saved by Elfman. "Elfman ! Come over here and search my pocket !" Elfman didn't think about it much and rushed at Emu, dodging the stones and plunged his hands in the white blouse and managed to grab something before he was sent flying by a stone punch. When he came to a stop and helped back up by his sister, he looked at what he had taken and realized it was one of Emu's Gashat, Gekitotsu Robot. "Put some of your magic in it and activate it ! This will make you able to destroy that thing !"

Elfman did as he was told, letting his magic flow threw the Gashat which, in a little flash of light, had changed to become big enough for Elfman to use and now red and green in color, like his Beast Form. Also, the illustration showed biomechanical beasts fighting in the background, red eyes glowing with their large mechanic arms clashing. The title had also changed, bearing clawing and biting marks and now reading Gekitotsu Beasts. Elfman didn't knew what to do, so he did the only thing that came to his mind and that was to copy what Emu had done before, pressing the button on the Gashat.

 _ **GEKITOTSU BEASTS !**_

The wide holographic screen appeared behind Elfman, showing cybernetic beasts clawing and biting at each other in a cloud of sparks and blood with the Gekitotsu Beasts ragged title in the middle of it. In the wave of digital energy that exited the screen and covered their surroundings, a larger version of a white Buggle Driver II appeared around Elfman's waist, much to the mage surprise.

\- "Put the Gashat in the slot on top of the Driver and press the button next to it !"

Listening to Emu, Elfman inserted the Gashat in the Slot and pushed the small button right next to it, triggering the transformation sequence as the infected Sol sent spears shaped stone at the mage.

 _ **GASHAT ! MAGIC LEVEL UP ! YABAN'NA TATAKAI ! KIKEN'NA KEMONO ! GEKITOTSU BEASTS !**_

Out of the screen appear a much larger version of the Robot Gamer, who also looked much wilder with much bigger arm who got sharp claws who destroyed the stone projectiles that had been sent their way. The Robot then fused with Elfman who had subconsciously undergone a full-body Take Over. Elfman, now completely morphed, didn't changed that much, his Take Over still fully visible, but he was now adorned with an armor that looked like some sort of exo-skeleton, the cybernetic addon covering his legs, making them look steel plate had been stuck to them. The most prominent part of that transformation was located on the arms who weren't looking biological anymore, now completely steel-made, much larger and slightly longer, with big metallic claws on its hands. Also, his teeth were now longer and sharper than before.

\- "Pretty nice." Commented Emu.

\- "Elfman, are you okay ?" wondered Mirajane, slightly worried for her brother, her answer coming with Elfman smiling at her.

\- "I'm more than alright. This feels great !" He said, turning his attention to the Bugster, glaring at him. "Now, let's do this between men !"

He suddenly rushed at Sol, curiously running on all four, either dodging or ripping through the stones attacks that his opponent was sending, not bothered by it nor by the ground who kept moving to try and swallow him up. When he reached his target, both opponents began to exchange blows after blows, but it was clear that Elfman was having the upper hand, the infected Sol seemingly weaker at short range fight. Elfman claws ripped through the stone and heavily damaged the Bugster, smiling like a dement, which seemed to make Mirajane worry for him.

\- "He looks so… wild." She said, biting her lips in apprehension. "This doesn't suit him at all."

\- "When we're fighting, or even playing, we tend to act way differently than what we usually do." Said Emu, perfectly knowing what he was talking about, referring at his M persona. "He's still the same old Elfman, the Gashat just made him wilder. Don't worry, he's alright."

After some time, Elfman was totally dominating the fight, and since they had more important things to do, he decided to end it, pressing the B button of the Driver two times.

 _ **KIMEWAZA ! CRITICAL BEASTS CREWS-AID !**_

White energy began to sparks out of the Driver and into Elfman both arms, the latter roaring as he swung his arms down, sending two large claw shaped energy blades at the Bugster that once was Sol, the blades exploding upon contact with two Great appearing as sparks began to fly out of the Bugster who exploded shortly after that, leaving nothing behind him except for a large Game Clear. As Elfman put an end to his transformation, he and his sister freed Emu from his stone prison, not realizing that this was only the beginning. The beginning of the end.

 **Translation :**

 **YABAN'NA TATAKAI : savage fight / KIKEN'NA KEMONO : dangerous beasts (via Google Translation)**

 **I wasn't expecting this chapter to be this long, but I guess that happens. However, as said in the note at the beginning, I'll try to stick to what I tease in the end of the chapter but if the chapter end up being too long, I'll do it in two (or maybe more) parts with or without other 'Next Time' in between. After all, I like writing stories, but I still want some time for me to do other thing and I fear, with the arc and fight behind longer and longer, that doing Next time could become too much so I might abandon them. See you !**

 **Next time : A blizzard to stop the rain. A titanic leveling up. Fire vs Iron : round 2.**


	23. Chapter 23 : Blizzard and giant

**Hello guys ! I don't have a lot of things to say this time so I'll just thank you all for your support, reviews and all, like nerostar12, Nexus Gundam and Aracaris for following my story. As for now, we'll immediately get going in this chapter that might be as long as the last one, with a blizzard overcoming a downpour and a size-changing gamer.**

 **Missing part of the previous 'Next Time' : Fire vs Iron : round 2. This will be included in the next chapter.**

 **Let's go !**

 **Chapter 23 : Blizzard and giant**

The war between Phantom Lord and Fairy Tail was still going strong and it looked like nothing will ever stop it. With the arrival of Eiji, the Yummies weren't as problematic as they were, the Gatakiriba clones taking care of them, letting the others Riders and mages focus on the Shades who were as numerous as before. Meanwhile, the giant Robot that was the Phantom Lord HQ was still busy, writing the seal for Abyss Break which was almost finished by now. The Strauss family and Emu were standing in the opening of the wall left by their fight against Sol.

\- "Well, all in all it's good that we got rid of that guy, but we still have to find a way to stop that thing." Said Elfman, rubbing his head, only noticing after a few seconds that her sister was looking at the seal with wide eyes. "What is it, nee-chan ?"

\- "The speed at which he's drawing the seal…" she said, looking at the robot hand. "It's become slower."

\- "What ? But we did nothing else besides…" Emu began, slowing down before turning to look at the knocked down Sol. "… Beating him."

\- "Abyss Break… The four elemental forbidden spell… four elements…" That's when it dawned on Mira, who turned to the boys. "That's it ! The giant's power come from the Element 4 ! If we defeat them all, we'll stop it completely !"

\- "Really ?!" shouted Elfman, realizing what it meant. "Since we beat the earth and the fire, there's only air and water left."

\- "We'll have to warn Gray and Natsu since they are bound to find them." Said Emu as he began to walk away. "I'll go this way, you both go that way and if you met with one of the two still active Elements, don't hesitate to call for help !"

\- "Okay, let's do this like that ! Good luck !" with that, the three companions split to look for the remaining Elements 4. Meanwhile, in the giant, Natsu was running in a hallway, as always followed by Happy, both of them still looking for a way to stop the giant, unaware of what happened with Emu and the Strauss.

\- "Hey, Happy. I have an idea !" began Natsu with a grin, looking at his wondering friend. "If we can beat Jose, this whole fight will be over, right ?"

\- "What the hell are you saying ?!" shouted Happy in shock before trying to stop Natsu from thinking like that. "Jose's as powerful as our master ! You'd stand no chance if you faced him !"

\- "But the old guy is out of the fight. Someone will have to beat Jose, right ?!" reasoned Natsu, Happy finding some truth in his words but not enough to convince him that he could, nor should, do it.

\- "Natsu, you idiot ! Can't you remember everything that you've done when you weren't thinking !" however, his fierceness was soon replaced by worries as he realized that Natsu was right. In the end, someone will have to fight Jose. That's when Natsu patted his friend on the head, smiling at him to reassure him, which seemed to work. However, before they could reach Jose, they had something else standing in their way. Or rather someone else.

\- "How sad…" said a voice, coming from a whirlwind that appeared in the middle of the room Natsu and Happy just walked in, the wind soon weakening as a man stood were the swirl had been just a second before. "When the wings of flame rot and fall away…all that will remain is a dragon's corpse." Said Aria with a mystic kind of voice as Happy and Natsu stood in front of him.

\- "That's one of the Element 4 !" revealed Happy as Natsu glared at him.

\- "I am called Aria… Pinnacle of the Element 4. I have come to slay the dragon."

/- On the giant's shoulder -/

While Natsu ended up facing Aria, Gray had followed his own way and was now seen climbing through a window and out of the giant, now standing on a wall that was now the robot's shoulder. However, what really surprised Gray was the heavy rain that was falling, when it's been sunny only a few minutes before.

\- "Rain… How could climate change that fast ?"

\- "Drip, drip, drop…" Gray turned to look at the origin of that voice, belonging to Juvia who stood a few meters away from Gray, protected from the rain by her umbrella. "Yes… Juvia, the rain woman, of the Element 4. Drip, drip, drop…"

\- "The Element 4…" repeated Gray as he looked at this woman.

\- "To think that you could defeat two of us." She said, as if she couldn't imagine her colleagues loosing. "However, Juvia and Aria are not to be taken lightly."

\- "Sorry, but it doesn't matter if you're a woman or even a child…" said Gray coldly, looking straight at Juvia, sending her a heated glare. "I don't go easy on anybody who hurts my nakama."

Juvia simply stared at him, not moving an inch nor reacting for a few seconds before he cheeks suddenly redden, turning to face away from Gray.

\- "Y…Yes… I have lost this battle… farewell." She said, stammering slightly as she took a few step, walking away from a shocked Gray who couldn't understand why she was acting like that all of a sudden. _"Ahh… Juvia… Are you somehow afflicted ?"_ she thought to herself, eyes wide as she tried to catch a breath she didn't realized had become quite short. " _This drip drop in my chest…"_

\- "Hey, wait up, woman !" Said Gray as he ran after her. "You can damn well stop this giant !"

 _"I must make him mine…!"_ she decided, turning toward Gray. _"Juvia, there is no turning back !"_

 _ **WATER LOCK !**_

In an instant, Juvia had trapped Gray in the same water bubble she had used to capture Lucy in Magnolia, the ice mage struggling in the water, much to Juvia's worries.

\- "Ahh ! How could I wound him so ?!" she gasped, fearing for her opponent. "Wh-what should I do ?! I must release him at once !"

But as soon as she decided that, Gray managed to free himself before she could do anything by freezing the water lock and shattering it. While he stumbled as he got in touch with the ground, Juvia looked at him, her eyes shining as she observed him.

 _"He… He froze and shattered it apart… Juvia was sure that her Water Lock could never been be broken…"_ She was awestruck, her eyes full of stars. _"He and I… Is this some kind of fate ?!"_

\- "Huh… You got me good there, didn't ya…" said Gray, his hands pressing on his stomach were the wound left by Lyon ice sword just opened again, blood seeping out of it, much to Juvia's shock and worry, gasping at the wound, gasping once again when he discarded his shirt, something quite usual for him but clearly Juvia wasn't used to it and her reaction was quite unusual too.

 _"Wh…Why ? Why is he removing his clothing ?!"_ she wondered, her face going completely red as her heartrate sped up suddenly. _"M-My heart… My heart is not ready for this…"_

 _ **ICE MAKE : LANCE !**_

Not letting Juvia the time to get out of her daze, Gray summoned his spears made of ice and sending them at Juvia who didn't even tried to dodge, the spears going through her body like stones threw in a lake, much to Gray's shock.

\- "Juvia's body is formed by the rain itself… Drip, drip, drop." She revealed, much to Gray's shock who couldn't believe it. As for Juvia, she remembered that this a war, that Gray was an enemy and as such, she had to fight him, despite what she was feeling. "Farewell, sweet flower of love !"

 _ **WATER SLICER !**_

\- "The hell's this woman saying ?!" wondered Gray, not understanding her as he tried to dodge the many sickle shaped water blades she had sent at him, the ice mage managing to dodge most of them as he counterattacked.

 _ **ICE MAKE : BATTLE AXE !**_

Creating a large axe of ice, Gray swung it at Juvia who, just like before, simply let the axe go through her, the attack not doing any damage. Much to Gray's annoyance. And that's when thing became quite complicated.

*BANG* - "GAH !"

Out of nowhere, a creature appeared, the large gun that was stuck on his arm still smoking from the shot it fired at Gray who fell to a knee.

\- "You're losing my time, here, woman !" said the creature as it walked to be next to Juvia, allowing Gray to see what it looked like. It was a large monster that was basically a humanoid fish. Blue-green scales on a quite slim body, spiky fins on his back and forearms and a long triangular shaped head, with large beady eyes on each side of it. "Let's just beat that guy so we can go take care of the others."

\- "I request that you bring Lucy to me." Said Juvia to Gray, not paying her 'friend' any mind, Gray not liking that creature, mainly since it was probably one of those Shocker guys, which meant that his magic won't be as effective against him. "If you do so, I shall speak with our master and convince him to withdraw."

\- "Oi… You can forget it right now. Both sides have already come too far to just stop fighting like that." Countered Gray, looking at Juvia dead in her eyes. "Lucy's our nakama. I won't hand her over even if I die !"

This declaration had a strong effect on Juvia who took her head in her hands, color draining from her face as she dropped her umbrella. However, her 'partner' was more bored than anything, sighing in annoyance.

\- "Oh, come on. If you are that determined, I guess talking things through won't do it." He then smirked. "Perfect, then. I guess I'll have to be using the strong way, then."

The fish monster then spat at Gray, sending a flurry of what looked like water-made bullets, Gray already moving to dodge them when…

 _ **10 ! 20 ! 30 ! 40 ! 50 !**_

Out from behind Gray came a flurry of small orange hawks, flying around him and countering each of the bullets the fish spitted, a good part of the hawks going around them to struck the monster, sending him back a few feet. Turning around, Gray noticed Sento who had just landed, his Hawk Gatlinger still smoking.

\- "So here's the Smash, huh ? Looks like I came just on time." Said Sento as he walked to stand next to Gray, the Smash getting back to his feet.

\- "You took your time." Half-scolded Gray, nevertheless happy to see a Rider since that meant that the score was now even. "I guess you'll take care of the fish, right ?"

\- "Yes, I am. But are you sure you'll be alright ? Your opponent seem strange."

One couldn't say that Sento's doubt and observation was unfounded since Juvia, ever since she dropped her umbrella, had stayed silent and not moving, her eyes closed, the words 'Even if I die' that Gray said echoing in her mind as something else came to her mind, making her thought even more confused.

 _"Even if I die… Even if I die… Love… Love…Love… A RIVAL IN LOVE !"_

Much to the boys, Smash included, confusion, tears began to fall from her eyes as she hung her head down, hiding her face.

\- "What the… ?"

\- "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHH !" Suddenly, Juvia was looking at them once again, her eyes wide and white in anger, her hat flying away as her body began to emit smoke, the rain suddenly feeling a whole lot hotter. "Juvia cannot forgive this ! Juvia shall never forgive Lucy !" she roared, her fury showing on her whole body in the shape of the smoke, a smoke whose true nature was quickly understood by Sento.

\- "This is steam. And she's mad at Lucy apparently." He then turned to Gray, who was much more bothered by the boiling rain than he was. "That looks like jealousy. Is she an ex of yours ?"

\- "SHE'S NOT ! And why would she be jealous ?!" shouted Gray as he glared at the Rider, his face reddening slightly, and not because of the rain. He couldn't believe that Sento would think about such thing right now. What did he though ? That he was the kind of guy to just go and flirt with an enemy ? She was cute, yes, but he's not like that. "Wait ? She' not cute ! Get a grip, man !" as he was scolding himself, Sento casually grabbed a FullBottle, not realizing what he had just done to his partner as Juvia came to attack.

 _ **SIERRA !**_

Changing her body into water, which was of course boiling in rage, she rushed at Gray like a bullet, the ice mage trying to use his magic but Juvia was way to fast for him to do anything and that's when Sento intervene.

 _ **TAKA ! SOUJIKI ! ARE YOU READY !**_

\- "BUILD UP !" Sento changed his armor inorganic part and immediately used the Long Range Cleaner to try and suck Juvia, hoping to trap her, at least for a moment. But in her current state of mind, she barely registered what was happening, the vacuum not even bothering her. This unnerved Sento, but he had to change his plan quickly when he was suddenly shot down by blue bullet that knocked him off his feet, turning to face the Smash.

\- "Don't get to cocky, you punk !" said the Smash as Sento got back to his feet. "Let those two lovebirds fix their problem and let me destroy you."

\- "Sorry, but I have plans and not a single one of them include my death." Answered Sento, grabbing two FullBottles. "But I do agree on one thing. We should let them alone."

 _ **NINJYA ! COMIC ! BEST MATCH ! ARE YOU READY ?**_

\- "You bet I am !" cried the Archerfish Smash as he spat his bullets at the Rider, only for them to be stopped by the Snap Ride Builder.

\- "BUILD UP !"

 _ **SHINOBI NO ENTERTAINER ! NINNINCOMIC ! YEAH !**_

Brandishing his 4Koma Ninpoutou, Sento ninja-ran at the Smash, dodging the bullet and once he got close enough, he swung his blade at his opponent who blocked it with the fins on his arms, both of them exchanging blows. Meanwhile, Gray was struggling against Juvia, the latter not giving him the time to do anything, which was starting to get frustrating.

\- "I can't do anything. She's too fast ! My Shaped Magic can't keep up ! I have to buy myself some time." He told to himself, jumping through a window on the wall-now-ground, entering the building, followed by Juvia but the acceleration due to the fall was enough to give him the time to cast some magic.

 _ **ICE MAKE : SHIELD !**_

Gray created a large flower-shaped wall of ice above him, like some sort of umbrella to block Juvia's aqueous body but he had underestimated the boiling power of the water who got through the shield easily.

\- "My jealousy is boiling !" she said, her face appearing on the surface of the water, her anger showing as Gray sweat dropped.

\- "What's that supposed to mean ?!"

He didn't get an answer to that question. Instead, he got doused by Juvia who sent her whole boiling body at Gray, the searing heat burning his skin that became red here and there. And without giving him the time to do anything, Juvia attacked once again, this time sending him back outside, using her body like a geyser of some sort. However, Gray wasn't known to be the kind of guy to just throw in the towel, turning back to her while still airborne.

\- "You little … ! If my ice can't stop you, I guess I'll have to do it the other way !" he said, as he plunged his hand inside the water, much to Juvia's surprise. "FREEZE !"

Overcoming the water temperature and taking Juvia by surprise, Gray began to froze the boiling water as they began to fall to the ground, the water mage becoming some sort of ice meteor who was falling toward Sento. The latter, who had been jousting with the Smash for a few minutes now, neither of them taking the upper hand, sword against fins but when Sento noticed the icy shooting star about to fall on them, he knew he had to do something to at least allow him to step out of the way. And he did just that by pressing 3 times the trigger on the 4Koma Ninpoutou.

 _ **FUUTON NO JUTSU ! TATSUMAKI GIRI !**_

A small tornado appeared around the blade as Sento pushed the Smash fins aside, allowing him to slash the monster, creating a tornado that sent him flying as well as cutting him multiple times, Sento jumping back just as Gray landed on the ground with a frozen Juvia, the ice mage looking satisfied with the result. However, his joy was short-lived when he noticed that Juvia was blushing and mainly why. Since he froze the water by plunging his hand inside, his hand had been trapped in the ice and since Juvia had reformed, it led to a groping that explained the young woman flushness.

\- "Gray, I had some doubts with your constant stripping, but you've just validated my theory. You're quite the pervert."

\- "WHAT ? No ! I…" Stuttered the ice mage, not really noticing the insult, his mind more focused on the situation at hand, his reflexes making him unfroze Juvia and take a few step back hurriedly, his face as red as Juvia's one who, now that she had been freed, looked up at Gray from her spot on the ground, tears in her eyes. "D…Do over !"

Hearing Gray asking to restart the fight felt weird in Sento's ears and wrong to Juvia's one, refusing his proposition.

\- "No… Juvia can't hurt you…" she began, her voice soft as rain was becoming stronger with each passing second, Gray and Sento wondering what she meant. Did she realized that she wasn't a match for Gray ? Sento had a feeling this was something else. "Juvia's stronger than Lucy. Juvia can protect you." Her words felt weirder and weirder to Gray while Sento, despite his usual scientific mind, picked up something in her voice that helped him realize where this was heading. "I… I lo… lo…"

\- "Did this rain just get a lot stronger ?" suddenly said Gray, Sento almost scolding him for interrupting what was about to happen. "Jeez… This rain is so depressing."

Gray's words made Sento feel like something really, REALLY bad was about to happen and boy was he right. Turning his head, he saw that Juvia had hung her head before, once again, exploding in anger as steam rose from her body.

\- "YOU'RE JUST LIKE THEM !" she roared in fury, Sento managing to see pure sadness in her eyes as she closed them and once again turn into water, surging at Gray like a tidal wave that washed over him. Gray of course tried to froze her like he did before, but the water was so much hotter than before that he could do nothing and got swept away by the water.

\- "Gray ! Watch… ARGH!" Sento had turned to go and help Gray when he was shot down by the returning Smash, the bullet strangely stronger this time as the monster walked toward him.

\- "Don't you think I'm done with you !" He said, water dripping from his face and mouth. "Let your friend get killed by that woman and come over here to get destroyed !" He ordered, spitting a flurry of water bullets at Sento who got hit many times, the projectiles sending him back, but he managed to see something. The water from the rain was sliding across his head, but instead of falling to the ground, it was redirected to his mouth and covering his wounds to seal them close.

 _"I see ! He's using the rain, or even the humidity around him to spat his bullets and also to heal his wounds ! And since the rain intensified, his shooting rate and power also grew in power."_ realized the scientist. _"So as long as the rain is here, he'll be virtually unbeatable. Unless…"_ He then but a hand to the box at his waist, thinking about two FullBottles. _"Unless I keep him out of humidity myself. Let's do this."_

 _ **KAKUREMI NO JUTSU ! DORON !**_

Stabbing the ground with the 4Koma Ninpoutou, Sento released a large cloud of smoke, hiding himself from the Smash who stopped shooting, waiting for the smoke to disappear, only to realize that the Rider had disappeared.

\- "What ? Where did he…"

 _ **SAI ! DRYER ! BEST MATCH ! ARE YOU READY ?**_

Hearing the voice coming from behind him, the Smash turned around, just in time to see the Snap Ride Builder ready to close on Sento, carrying two Half Bodies, a scarlet one and a grey one.

\- "BUILD UP !"

 _ **CHO NETSU TAIRIKU ! SAIDRYER ! YEAH !**_

Once the Snap Ride Builder had done his thing, Sento was standing in front of the Smash, wearing an armor themed after a rhinoceros on the grey side, with a horn-like spear on his arm, and a dryer on the scarlet part, a large hair dryer strapped on his left arm.

\- "If you think a change of clothes is going to change anything, you're wrong !" With that statement, the Smash opened fire on the Rider who didn't even bothered to move, simply pointing his left arm at the incoming bullets. The dryer came to life and sent a gust of hot air, so hot that the water bullet all evaporate in midair, much to the Smash shock. "What ?!"

Sento wasn't done, sending another wave of searing hot air at the Smash, the air drying him so much that he couldn't fire anymore bullets, allowing Sento to get close and began to pummel the monster with the large horn protrusion on his right arm. He then proceed to slash and pierce the Smash, sparks flying with each hit, the Archerfish stepping back with each strike as the lack of water around him prevented him from healing himself. Sento was keeping on, as if he was in a daze, also realizing that he'll need to take care of the rain to avoid any bad surprises, which reminded him that he had to give Gray a hand before he was either drowned or boiled like an egg. However, if Gray was indeed in a pinch, he wasn't in need of help in the end. He was dangerously thrown around, like a ragdoll, Juvia's water way to hot for him to freeze, but at the same time, he felt something in this boiling water, a mix of anger and sadness that Gray couldn't help but feel wrong about. However, he couldn't let this overcome his mind. He had to fight back and that's exactly what he'll do. After Juvia thrown him to the ground, she did a loop in the air, coming back at Gray at full speed, her will to hurt as strong as iron, matching Gray's desire to freeze that water.

\- "I won't lose ! Not to someone like PHANTOM !" Roared the ice mage as he put his hand on the water who began to froze, much to Juvia's shock but that didn't stopped there. Gray gave everything he had, his magic not only freezing the water but also the rain who was going from drop of water to small hail.

\- "He even froze the rain… What a magical power !" gasped Juvia in shock as her water was starting to completely froze, forcing her to go back in her solid form as Gray gave one final push to his assault.

 _ **ICE GEYSER !**_

In an instant, ice had replaced water, trapping Juvia for a few seconds before it broke down, Juvia falling to the ground, beaten but still conscious. However, her defeat came with something unexpected. The clouds suddenly disappeared from the sky, revealing a clear blue sky where the sun shone brightly.

\- "NO ! Why's the rain gone ?! Did that freaky woman lost ?" Shouted the Smash, nervousness washing over him. As for Sento, this was the sign that he could now end it all.

 _ **READY, GO ! VORTEX FINISH ! YEAH !**_

Sento held his right arm in front of him, horn pointing upward, his left arm just next to it, blowing hot air that swirled around the horn and flew to the sky before falling down onto the Smash, sending him flying in a column of burning air as Sento got surrounded by a grey energy that formed a rhinoceros whose horn was the one on Sento's arm as he run straight forward at the Smash who was sent plummeting toward the ground, his body as dry as a tumbleweed, that Sento received with an uppercut, piercing the Smash who shattered like glass and exploded, leaving nothing behind. Undoing his transformation, he walked to Gray, looking at Juvia to see that she was still conscious but looking wide eyed at the sky with tears forming in her blue orbs.

\- "Well, looks like you managed without my help." Said Sento with a small smile, Gray answering with a smile of his own.

\- "I can hold my own, thank you for the concern." He said before looking at Juvia. "But the fight isn't over. So, do you want to continue ?" he asked the girl with a smirk, Juvia not answering as her eyes turned into heart, unconscious. "Well… that was anticlimactic."

\- "Oh, but if you want a fight, don't worry. I'll give you one."

The Rider and mage turned to the source of that new voice, seeing someone they already knew, being the one behind the Lullaby fiasco. His silver armor was shining in the sun, his green eyes glinting evilly.

\- "Shadow Moon. So you decided to came out of your hole and fight ?" said Sento, already putting a hand to his FullBottle as Gray took a fighting stance.

\- "I'm not here to fight." Said Shadow Moon, surprising the two guys as he walked to Juvia, grabbing her and shocking her awake, literally.

\- "AAAAAGHHH !" she shouted in pain as she became conscious once again, looking at the man who was grabbing her arm. "Hey, you're the guy who came with those creature the other day."

\- "Right I am. And if I'm here, it's exactly for that. To give you another 'creature' to fight." He said as he pulled something that made Sento's eyes widen in horror.

A Steam Blade.

\- "NO ! Don't do that !"

But Shadow Moon gave no fuck about Sento's warning as he activate the Steam Blade, a cloud of Nebula Gas coming out of it and wrapping around Juvia, infecting the girl who cried in pain, Shadow Moon leaving as quickly as he came, leaving two horrified man behind and a now Smashed Juvia. She looked basically the same as she already was, her trait just more jagged and stone-looking. A sort of blue pipe around her head simulating her hair, her face completely gone with the exception of her eyes who were now two blue slit on her face. Her dress had turned into an armor and her hat was also there, looking like a chimney on her head. Gray didn't needed much to understand that that guy had turned Juvia into one of those hybrid.

\- "Sento, I hope you have an idea because we're in dire need of one right now !" he said just as 'Juvia' unleashed a powerful water jet on them, making them dive to the side to dodge, but since this was Juvia, this was also a special kind of water, one the new Smash had complete control over, meaning the water then split and washed over the two guy, crushing them on the ground.

\- "I do." Finally answered Sento, spatting the water he had swallowed. "If she's an hybrid, we'll need our own hybrid to stop her. And since I've realized that the trinkets upgrade work better when there's some sort of affinity between the mage and the trinkets, I think I know what kind of FullBottle you could use."

He then managed to throw a FullBottle at Gray just as they were once again pressed on the ground by a large mass of water coming from above. Looking at the FullBottle, he saw that this was a blueish bottle with a golden cap. Gray didn't know what it was, but if Sento gave it to him, it was for a reason. So Gray did like everybody else before him, injecting his magic inside the FullBottle, holding it tightly as he tried to dodge yet another wave. However, this time, the water had formed a whirlwind that had trapped the mage and Rider, threatening to drown them when Gray was suddenly snatched from the trap, looking at his savior to see Sento, in a navy and light blue armor, with a rocket shaped arm and a whale head on the other arm's shoulder, the reactor of the rocket ignited to pull them out of the water, allowing Gray to look at what the FullBottle in his hand had become. And the result even surprised Sento. The FullBottle now looked as if two of them had fused together and looking like an ice shards, with two white caps on top of it. At the same time, a replica of the Build Driver appeared at Gray's waist, the mage exchanging a nod with Sento before beginning his transformation.

 _ **FREEZING BLIZZARD ! ARE YOU READY ?**_

Gray began to turn the handle as Smash Juvia threw another wave at him, but he stood his ground, a bluish mist coming out of the now named Freezing Blizzard FullBottle, gathering on both side of Gray and forming what looked like two halves of an ice mountain.

\- "HENSHIN !"

Just as the water was reaching him, the two mountain halves closed on him, encasing him as a wave of cold air suddenly burst out of it, completely freezing the water before it could touch him or Sento, taking the Smash by surprise. Just after that, the ice surrounding Gray slowly cracked down before exploding, sending a shockwave that shattered the frozen water, revealing a newly transformed Gray.

 _ **HYOUTENKA ARASHI ! FREEZING BLIZZARD ! YEAH !**_

As Sento looked at Gray, he thought for a few seconds that Sawatari was standing in front of him. But he quickly got over it when he got a closer look at the armor. It was an almost perfect copy of Grease Blizzard, the black under armor white instead of black and while Sawatari's armor was blue and metal made, this one seemed to be made out of ice, the armor light blue in color with a slight transparency. The two notable difference with Sawatari was the robotic hand that disappeared and the red eyes who were now see-through, leaving Gray's eyes visible.

\- "Well, that went better than I expected." Said Sento as Gray slowly began to walk toward the Smash. What happened next could only be describe as a cakewalk for the ice mage. Thanks to his new armor, his ice became strong enough to froze all the water the Juvia Smash threw at him, a single movement of his hand freezing everything in it's wake. But it was not only that. The Ice Make Magic had also been upgraded, allowing him to create walls in an instant or send ice spears at the Smash, spears that froze everything they managed to stab. As the Juvia Smash was currently trying to free herself from the ice that encased her legs and prevented her from moving, Gray decided to put an end to Juvia's suffering, grabbing and turning the handle.

 _ **READY, GO ! FREEZING FINISH !**_

Gray, surrounded by a white and light blue aura, put his hands on the ground, a hill looking like a small mountain of ice appearing under him, the slope extending until it caught Juvia, locking her into place, the ice covering her body little by little. At the top of the hill, Gray jumped on the slope, surfing on the ice, a fist in an open palm, like an usual Ice Make, energy and magic gathering in them and when he got near a fully frozen Juvia, he moved his hand as if he was unsheathing a sword, slashing at Juvia, the ice exploding at the same time as the smash, the hill shattering as Gray came to a stop, Juvia falling to the ground, unconscious but otherwise looking good. And that's exactly when the Strauss siblings finally arrived.

\- "Sento ! G…Gray ?!" Stuttered Mirajane, looking at the blue and white armored guy, whose transformation canceled itself, revealing that it was indeed Gray. "Oh, nice armor, Gray."

\- "Elfman ?! What's Mira doing here ?" wondered Gray, raising an eyebrow at the oldest of the siblings.

\- "No time for that. Is that one of the Element 4 ?" asked Elfman, looking at Juvia.

\- "Yes, the water one." Confirmed Sento, keeping his armor on just in case. "A guy from Shocker came and forcefully made her into a Smash, that's why Gray was wearing that armor."

\- "Great, then there's just one left." Said Mira, Gray and Sento not understanding from where her joy was coming from. "This giant is powered by the magic of the Element 4. If we stop them all, we'll stop the giant. It has already slowed down with two of them knocked out."

\- "So that mean that there's only that Aria left." Realized Gray.

\- "Yes. We can still make it." Declared Mira with a smile. "We'll definitely succeed !"

/- In the Phantom Lord giant -/

They still had a chance, but it might not be as easy as they might think. While Sento and Gray were fighting with Juvia, the Archerfish and the Juvia Smash, Natsu was busy facing Aria, and it wasn't going well for the Dragon Slayer. He was panting heavily, covered in bruises and blood, while his opponent was completely unscathed, much to Happy's fear, the little cat hiding behind a pillar.

\- "I'm rather impressed by your stamina." Said Aria, looking at Natsu through his blindfold. "You're quite something to be able to stand after everything you've been through."

\- "DAMNIT !" roared Natsu, igniting his fists and running at Aria, his voice letting guess that this wasn't the first time he was trying this offensive.

 _"What the hell is that guy ?!"_ wondered Happy, looking at the tall man with fear in his eyes _. "I've never seen Natsu losing so badly…"_

The main problem about Aria was his magic, Airspace, that was basically invisible, his control over air so powerful that he didn't have to break a sweat to send Natsu flying once again. However, despite what was happening to him, Natsu refuse to give up, getting up once again.

\- "There is nothing you can do before my Airspace and still, you keep getting up, Salamander…"

\- "I can't just let you beat me… I'm a mage of Fairy Tail… said Natsu, his eyes shadowed before looking up at Aria. "You're making me se freaking mad, you bastard !"

 _ **AIRSPACE : ZETSU !**_

Aria called upon his magic, sending many bullets of air at Natsu, sending him back once again while dealing a good share of damages, much to the Dragon Slayer annoyance and frustration.

\- "There's always somebody stronger, Salamander…"

 _ **FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR !**_

Natsu unleashed his fire on Aria who disappeared, as if Natsu had blown a candle, the Fire Mage wondering about what happened, but mainly about where his opponent had disappeared when he heard his voice that seemed to come from everywhere around him.

\- "It's over Salamander… You're about to experience the same pain as Makarov…" said Aria as he reappeared, standing just behind Natsu, his hands on both side of the young man who realized what was happening a bit to late. "Your magic will be reduced to nothingness !"

 _ **AIRSPACE : METSU !**_

The spell began immediately after it was invoked, magic beginning to get drain out of Natsu, but not for long. Out of nowhere, someone had delivered a kick at Aria's face, sending him back and freeing Natsu from the spell before his magic was sucked out of his body. Natsu then turned to look at his savior, only to see someone he wasn't expecting.

\- "Erza !" cheered Happy, more than happy to see the Titania, the latter looking straight at Aria, sending him a death glare. She was still in a bad shape because of what happened with Jupiter, but he was still going to fight.

\- "H-Hey, Erza… I'm really happy to see you, but are you sure you should be moving around ? I mean… those wounds seems..."

\- "He's the one who did that to master…" Erza said, her voice barely audible, but the venom it carried was enough to stop Natsu and make him shudder in fear. "The one who dared to touch the old man… This was this guy, right ?"

\- "How very sad… For the life of the Salamander and Titania to be both handed to me…" said Aria, a smile on his face as he put his hands on his blindfold. "If I'm going to be fighting against the mighty Erza… Even I shall have to fight seriously." He then pulled his blindfold off, revealing magenta eyes who shone dangerously. Staring at him felt like they were staring at a madman. Furthermore, his magic power suddenly skyrocketed, the air in the room swirling dangerously, the Abyss Break seal shining despite the fact that it wasn't complete. "Come at me. Erza. I have activated the Airspace of Death, Zero. An airspace that consumes all life. Now, let's have some fun."

\- "Magic that consumes life …?" repeated Erza, not moving while Natsu was already starting to feel his lifeforce get suck out of him, her voice dangerously low before exploding at the same time as her anger. "Why do you find it so easy to steal people's lives away ?! You bastards !"

With that, she summoned a sword and rushed at Aria who kept smiling as he was sending more of his airspace at her. But his smile didn't lasted for long as Erza did something he didn't expected. As she kept running, she slashed at the air in front of her, successfully slicing up the airspace, allowing her to cross it completely, much to Aria's shock who, out of stupor, did nothing to stop what came next.

 _ **BLUMENBLATT !**_

Requipping into her famous Heaven Wheel armor in an instant, she the sashed Aria with the swords in her hands, the many swords following her each adding his own cut to the air mage, knocking him out in an instant, much to Natsu and Happy's shock.

\- "Master could never be defeated by the likes of you… That tale will never appear in your saga."

\- "Wow, Erza ! You're amazing !" Said Happy as he flew toward her, the redhead smiling humbly as Natsu followed his friend as Erza Requipped into her daily armor. However, the nightmare wasn't completely over. Suddenly, a strong wind began to blew across the room, sending the mages and Exceed flying to the other side of the room, crashing on the wall as they looked at where Aria was laying a few seconds ago, only to be horrorstruck by what they saw. Aria was still standing, but he had changed, and not for the best. He was now slightly more massive, his arms and hands looked like undead arms, , his face was split by a large mouth full of pointy teeth, and his magenta eyes were now shining like two red spotlights. As for his clothes, they were basically the same, but they looked like rags, and his mantle formed some sorts of spider legs on his back.

\- "That strange metal clad man was right. This power feel great." Said Aria, his voice feeling robotic. "With this, not even the mighty Erza can beat me !"

With that, he pushed his palm forward once again, sending another wave of powerful air at Erza and Natsu, feeling their strength leaving their bodies. They tried to fight against this newly upgraded Airspace, but pixelated brick had appeared on their wrist and ankles, trapping them against the wall. They were racking their mind to try to find a solution, but nothing came to their mind. As for Aria, he was ecstatic.

\- "Beautiful ! This pain showing on your faces is a true wonder ! Your death will be my masterpiece !"

 _ **PIXELATED AIRSPACE : ZERO !**_

The air around Erza and Natsu became a whirlwind, the two defenseless mages feeling their strength leaving them, their consciousness fading. They thought all hope was lost. But…

 _ **KIMEWAZA ! TADDLE CRITICAL STRIKE ! KAISHIN NO IPPATSU !**_

Hope came back, in the shape of a fiery meteor that fell down on Aria, slashing the tall monster and forcing him backward, skidding on the ground as the wind stopped, Erza and Natsu lifting their head to see Emu in his Taddle Quest armor, sword at the ready.

\- "Emu ! What are you doing here ?"

\- "I came with Sento when belt-san said that he felt a Bugster and Smash signature in the building. I took care of a Bugster and came to warn you that Aria and the other elements are powering the giant. But apparently, there was one more Bugster here."

\- "We need your powers, Emu !" said Erza, getting back up. However, Emu shook his head, which shocked her. "Emu ! We need to fuse our power to beat him ! You and your friends are the one who said that it's how we can beat them !"

\- "We said that we need to use magic and Rider power, but we never said it could only be mages getting Riders upgrade." He said, undoing his transformation.

\- "You still need us to beat him. What are you thinking !?" shouted Natsu, not liking where this was going. However, Emu had a plan. One he had in mind ever since Makarov fall against Aria.

\- "Don't worry, Natsu." He said, smiling at his friends. "I got a plan." He then turned to Aria, who was towering over him, but this didn't fazed Emu who glared at the Bugster.

\- "How sad… It seems like fate has brought another soul for me to collect." Said Aria with a nasty smirk, his eyes shining even more. "You'll soon be joining your master."

\- "Don't you dare talk about him, you coward." Emu's voice was as cold as ice, shocking Natsu and Erza. "I was there when it happens. You only beat Makarov because he was slowed down and by attacking him from behind. You take life for fun, I live to save them." He put a hand in his pocket, taking out the Mighty Action X Gashat, but this one was now red and white, with a different illustration and name. "You think our fate is to die by your hand ? Then so be it. I will change fate and protect everyone's life !"

 _ **MIGHTY GIANT X !**_

The digital wave appeared and covered the whole room as the large screen appeared behind Emu, depicting the same little character from the Mighty Action X but in an XXL version, towering over skyscrapers as he fought a monster just as big as him.

\- "HENSHIN !"

 _ **GASHAT ! GACHAN ! LEVEL UP ! HIGHEST FIGHT ! TOWERING MIGHT ! MIGHTY GIANT X !**_

Now fully morphed, Emu was wearing an armor that was a lot like the usual Mighty Action X, but his 'hair' were white instead of pink and he was wearing a white mantle with golden fur around his neck and on the brim of the cape and sleeves, a getup which felt strangely familiar to the mages and Exceed.

\- "Hey, doesn't that vest remind you of something ?" asked Happy, eyeing the white mantle Emu wore, the Rider tightening his fists as Aria began to gather his power.

\- "I do." Answered Natsu. "This is the same as the one the old geezer usually wear."

\- "Wait. Does that mean… His Gashat got upgraded by Makarov's power ?" realized Erza, eyes widening as she imagined what that could imply. Emu could feel the power in him. Makarov's magic may have filled his Gashat just a little, but even that small amount made him feel how much stronger his Gashat had become. That's why he kept it aside and used the others Gashat. This was like a rare and powerful item in a video game : you only use it when it's really necessary, like right now.

\- "Now come, Rider." Said Aria, air swirling wildly around him, an ominous feeling coming from it. "Let me feel your despair as you realize nothing can stand in my way."

\- "You're nothing more than a side boss. You won't be the first one I destroy, nor the last." Declared Emu, his whole arm overflowing with magic and energy which made it swell slightly. "I'll clear this with No Continues !"

 _ **PIXELATED AIRSPACE : ZETSU !**_

Without any further ado, Aria pointed both of his palms at Emu, sending a series of pixelated Airspace bubbles at him, the Rider standing his ground as he cocked his arm back and threw a punch at Aria. Normally, he would have punched nothing since Aria was a good 20 meters away. But Emu wasn't in his normal state and he proved it as his arm progressively stretched and grew, only to become a huge fist which repelled the Airspace and struck Aria, the fist big enough to cover his whole body as he was sent flying backward. Struggling to get back up, Aria could do nothing as Emu began to pummel him with large kicks and punches. He sometimes tried to counter attack with his Airspace, but Emu was repelling them without even trying, swatting them aside, his power now on a completely different level. He could have gone like this for a long time but he also remembered that Abyss Break will soon be complete so he decided to put an end to everything, taking the Gashat out of the Driver and putting it inside the Kimewaza slot on his waist.

 _ **KIMEWAZA ! GIANT CRITICAL FINISH !**_

Jumping in the air, Emu got surrounded by a large white and pink aura that gathered on his legs. Aria got up and sent once again his magic at the Rider in hope of stopping him. But Emu attacked before the air could reach him. He unleashed a series of kick that extended to hit Aria, the blows sending him to the ground, a real rain of kick burying him progressively in the stone. And when the last kick had been given, Emu's aura extended even more and formed some sort of giant version of himself as he delivered a final punch at Aria, the blow sending the last of the Element 4 through the ground and all the way to the bottom of the robot, the Bugster exploding along the way.

 _ **KAISHIN NO IPPATSU ! GAME CLEAR !**_

As soon as the fight was over, Emu fell on one knee, his transformation undoing itself as he reverted back to a classic Mighty Action X. However, this wasn't a problem since they had succeeded. Outside the giant, the fairies and Riders were still going at it against the Yummies, which were by now almost all destroyed, and the Shades when they saw the seal for Abyss Break shining. Many of them dived to the ground or ran away in fear, the Rider all about to change their armor to save as much lives as they could when the seal suddenly began to fade away and one of his elbow exploding, shocking everyone and this was only the beginning. Joints, elbows, knees… Everything that made the Phantom Lord HQ a giant robot fell apart, the base crashing inside the lake, now completely out of service since the source of his power had been stopped. Everybody cheered, happy for the outcome, thinking that they had won. And that didn't pleased Jose who, still in the main control room, was boiling in anger.

\- "IMPOSSIBLE !" He roared, his sudden anger frightening his henchmen. "Those pieces of trash from Fairy Tail managed to take out all of the Element 4 even despite what those Shocker guys gave them ?!" He stopped, tightening his fist as he grinded his teeth. "Where is Gajeel ?"

\- "I'm right here, Master." Before anyone could answer, Gajeel entered the room, unfortunately not alone. "If the Element 4 got wiped out, then that mean they are just trash as well. I guess you should've sent me out there in the first place, master. But it's not that bad since I've got a present for you." He then dropped unceremoniously the present on the ground, present which was none other than Lucy, the blonde covered in bruises and unconscious.

\- "Lucy Heartfilia ? But how … ?" asked Jose, genuinely surprised by her presence.

\- "Don't underestimate a Dragon Slayer nose." Said Gajeel, pointing at said appendices. "They had some sort of secret place where they had sent the girl to protect them. However, the one guarding her were just as worthless as the others, maybe even worse."

\- "But, Gajeel-san.. She's alive right ?" wondered one of the Phantom member, seeing that Lucy wasn't moving at all. Gajeel seems to be wondering about that for a second before violently kicking the blonde, which woke her up, coughing up blood because of the sudden assault.

\- "Well, she look alive to me. Though as I said, the fat ass that was with her might well be dead." He said, smirking as the same kind of smile began to grace Jose's lips.

\- "As expected from the strongest of my men. Good work, Gajeel." Said Jose as he turned to a microphone, turning it on to speak to their enemy. "All of you Fairy Tail members out there. We have succeeded in capturing Lucy." This news shocked everyone, whether they were outside or inside the base. "Our first objective has been achieved." As Lucy got dragged away, pulled by her hair, she cried in pain, a cry that could be heard through the loud speaker, much to the fairies horror.

\- "However, we still have an objective remaining..." As soon as he said that, the Shades got back up, the blackness that composed their bodies bursting as if they were on fire, now looking a lot more fiercer and dangerous. And the mages were proved right when they attacked, the Shades suddenly a lot more powerful, literally plowing through the mages. "…And that is to slaughter every single one of you." As the Shades began to pummel the mages who were in a dire situation, Jose walked away from the microphone, walking out of the room.

\- "Keep an eye on Lucy for me, Gajeel." He ordered the Iron mage, who was curios as to why his master wanted that. "A few insects are in our guild apparently. I shall let them know there won't be miracles anymore. I will deal with them myself."

Talking about the one still inside the building, Natsu was seething. Hearing Lucy's pained cry was worse than anything he felt up to now, his anger reaching a its peak as he shook in fury. A weakened Erza in his arms, he was itching to go and fight, and Erza could see it perfectly.

\- "Natsu… Release… your power…" began Erza, her voice shaky but her words managed to grab Natsu and Emu's attention. "There is still… an untapped power… sleeping within you… Believe in yourself and awaken it…" Her words were pretty deep and determined despite her current state and while Natsu was looking at her, drinking each one of her words, Emu was feeling that this wasn't just a motivational speech. She was genuinely thinking what she said. "This is the right time. The guild, Lucy… protect them… Now go, Natsu ! You are the one who will surpass me !"

THIS was something Emu wasn't expecting and coming from Erza, it meant a lot. And Natsu felt it too. Feeling galvanized by her speech, Natsu put her down and got up, not saying a word before when suddenly, the silence was ripped by a roar that could only come from a beast. Natsu had suddenly gone fully ablaze and ran, roaring like a demon, his fury all directed toward Phantom. The ultimate face off against Phantom will soon began and at the same time, in a house in the middle of the forest, an old man opened his eyes.

 **And here we are. As indicated at the beginning, I decided to stop it there and put the figth Natsu vs Gajeel in the next, but despite that, I hope you liked this chapter, even if he was shorter than the two last ones. If you have any constructive critics or remarks, feel free to let a review or PM me, I'll read them all and you could give me ideas for the rest of the story. See ya !**

 **Traduction : Hyoutenka Arashi : Below zero Storm**

 **Next Time : Fire and Iron : round 2. Protecting their second home. Flambéed dessert. The return of the master.**


	24. Chapter 24 : Burning determination

**Okay, here we are. I don't have a lot of things to say this time. So I'll probably just go straight into it. I'll just thank all of you for reading my story, leaving those reviews or PM. Don't hesitate to leave some, I always read them and it already gave me some ideas to improve the fic. So let's go !**

 **Sorry for the delay, by the way. The chapter was ready last friday but i simply forgot to update it. My bad ^^.**

 **Chapter 24 : Burning determination**

As soon as Jose had got his hands on Lucy, all hell broke lose in front of the guild. The Shades, all buffed out as if they had spent a whole year pumping iron, their strength multiplied tenfold as they were plowing through the mages ranks, pushing them back. Even the Rider had a hard time stopping them. The fact that they came from different world made them unable to fight the Shades as effectively as they would like to, and if the observation was the same for the Shades, they were outnumbering them, using this to their advantages. And amidst this brawl stood, or rather floated, the demonic looking hand that was Ankh, looking everywhere around him, dodging the magic and fight surrounding him. He was currently looking for a host he could use while he was here, which could be quite long since they had improved the connection between the two worlds, allowing the reinforcement to stay much longer than before. Ankh knew he couldn't go for a Rider and neither for a Shade since they weren't humans. So he was limited to the mages, but he had yet to find a good enough vessel.

\- "Damnit. Isn't there anyone here that can make a good vessel ?" he muttered, dodging a mage sent flying by a Shade when his eyes fell on Alzack. "Well, this one will do."

He then proceed to fly toward the unaware gunner, his mind set on making him is temporary vessel. However, if Alzack didn't saw him, someone else did.

\- "Get away from him, demon !" Ankh barely had time to register what was happening that a large blueish magic bullet collided with him, the explosion disorienting him as he was sent flying away, now barely a point in the sky as it flew toward what was left of the Phantom Lord HQ. Alzack turned when he heard the explosion, smiling at Bisca.

\- "I don't know what you did, but thanks." He said, Bisca smiling at him in return, smile that quickly disappeared when the realized that they were surrounded by Shades, the dark beings closing on them, only to be repelled by green lightning bolts, coming from a green armored man who landed next to them and that neither of them knew.

\- "Are you okay ?" asked the green man.

\- "Yes, thanks for the help. But who are you ?"

\- "Eiji Hino, or Kamen Rider OOO." Said Eiji, answering Alzack's question. "I was called by my friends, they needed help apparently."

\- "Well it's nice meeting you." Added Bisca, shooting at the Shades to keep them away. "My name's Bisca, and this is Alzack."

\- "Nice to meet you both." Politely added Eiji, slashing at a Shade with his Kamakiri Blades. "By the way, have you seen my buddy Ankh ?"

\- "Ankh ?" repeated the two mages, not knowing who he was talking about.

\- "Yeah. It's a friend of mine. You can't miss him, it's a floating green and red hand, that look like a demon hand."

Alzack just shrugged, not knowing anything of the sort while Bisca winced in shame, now feeling like she did a mistake.

\- "I… Think I've seen him." She revealed, both men turning to her, not understanding why she felt embarrassed, while a demon hand was still flying, cursing after what he called a 'green haired bitch'.

/- Inside the giant -/

Sento, Gray and the Strauss were running in the now broken down robot, trying to reach their friend to help them. According to what Mirajane said about Aria, he was an even bigger monster than they first though he was. But they reached their friends, the only thing they saw were Erza, sitting against a large chunk of stone with Emu kneeling beside her checking on her wounds, the rider in a far better shape than the knight, both of them situated not far from a large hole in the ground. And the newcomer didn't knew what was the most shocking part.

\- "Erza ?! What are you doing here ?!" wondered Gray, genuinely surprised that the redhead was here despite her current state.

\- "She saved Natsu's life, that's what she did." Said Emu as he got up to look at his friends.

\- "So she defeated Aria herself ?" deduced Mirajane, impressed by the Titania strength

\- "Well… I may have beaten him, but in the hand, it's Emu who saved us." She revealed, a small smile on her face as they turned to Emu who had to explain.

\- "She first defeated him but he had managed to become a Bugster, and I beat him when he became one." This sparked Sento's interest, a tuft of his hair raising on his head.

\- "Wait! So that means that you used magic to become a hybrid to fight him, right ?!" he said, not waiting for an answer before beginning to attack Emu with questions he didn't even had time to answer to. "Whose magic was it ? What kind of power did it gave you ? Was it the same kind of magic the mage use ? How long did it lasted ? How did that felt ? How did …"

Sento was stopped dead in his track as he and the others all felt a heavy pressure on their shoulder, their breath suddenly becoming shallow as their bodies became suddenly cold as if the temperature of the room had suddenly dropped.

\- "Wh… What the hell is that sensation ?!" wondered Elfman.

\- "It feels as if I'm standing next to Death itself !" Added Emu as they all shuddered, a slow clapping grabbing their attention.

\- "My, my… What a wonderful show you all put on." Said the newcomer as he stepped inside the room, his magic seeping out of him in cold waves sent directly at the mages and riders. "To be honest, I never expected you to provide as much entertainment as that."

\- "Master Jose !" cried the mages, gritting their teeth at the idea of facing the master of Phantom Lord. As for the Riders, even if they weren't usually as affected by magic than the others, they still could feel how dangerous that man was.

 _"What the hell is that magic ?"_ wondered Sento, gritting his teeth as he felt his stomach churn. _"It's so evil that it even make me feel sick…"_

\- "Well, I must thank you all for providing me with all this entertainment. But I've had my fill." Said Jose, ghost like wisps surrounding his hand.

\- "GET AWAY !"

Erza's warning came to late as Jose sent a magic whirlwind made of those same wisps, two magic bolt striking Elfman and Gray, the attack exploding the ground end sending the two mages and the barmaid flying as Erza, Emu and Sento ran at Jose, Erza requipping into her Black Wing Armor. They kept dodging the attacks sent by Jose. Jose was also quite agile, dodging easily the blows the three Fairy Tail members tried to land on him, whether it was the SaiDryer horn, the Gashacon Breaker or the Black Wing sword, the master dodged them all. In the middle of a dodge, he directed a hand at each Rider, blowing them away with a blast of magic which, without being as effective as it would have against someone from his world, was enough to send them flying, crashing in opposing wall before he managed to grab Erza by the ankle in the same movement, spinning on himself as he threw through another wall, Erza surprising him by jumping back inside the room by using the flying stones as flooring to come back, landing on the ground as Jose's acrobatics came to a stop. That's when Phantom Lord master seemed to realized who he had in front of him.

\- "You… I though you took the Jupiter force head-on. How can you possibly stand ?!" he wondered.

\- "My nakama make my heart strong." She said, panting but still standing. "If I'm fighting for those I love, I don't care about what happens to me."

\- "Such admirable strength of heart…" said Jose, his eyes black with barely visible pupils, his killing intent fully visible. "You truly are a woman worth killing…" He then suddenly jumped back, barely dodging another assault from the Riders, already back on their feet, immediately going to stand next to Erza.

\- "Sorry. But we won't let you kill anyone." Said Emu.

\- "It's not in our habits to let a demon like you on the loose." Added Sento.

\- "Oh… And you think you'll be able to stop me ?" Asked Jose, slightly amused by their words. "You may come from a different world, but even you don't stand a chance against me."

\- "Maybe not like that." Admitted Sento, Erza and Jose wondering what he meant by that. "But we Riders are also known for their own power upgrade." He finished, fishing the RabbitTank Sparkling Fullbottle, while Emu grabbed a orange and blue Gashat, larger than the one he used until now. "Let's get more serious."

Jose looked at the two guys, his confidence in his strength and curiosity about what they were doing preventing him from doing anything. As for Erza, the same curiosity making him look at them, also hoping that whatever they were planning would help them in this fight. They both undid their current transformation, getting ready for their upgrade.

 _ **DOUBLE GASHAT ! GACHAN ! LEVEL UP ! MIGHTY BROTHERS ! FUTARI DE HITORI ! MIGHTY BROTHERS ! FUTARI DE VICTORY ! X !**_

 _ **RABBITTANK SPARKLING ! ARE YOU READY ?**_

The large screen that usually came with the Gashat activation appeared behind Emu as he transformed in something Erza wasn't expecting. A small and quite large armored guy with dual-colored hair and eyes. As for Sento, he got surrounded by a version of the Snap Ride Builder she never saw before, different looking Half-bodies of his usual RabbitTank armor.

\- "HENSHIN !"

\- "DAAAAAAAAI HENSHIN !"

 _ **GACHAN ! DOUBLE UP ! ORE GA OMAE DE ! OMAE GA ORE DE ! (WE ARE !) MIGHTY ! MIGHTY BROTHERS DOUBLE X !**_

 _ **SHUWATTO HAJIKERU ! RABBITTANK SPARKLING ! YEA-YEAH !**_

Both Riders were now completely ready for the fight, the mages looking at them with wide eyes, but probably not because of Sento. His Armor was really similar to his usual RabbitTank, with jagged armor part and white part that weren't there before, completing the spiked armor. But Emu was the one who grabbed the most attention. Or should we say the ONES ? Because If there's one thing neither Jose nor Erza were ready for, it was for Emu to literally split into two swap-colored twins, basically mirror versions of each other, one being blue with orange notes, the others being the other way around, orange with touches of blue.

\- "The rules of victory have been set !" declared Sento, striking a pose as the Emus did the same, Orange gesturing at Erza while Blue showed Sento.

\- "Let's clear it together with super so-op play !"

\- "You can change your wardrobe all you want, it won't change anything." Declared Jose as his magic began to fill the air once again. "You'll all die by my hand here and there !"

/- Phantom Lord HQ main control room -/

While Erza, Build and Ex-aid were facing Jose, the strongest man in Phantom Lord was doing what he was told, namely looking after their captive. But since this was way too boring for him, he decided to play a little game of his own, one that made him look after Lucy at the came time. He had tied the blonde to a wall in the exact same position he had put Levy and her teammates in after taking care of them. Lucy wasn't in the best of the position, gravity pulling her body down, her full weight basically resting on her wrists. And if the physical pain wasn't enough, Gajeel was toying with her, sending kunai at her, each one of them embedding itself in the wall, missing her by only a few centimeter. Lucy shuddered when one of them landed right next to her face, Gajeel laughing at his throw, his guildmates looking at him fearfully.

\- "Wow, this one was nasty… I thought that it was going to hit for a moment there. Gihihihihi !"

\- "Gajeel… You really shouldn't do that… What if you actually hit her ?" intervened one of the Phantom, walking to Gajeel, slightly shaking in fear.

\- "Eh ? But I'm bored you know…" said Gajeel, as if that was enough to justify what he was doing, turning back to Lucy, a new knife forming in his hand. "What should I aim for next ?"

\- "J…Just stop it…."

*BAM* In the blink of an eye, Gajeel had walked to his 'nakama' and struck him hard with a headbutt, sending the poor guy to the ground as he looked down at him, a scowl on his face.

\- "Shut the fuck up…" he growled, turning to the rest of the onlookers. "I don't give a fuck about who that girl is. From where I'm standing, She's just one of those trash from Fairy Tail."

\- "But Gajeel, if she dies, the master will be very angry ! Angry at you !" pointed out one of the guys, trying to find a reason for Gajeel to stop. But Gajeel simply brushed it aside.

\- "Ah, who cares, I'll just put the blame on you." He said, making the guys gasp in shock as Gajeel sighed in a disappointed fashion. "This sucks, really… Even those Fairy trashes are throwing their lives away just cause this bitch got a bit of cash." Lucy, despite her situation, couldn't help but laugh a little when she heard what Gajeel said, the keen hearing of the Iron Dragon Slayer catching the laugh, making him lose his smile and turn toward her. "Hmm ? You say something, girl ?"

\- "You guys are the most idiotic people I've ever met." She began, feeling a little bit more confident suddenly. "I feel so sorry for you, it makes me want to cry."

\- "Hmm. For you to be able to bluff in a situation like this. Maybe you're worth something after all." Recognized Gajeel, quite impressed by her guts.

\- "You fools aren't even the tiniest bit scared, are you ?" *TCHAK* As soon as she finished her sentence, another knife pierced the wall next to her head, mirroring the one he threw earlier.

\- "What was that ? I think I didn't heard it right ?" said Gajeel, putting a hand to his hear, as if he wanted her to repeat what she said, a taunt and a threat in the same package. And Lucy, despite her shaking, fought through her fear and continued where she left, even if this meant taking a huge risk.

\- "You're the ones who'd be in trouble should I die, you know." She began, tightening her fists. "There's no way Fairy Tail would ever forgive you if something happened to one of their friends ! That's the kind of guild they are." She then raised her head, meeting Gajeel's gaze, a daring expression on her face. "You'd end up spending every day cowering in fear of the most powerful and terrible guild in this world for the rest of your lives."

\- "That an interesting theory you got there." Grinned Gajeel, knife in hand with a challenging expression on his face. "Should I put it to the test ?"

*SWISH* Not waiting for an answer and much to his guildmates horror, Gajeel threw his knife at Lucy and this time, it was aimed straight at her head. However, and despite the fact that she closed her eyes, Lucy had faith. She couldn't explain how, but she felt that somehow, she would be saved. She knew that HE would come to her rescue. And she was right.

*BRAM**CRACK* Approximatively in the middle between Gajeel and Lucy, the ground exploded, or rather erupted, machinery, stone, pipes and wood flying around, all because of a pink haired guy propelled by the fire on his feet, intercepting the knife with his teeth before exploding the rubbles, sending even more rubbles raining on the surrounding mages, all of this happening under Lucy's shocked but relieved eyes, and Gajeel satisfied smile, who apparently hoped for this to happen. As for Natsu, he was now surrounded by flames making him a sight to behold. He had already been doused in flames before, but this time, the fire on his head stood like two horns, flames shooting out of his shoulders to create some sort of wings and his feet were covered in claw shaped flames. Now more than ever before, Natsu Dragneel looked like a dragon.

\- "Natsu…" was all Lucy could say as tears formed in her eyes while Gajeel, who was smiling a few seconds ago, lost that smile as he realized, too late, that Natsu was coming at him, receiving a powerful punch to the face, one that sent him flying to his comrades, knocking them all down like a bowling ball knocking down pins. Not leaving Gajeel the time to completely get out of the pile of bodies, Natsu came rushing at him, throwing an uppercut at Gajeel, sending the Dragon Slayer and everyone else flying.

\- "I've never seen Natsu like that before !" said Lucy, looking at Natsu as he was clobbering the Phantom mages.

\- "Same here…" said Happy as he pulled on the shackles blocking Lucy to free her. "Right now, he's really strong."

\- "Don't get so damn cocky !" roared Gajeel, using the roof to lunge at Natsu.

 _ **IRON DRAGON'S CLUB !**_

Changing his arm into a metal club, Gajeel speared the ground, shattering it as Natsu backflipped out of the way, landing on the iron club on his hand and began to spin on himself.

 _ **FIRE DRAGON'S CLAWS !**_

Igniting his feet, Natsu kicked Gajeel in the head as he got down from the club, grabbing onto it, which made Gajeel smirked, in a way Natsu didn't liked one bit.

 _ **IRON DRAGON BLADE !**_

The pole suddenly changed into a large jagged sword, cutting Natsu's arm, forcing the fire mage to let go of it and allowing Gajeel to kick him in the face with an iron feet, forcing him back, both Dragons now standing a few feet away from each other.

\- "I think it's time we put an end to this, Salamander !" declared Gajeel, his smirk mirroring Natsu's even though the latter wasn't in the same shape as Gajeel.

\- "I'm just getting started, you scrap-metal bastard."

*KRINK**CRASH* The two dragons were put out of their stare off for a moment, turning to the windows of the room they were in as something just came through it, a small thing now stumbling across the room and heading directly at Lucy.

\- "Watch out !" cried Happy as he jumped to push Lucy out of the way, making him the one who collided with… whatever it was.

\- "Happy !" cried Natsu, Gajeel not using that moment of weakness to attack Natsu, being himself a little curious about what happened. "Are you alright ?!"

\- "Shut up, will you ?" said a voice way to deep to be Happy's. "And who are you calling happy ?"

Even Gajeel couldn't say he was ready for what they had under their noses. Happy was still there, but he now had a tuft of blue hair brushed to the side, and most importantly, a demonic looking right arm, red and green in color with black claw like fingertips and a sort of bird on it. This was Ankh, or at least what he became when he fused with Happy by accident.

\- "What ? Why are you looking at me like that ?" asked Ankh, seeing that they all looked at him with wide eyes, noticing something else that was quite strange. "No, better question. Why are you all so tall ? Unless…" That's when he looked down to see the small body covered in blue and white fur, the tail waving behind him and the small claws on his left hand and feet. "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT ?! WHAT THE HELL DID I FUSED WITH !?"

\- "H…Happy ? Is that you ?" asked Lucy, not knowing what to think about what happened to her furry friend.

\- "Happy ? I'm not happy ! Not even a bit !"

\- "What the fuck are you ?!" roared Natsu, now feeling furious that he knew this wasn't Happy. "Give his body back to Happy !"

\- "Wait ! Happy is the name of… a cat ?!" said Ankh, looking at his small body. "Who the hell call a cat Happy ?!"

\- "I DO !" Roared the fire mage, now on fire as he point at the Greeed, Gajeel still unmoving but starting to lose his patience. "Now what the hell are you ?!"

\- "*sigh* I'm Ankh. I ain't going to explain everything, but just know that I'm a Rider friend and that me being in that cat is just temporary." Explained Ankh, folding his arms, still glaring at them. "Now I think you better get back on that fight."

That's when Natsu seemed to realize that he was doing something else before Ankh interruption and he turned back to Gajeel, who looked like he was about to pounce on them, just to make them shut their trap. But now, he and Natsu were both back in a fight, staring at each other while Lucy, even if she was still feeling weird about Happy, decided to put it aside to focus on the fight.

\- "So… Am I right to say that we're rooting for pinky ?" said Ankh, looking at the boys, unimpressed, Lucy jumping slightly in surprise by the deep voice coming from the small cat before getting back on track.

\- "Yeah… But they are both Dragon Slayer, with the ability to change their bodies to that of a dragon." This made Ankh raise an eyebrow, looking slightly impressed. "And two of those anti-dragon magic are about to clash." As she said that, she began to shake in fear. "How is this going to work out ?!"

\- "I guess we're about to found out." Added Ankh, looking at Gajeel whose arms began to cover with dragon scales made of metal. Then, he rushed at Natsu, throwing a punch that Natsu blocked with his arm. Well, that was the intended plan. But it goes haywire quickly, the punch way much stronger than he expected it to be, breaking his guard and sending him back. Gajeel followed with a kick that Natsu dodged by crouching down, but the kick power was shown by the gust it sent up, blowing Lucy's skirt up and sending Happy/Ankh stumbling.

\- "For real ? Damn, a small body really isn't useful." He complained as he got back up. "On a side note, the pinkette is in trouble. Those scales seemed to be multiplying that guy's power. And I'm pretty sure it's the same on defense."

Indeed, Ankh was proved right when Natsu tried to throw a fiery punch at Gajeel, reaching his face, put not leaving a single scratch on it. Instead, it's Natsu who suffered, his knuckles badly damaged, much to Lucy's shock. Gajeel then tried to plunge his clawed hand in Natsu, but the Fire Dragon managed to dodge by rolling to the back, Gajeel only breaking the ground. However, if the onlookers were already impressed by the strength the both displayed, this was nothing compared to what was going to happen, both Slayers filling their lungs and mouth with air.

 _ **FIRE DRAGON'S…**_

 _ **IRON DRAGON'S…**_

\- "He can use the dragon breath as well ?!" shouted Lucy in shock and fear about what was going to happen while everybody around them either got down or tried to get to safety.

\- "Why are you all so frightened ?" wondered Ankh. "They puffed their cheeks out and you all lose your minds ? Pathetic."

… _**ROAR !**_

Both Dragons unleashed their own breath, Natsu's fire clashing with Gajeel's one who seemed to be made of iron shards. The collision of the two attacks created an explosion so powerful that it literally blew everything and everyone near it away. When Lucy finally sat back up, her eyes were on the large cloud of smoke surrounding where the fighters were. As for Ankh…

\- "Well… Maybe not… as pathetic… as I first though." He admitted, pulling himself out of the wall he had been embed in by the shockwave. "Now, I wonder who of those guys won this."

As the smoke got clearer, they all got their answer as they saw Gajeel, standing in front of a large hole the explosion made in the wall.

\- "Looks like the difference between our elements is becoming clear, Salamander." Said Gajeel, a smug smile on his face, not even scratched as he looked at Natsu who had many iron shards stuck in his body. Arms, legs, torso, even his head wasn't spare as he seemed to struggle to stay on his legs. "Even if your fire have the power to burn your opponent to ashes… It can't leave a mark on steel. But my breath of iron blades can slice up your body pretty efficiently."

However, and much to everyone surprise, a crack suddenly appear on his face, just above his right eye, blood trickling down from it, Gajeel putting a hand to it, almost not believing that this happened.

\- "My flames aren't just flames, you know." Said Natsu, his voice showing his confidence as he covered his body with flames, looking at Gajeel. "Dragon flames can incinerate anything. If you don't come at me with everything you've got, you're just gonna get smashed, Iron Gajeel. Now that we know what we are both capable of, I think playtime's over."

Those words didn't worked well with the others persons in the room who began to feel uneasy, or even frightened, at the sheer idea that the power they displayed wasn't even their full strength. It even left an impression on Ankh.

\- "Talk about powerhouses." He commented, his voice not letting his surprise show. "I don't know how that fight will play out, but this is definitely going to be one hell of a fight."

And indeed, it was. Not holding back their hits anymore, the fight entered a whole different dimension. The sheer strength of their hits was creating shockwaves powerful enough to send everyone around them flying along with the metal plates that made the floor. If the strength they displayed was out of this world, the same could be said for their speed, the two dragons sending punch after punch at a blinding pace. Sometimes, one of them would manage to land a good hit on the other, most of times following with a retaliation, they were evenly matched. Gajeel's iron scales were dealing a whole of damages, but Natsu weren't any pushover, going through Gajeel's iron quite easily compared to before. After an intense exchange of punches, they both stood in front of each other, glaring at each other, panting but still standing.

\- "Those guys aren't joking." Ankh pipped up, quite impressed by the two slayers.

\- "They are going at it toe to toe." Said Lucy, eyes glued to Natsu. "But Natsu will win, I know he will."

Lucy's trust was quite logical. She knew what the fire mage was capable of. However, there was something she didn't took into consideration that will have a definite impact on the fight. Using that little moment of calm, Gajeel began to peel some metal plates off the ground and started to eat them.

\- "What ? How can he eat metal ?" wondered Ankh, clearly not expecting something like that.

\- "Wait. If he eat iron, then that means…"

 _ **IRON DRAGON'S LANCE : DEMON LOGS !**_

Lucy's fear were confirmed when Gajeel, suddenly back in top shape, changing his arm into a large spearhead from which many others appeared, firing at a rapid pace at his target, dealing a lot of damages while also pushing him back. After that, it became a real nightmare as Natsu was getting beaten up by Gajeel, the Salamander now much weaker than his counterpart who could replenish his strength. That's when Lucy realized something that could help.

\- "Fire. We need fire ! Do I have a stellar spirit who can do that ?!" she asked herself, putting a hand on her waist, only to realize that her keys were missing. But not completely. "The only one I have is Sagittarius." She said, grabbing onto the key she got on Galuna Island. "I still haven't made a contract with it, but I'll have to try !"

\- "What are you muttering about ?" said Ankh, side-glancing at the blonde as her key began to shine.

 _ **OPEN, THE GATE TO THE CENTAUR : SAGITTARIUS !**_

In a burst of light and smoke appeared the spirit of the centaur, who was of course… A man in a horse suit, a horse head standing tall on his head, a large bow in hand and a large quiver full of arrow on his back.

\- "WHAT THE HELL !?" cried Lucy, shocked by the spirit who looked far more different than what she though.

\- "Where did that freaky guy even came from ?!" added Ankh, as shocked as Lucy but for a completely different reason.

\- "Uh, we'll go through this later, but can you make fire ?!" asked Lucy, forgetting her surprise to focus on the task at hand, namely helping Natsu.

\- "Sorry… I'm afraid my skill lies in archery only." Answered the spirit, doing a salute at his master, master who was feeling down at the idea that she couldn't help Natsu, who clearly needed it as he propelled himself at Gajeel, striking him with everything he had, but the iron dragon didn't even budged.

\- "Is that it ?" said Gajeel, amused by Natsu's struggling. "Guess you're not that tough when you're hungry, huh ? If you can't eat fire…" he began, grabbing Natsu by his leg. "… Then eat steel instead !" he shouted, slamming Natsu on a wall covered in metal plates, Lucy staring in horror, not believing what she was seeing, as Gajeel then threw Natsu to the ground, the young man stumbling on the ground until he came to a stop, his arms and head dangling in the air as he laid in the hole the two roars had made in the wall, giving them a clear view of the crumbling guild.

\- "Gihihihihihi ! Now take a good look…" Laughed Gajeel, a nasty smile on his face. "… At the thing you're all fighting so hard to protect. Fairy Tail is no more !" At that moment, the Fairy Tail building suddenly crumbled totally and collapsed, leaving nothing but rubbles behind, sending the fairies into despair. Or at least, this was what Gajeel though would happen. But the guild was still standing. It's balance was really precarious but it was still in one (crumbly) piece. "… I said 'is no more' !" Still nothing happened, Gajeel now standing next to Natsu, not really understanding what was happening. The boosted Shades were tasked to destroy that guild and they should have no problem taking care of those trash. So why was the guild still standing ? He saw the answer as he looked at the base of the building. While Natsu and Gajeel were going at it, Fourze, Wizard and Drive, helped by an army of OOO Gatakiriba were busy taking care of the Shades and Yummies, the latter now far less numerous, but with the boost the Shades got, they had some difficulties.

\- "It can't end like this ! Not our guild ! Please stop !"

Hearing Cana's shout of despair, the Riders looked at her only to realize that some Shades were manipulating some battering ram they were using against the guild wall, their intent as clear as day. This made the riders lunged at them who, in a matter of seconds, pushed them all back, grabbing the mages attention.

\- "Sorry, but we won't let you do any harm to that building." Said Gentaro, standing in between the building and the Shades, acting like the last defensive line.

\- "This has become like a home to us." Added Haruto, the mages smiling at those words as they all got into position, including Eiji and his clones, now down to 8, Eiji included.

\- "As long as we're here, you won't lay a single finger on that place." Stated Shinnosuke as he and the others got ready for a change of armor. "We aren't just Kamen Rider anymore…"

\- "…WE ARE FAIRY TAIL'S RIDERS !"

 _ **ELEK ON !**_

 _ **FLAME, DRAGON : BOU-BOU, BOU-BOU-BOU !**_

 _ **DRIVE : TYPE DEAD HEAT !**_

 _ **KUWAGATA ! KAMAKIRI ! BATTA ! GA~TA-GATA-GATA-KIRI, BA ! GATAKIRIBA !**_

 _ **LION ! TORA ! CHEETAH ! LA-TAH LA-TAH, LA-TORA~TAR !**_

 _ **SAI ! GORILLA ! ZOU ! SAGOHZO… SAGOHZO !**_

 _ **SHACHI ! UNAGI ! TAKO ! SHA-SHA-SHAUTA, SHA-SHA-SHAUTA !**_

 _ **TAKA ! KUJAKU ! CONDOR ! TA~JA~DOL !**_

 _ **COBRA ! KAME ! WANI ! BURA-KA~WANI !**_

 _ **PTERA ! TRICERA ! TYRANNO ! PU-TO-TYRANNOSAURUS !**_

 _ **TAKA ! TORA ! BATTA ! TA-TO-BA ! TATOBA, TA-TO-BA !**_

The Riders all upgraded their forms, Fourze now in Elek States, sword at the ready, Dead Heat Drive crouching down, on the starting block, Wizard ogled due to the fire dragon that appeared to fuse with him, and the many OOO combos all roaring, their power shaking the ground and repelling the Shades who quickly ran back at them, trying to do what they were created for, destroy the guild.

\- "Looks like Eiji and the others are doing a nice job defending that guild. Whatever a guild is." Said Ankh, as Gajeel looked slightly pissed off.

\- "It looks like I'll have to level that guild myself. But before that…" he then changed his arm in a large sword, raising it above a still unmoving Natsu. "It's time I finish this off for good. Goodbye, Salamander."

 _ **BUDOU SQUASH !**_

Before Gajeel could kill Natsu, a sudden volley of purple lasers rain down on him, sending him away from Natsu as a Dandeliner entered the room, with a special guest driving it.

\- "KOUTA !?" exclaimed Lucy, shocked to see the Rider. Even if he was wearing an armor she never saw before, a violet one with a grape design, a green and purple gun in his hand, he was quite easy to identify. But she was also slightly worried. "What are you doing here ? You can't be healed already after getting hit by that !" She said, referring to the Jupiter shot he and Erza had stopped.

\- "Oh, but I'm not. And neither is Erza but that's not what stopped her from coming back to fight." This surprised Lucy, who didn't know Erza had been fighting to. As for Kouta, he seemed to be shaking slightly, his wounds still fresh on his body, but he still had to fight. He just couldn't stay on the side when his friends are in a pinch.

\- "Another one of those Riders, eh ?" Gajeel glared, shared between amusement and annoyance. "Looks like I'll have someone else to destroy before I can take care of Salamander."

\- "I wouldn't underestimate a Rider if I were you." Advised Ankh, arms crossed. "Especially not this one."

\- "Huh ?" Lucy turned to Ankh, not understanding what he meant by that as Kouta gazed quickly at Ankh.

\- "You're flattering me, Ankh." He said turning back to Gajeel, only for his brain to proceed what he just saw and turned back to the Greeed, wide eyes under his helmet. "Ankh ?! What are you doing in Happy ?!"

\- "I don't wanna talk about it." Groaned the Greeed as he turned his head to the side in annoyance. "You'd better focus on that fight instead of ogling me."

\- "Yeah, you're right." Said Kouta as he turned back at Gajeel who was still waiting, apparently not bothered by their discussion. "I guess I should bring out the big guns with an opponent like him."

 _ **MANGO ! LOCK ON ! SOIYA ! MANGO ARMS ! KNIGHT OF HAMMER !**_

Kouta grabbed onto the large hammer and ran at Gajeel who was forced to a knee while trying to stop the hammer with his hands, taken aback by the weight of the hammer and its overall strength. The fight began with both sides trying to deal blows to the others, even if they all could see that Kouta wasn't in the best of the shapes, making him unable to give his best, something Gajeel didn't hesitate to exploit. However, what they didn't expected was for Natsu to get back up despite his current weaken state, walking at Gajeel. Apparently, unlike his body who could barely stay standing, his mind was still ready and up for a fight.

\- "Natsu ? What are you doing ? You're not in any shape to fight !" Said Kouta, shocked that Natsu could still want to fight.

\- "As if you can talk. You're still heavily wounded because of Jupiter." Countered Natsu, breathing heavily as Kouta shut up, realizing that he was indeed really misplaced to say such things. As for Gajeel, the situation was more than enjoyable.

\- "Really ? Two wounded and broken guys trying to beat ME ?" he said, punctuating the 'ME' by hitting Kouta in the head with a steel punch, sending the Rider to the ground where he noticed something, Gajeel turning his attention to Natsu and proceeding in kneeing him in the stomach repeatedly. "Back on your knees, Salamander ! Just know that I'm not the merciful type… After I rip you a new one, I'll send you back to your maker !" He said, each words followed by a knee in Natsu's beaten body. "Now die, Salam… *PUNG* OOMPF !"

\- "You ate, didn't you ?" slowly said Kouta, arm stretched to show that he had just thrown the Mango Destroyer that hit Gajeel in the face, his eyes locked on the metallic ground. "Dragon slayer can eat their element to replenish their strength and while you had plenty of iron to eat, I bet Natsu had no fire to do the same."

\- "The Jupiter, the element four… He used too much magic already !" cried Lucy, tears filling her eyes as she couldn't bear in seeing Natsu in such a shape. "If he had fire to eat, this would end differently."

\- "I'm sorry, but apparently, there's been something of a misunderstanding." Said suddenly Sagittarius, who had been here all along, readying his bow, Lucy and Ankh looking at him with curiosity about what he was talking about. "When you asked me if I could produce fire, the obvious answer was that I can't. However, it would appear that the issue here is not if I can produce fire per se, but whether if I can make it appear one way or another."

\- "You're both already dead." Said Gajeel, addressing Kouta and Natsu, running at the latter with his arm changed into a large iron sword. "It's been fun, Salamander !"

*WHOOSH* Sagittarius fired his arrow, the shining projectiles making a beeline that passed barely an inch away from Gajeel's nose, forcing him to a stop as the arrow nestled itself in a few machine that were still standing against a wall, flames suddenly erupting from it.

\- "Fire…" muttered Natsu unbelievingly before jumping straight at it, eating it as if he had starved for many weeks.

\- "That archer created flames by blowing up the machine !" exclaimed Ankh as three others arrow embed themselves it the rest of the machines, giving more and more fire for Natsu to eat.

\- "To set machinery aflame is mere child's play for my arrows…" stated Sagittarius, Lucy looking at her new spirit with a big smile on her face.

\- "Man, that was good… I owe you one, Luce." Said Natsu, licking his lips, his voice full of genuine thankfulness, as Lucy blushed slightly at the compliment. However, Gajeel wasn't amused by what was happening.

\- "I don't know what that freaking horse man is, but don't you go and get cocky just because you ate a little fire !" he roared, charging at Natsu. "All that did was put us back on equal footing !"

Equal footing might be a little too optimistic from Gajeel as Natsu suddenly turned around, delivering a powerful flaming uppercut to the Iron Dragon, all the fury Natsu had in him now directed to Gajeel, ready to give him back what he did to him and his friend tenfold.

 _ **IRON DRAGON'S ROAR !**_

Slightly airborne after the uppercut, Gajeel unleashed his roar at Natsu at almost point blank range, but Natsu was determined in proving him that they weren't on equal footing anymore as he put his hand in front of him and managed to deflect the powerful spell with his bare hands, much to Gajeel's shock.

\- "Jet, Levy, Droy, the old geezer, Lucy… Everyone…" Enumerate Natsu, his anger growing at the memory of everything Phantom had done to them. "HOW DARE YOU LAY YOUR FILTHY HANDS ON THEM WITH THAT STUPID GRIN ON YOUR FACE !"

\- "You've got to be kidding me ! I, the mighty Gajeel, falling at the end of this runt ! At the hands of this worthless piece of trash !" roared Gajeel, not believing whet was happening even if there was now no way to stop it from happening.

\- "I'm paying you back… Along with some interest ! You're gonna wish you never set foot onto Fairy Tail !"

\- "This can't be ?! I'm the invincib-"

 _ **CRIMSON LOTUS : FIRE DRAGON'S FIST !**_

Without letting Gajeel finish his rant about how he is invincible, Natsu unleashed a flurry of powerful fiery punches at Gajeel, pummeling the guy into oblivion, but Natsu's fury was so overwhelming that he didn't stopped at just Gajeel. The strength and the number of the blows were so intense that he was destroying everything around him, first the room then a good party of the giant who began to fell apart soon after, much to the fairies and Riders, who were still defending the guild, shock.

\- "Now… We're even…" said Natsu, Gajeel out cold and bloody as the building around them was slowly falling apart. Lucy, Ankh and Kouta began to walk to Natsu who was laying on the ground, tired by the fight and everything he had undergone recently. As the room was falling apart, Kouta ran away while Lucy got pulled away by Ankh, who had deployed Happy's wings without even realizing it.

\- "Why does a cat have wings ? Well, no matter. It's pretty convenient at least."

\- "Natsu !" shouted Lucy in worry as they got closer to the pink haired guy. "Are you alright ?"

\- "Heh, I guess I can't move that much, now…" he said, his grin still present on his face, Lucy smiling fondly at him, a few tears forming in her eyes.

\- "Honestly… you really… go over the top with these things…"

\- "At least, he still looked cool doing it, right ?" added Kouta, smiling under his helmet as Lucy agreed, the two mages smiling too, Ankh even cracking a small smile. However, this was not totally the end of that story. After a while, they noticed that they weren't the only one here. Turning to the side, they noticed Shadow Moon who was also here, kneeling next to Gajeel.

\- "Those Dragon Slayers are really powerful." Said Shadow Moon, getting up and still turning his back at the others. "I do wonder how strong an hybrid would be with one of them. Well, we're about to see. Isn't it, Gaim ?"

With that, Shadow Moon turn around, the rest of a Helheim fruit in his hand, Kouta knowing what he did. And as soon as he was done, Shadow Moon disappeared, leaving them with a Gajeel that was slightly different. He was now towering them, basically looking the same with dragon features like the claws, tails, wings, scales and fangs. Just like an Inves, his body was greenish with root like muscles, but due to Gajeel's magic, he was now a being half metal, half iron, that was radiating with power. Without letting the fairies think of something to do, he raised his arm and swung it down to smash them, Kouta jumping out of the way while Lucy got pulled out of the way by Ankh.

\- "You've got to be kidding me." Said Kouta as he looked at the hybrid who was busy eating the iron around him, his body bulging with each mouthful he swallowed. "Don't tell me he's using Gajeel ability to power himself too ?"

\- "If that's the case, we'll need an hybrid too, right ?" said Natsu, getting up and managing to grab the Banana Lockseed on Kouta's waist. "Just like at Galuna Island. I'll just…" he trailed off, sending his magic in the Lockseed who quickly changed shape. It was still the same Lockseed, but he now had a red and orange base, the banana on the lock covered in flames as Natsu smirked. "I had things to say to Gajeel, and I intend to do it. But first, I'll have to free him ! HEN…"

*BOOM* Natsu was sent to the ground by a powerful shockwave due to Gajeel slamming his fists on the ground, the weakened Dragon Slayer unable to stay up due to the strength of the blow, letting go of the newly improved Lockseed which flew through the air and was heading toward the hybrid. Not really wanting to see how an Inves hybrid would react if it ate a modified Lockseed, Kouta ran at the creature and climbed on it before using his shoulder as steps to jump at the Lockseed, grabbing it in midair, but not dodging the large fist colliding with his back, sending him crashing on the ground, the Lockseed still secured in his hand.

\- "You're right about us needing a hybrid of our own." Admitted Kouta, getting up as Natsu looked at him from the ground, way to weaken to do anything. "But it don't always have to be a mage who does it. Well, that's what Sento's theory say."

 _ **BLAZING BANANA !**_

The zipper in the sky opened, an arm pretty much identical to the Banana appearing, the only notable change being the color, this one mainly red and orange in color.

\- "Well, let's try it out." Said Kouta, placing the Lock on the Sengoku Driver.

 _ **LOCK ON ! SOIYA ! BLAZING BANANA ARMS ! IGNITED KNIGHT OF SPEAR !**_

The arms fell into places, the armor being pretty much the same as usual despite the color reminiscing of flames. Furthermore, his Ride Wear, usually a dark blue, was now crimson in color and the peel that formed the guard of the spear were now flames, flames that also covered most of the weapon. The monster, not impressed by this new transformation, immediately attacked the Rider who also ran to attack, spear in hand. And surprisingly, that spear was more than effective against the metallic and vegetal monster. The flames that came from Natsu's power was either burning the vegetal parts or weakening the iron part of the monster, the strength of the spear using that to pierce his skin. The fight was dominated by the Rider who was also greatly helped by his size, allowing him literally run around the monster, easily reaching for his blind spot. After a few moments, and fearing what eating a Helheim fruit could do to Gajeel if he stayed a monster for too long, Kouta decided to finish it. Standing in front of the beast, he pulled the blade of his Driver down 1 time.

 _ **BANANA FLAMBÉED !**_

Kouta was surprised by that new name, replacing the Squash he was expecting, but he brushed it aside and focused on the task at hand. The spear suddenly covered in flames as he ran at the monster, the flames growing with each step he took as it formed a projection of banana around the weapon, projection that also seemed to be made of flames, which he thrusted inside the monster's belly, piercing him effortlessly as the fire exploded, burning the Inves part of the monster as Gajeel was sent to the ground, out cold but freed of the monster he became.

\- "That was pretty impressive." Said Lucy as she kneeled next to Natsu, helping him as Kouta, still morphed but now in the classic Banana Arms, walked to them.

\- "I concur, and this was pretty weird but the power I felt was real." Said Kouta as he turned to Natsu. "You got one hell of a power, you know ?"

\- "You bet I know it !" he answered grinning like an idiot, his smile making his friends smile too, their happiness also due to their ignorance about what was happening elsewhere in the crumbling building.

/- Meanwhile, elsewhere in the building -/

\- "Hahahaha… That dragon seems like he like to rampage. And it would seems like his friend is no pushover either." Snickered Jose, referring to Natsu who had just exploded a part of the building, and Kouta beating the hybrid Gajeel had become, apparently not bothered by it, nor by the building which was crumbling around him. In front of him, Erza, Sento and the Emus were on the starting block, even though they were all heavily wounded by the one-sided fight they had against Jose who barely broke a sweat. Sento and Emu may not know much about a master true strength, but as a physicist and a doctor, they were intelligent enough to deduce, from what they learned by fighting him, that they'll have a hard time beating him. Furthermore, Erza was still suffering from stopping the Jupiter cannon and weren't in any shape to fight for real.

\- "You shouldn't underestimate our friend. Kouta's powers are going much further than what a Kamen Rider usually does." Said Sento, trying to keep Kouta's secret hidden for now. They had decided not to tell everyone that Kouta was a God in his own right to avoid any unwanted attention.

\- "It would seem like Natsu got underestimated in his fight…" added Erza, panting. "His… his true power is on par with mine, or perhaps even stronger…"

\- "Wow… Coming from someone as strong as you are, this means much." Said Orange-Emu, quite surprised by her words. "But she's right. He's clearly not the kind of guy you can underestimate. Even more when he's fighting for his friends and family."

\- "Hm… Qui with the modesty, Titania." Said Jose, beautifully ignoring the Riders. "Your magical ability is truly magnificent… In fact, no other mages has ever managed to last so long against me. If you hadn't been damaged by Jupiter, this could have been quite the battle." He said, recognizing Erza's strength, pointing a hand at her. "I just can't stand the thought… that another mage of that level can exist in Makarov's guild !"

With that, he sent a magic bolt at Erza, only for it to be intercepted by the twins, stopping the attack with their swords as Sento jumped above them, diving in to try and punch Jose, only to miss as the master dodged by taking a few steps back as the twins ran at him.

\- "If you hate Makarov so much…" began L, the azure one.

\- "…Then why didn't you killed him after Aria weakened him ?!" finished R, the orange, the two brothers slashing at Jose who blocked the swords with his two hands, Sento coming back to attack, hoping the fac that his hands were busy who make him unable to dodge or defend himself. But Jose shot the twins away with the magic attacks, leaving him completely available to stop Sento with another lightning bolt, sending Sento flying back to Erza.

\- "I hate Makarov, that much is true, but I don't want to just kill him. I want to show him despair." Revealed Jose, waving his hands, which made many geyser of pure magic shot out of the ground, the Riders and Erza forced to dodge them, unable to attack as Jose explained why he hated Fairy Tail so much. "How would he fell when he'll woke up to see his beloved guild and his precious nakama utterly destroyed ? What a sorrow he would feel. I will kill him only once I made him know despair and sorrow ! I cannot simply kill him ! I must make him suffer. Suffer to the very end !"

\- "You disgusting…" grunted Erza, not finishing her sentence as she was forced to dodge yet another geyser.

\- "I thought I've seen it all in term of villainy with Shocker back in our world, but this is something that would shock me, even if it came from them." Said L, as calm as usual, even if his anger was boiling.

\- "I'll take great pride in defeating a boss of your kind." Said R, as cocky as ever.

\- "But why such hate ?" Wondered Sento, his scientific mind in need of answer. "What as he done for you to hate him so much ?"

\- "Phantom Lord was always the number one guild…" began Jose, the Riders and Erza listening closely to his words. "In all of Fiore, our magic was unsurpassed, our member's talents was unsurpassed too and our funds were unprecedented ! but then, in only a few years, Fairy Tail came to power. Erza, Laxus, Mystogan and Gildarts… their names spread as far as my own hometown and rumors about the Salamander spread throughout the whole country. And before I knew it, our two guilds came to represent this country. I just couldn't stand it… them who started out as a shitty, pathetically weak little guild !"

\- "Are you telling me this war began just because of some pathetic little jealousy ?!" Shouted Erza, swinging her swords at Jose who easily dodged the blows, still looking as amused as before. And the riders were in the same state of mind as Erza, fighting with Erza to try and hit Jose.

\- "We all began as small and we keep growing through our tries and fails." Said Sento, diving at Jose with a kick which end up destroying the ground only. "That's the case for everyone."

\- "They followed the rules and kept leveling up to this point. They deserve they success." Said R, his gaming analogy quite correct as he swung his sword down in synch with L.

\- "Besides, if you're that confident in your strength, you would have done things yourselves instead of teaming up with Shocker !" added L, apparently reaching a sensible point as Jose frowned slightly.

\- "We never stated that war out of jealousy…" He said, ignoring L remark as he suddenly emitted a strong shockwave that threw the Riders off their feet. "We just wish to make it painfully clear who is truly superior here !"

He finished his sentence by sending large beams of magic at the three guys who got engulfed in the attack, which exploded as they were sent flying away, leaving them in pain on the ground despite their armor and leaving Erza alone against the master.

\- "Emu ! Sento !" she cried, turning to face Jose as fury painted her face. "You… You really started all of this for a stupid reason like that ?!"

Erza was stopped when Jose used his magic to trap her in what looked like a tendril of magic that wrapped around her, making her drop her sword as she was held tightly by the magic.

\- "Oh, that guild has been getting on my nerves for a long time. But the trigger for this war a trivial little matter." Revealed Jose, his voice sounding a tad bit amused, not knowing that the Riders were still listening. "It began when we received a request to recover the young heiress of the Heartfilia Konzern." Hearing the name Heartfilia grabbed the Fairy Tail members attention as Jose kept going. "The daughter of one of the wealthiest family in Fiore had joined Fairy Tail !? How 'great' did you have to become before you would be satisfied ?! " he accused, his anger growing with each words. "If you had access to the Heartfilia funds… then your power would finally have exceeded our own and That was the one thing I could never forgive !"

Mirroring his anger, his magic hold on Erza also became more and more fierce, the knight suffering, but chuckling despite that, which seemed to genuinely surprise Jose.

\- "It's already pathetic enough that you're so heated about who is the 'best'… But there's something even more pathetic… and that's how poor your informations are…" She said, her breath short but her eyes still carrying a strength no one could gather in such a situation.

\- "What's that ?" asked Jose, not really liking where this was going as Erza kept going.

\- "Lucy ran away from home… Did you really think we could use her money ?" she said, Jose frowning even more. "She live in a 70.000 jewel rented house… She worked hard… Just like the rest of us… She fought with us, laugh with us, cried with us… You're telling me that Lucy, the heiress of the Heartfilia family, was the trigger of this war ?" Erza's voice was starting to go from calm and collected to angry and loud as her fury reached a new high. "A flower, can't choose the place where it blooms, nor can a child choose the parents she's born to. WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU KNOW ABOUT LUCY ?!"

\- "Well, I guess I'll found out." Jose's answer wasn't exactly what Erza was expecting, and what came next didn't pleased her at all. "Do you really think I'm going to hand her over to her father for free ? No, I intend to keep her until they've no money left. I'll get my hands on the entire Heartfilia fortune."

\- "DAAAAAMN YOUUUUU !" roared Erza, her anger now reaching the breaking point as she struggled against her bounds, the girl only succeeding in hurting herself even more. And Jose, deciding to make her suffer even more, had began to increase the strength of his magic when…

 _ **READY, GO ! SPARKLING FINISH !**_

 _ **MIGHTY DOUBLE CRITICAL FINISH !**_

Jumping high in the air from where they were laying just a seconds before, the three Riders, foot covered in bubbling red and blue energy for Sento and digital looking azure and orange for the two brothers, came falling like three fusing meteor on Jose who, for once, didn't reacted quickly enough to dodge, taking the triple kick full on, the master catapulted at the other end of the room, crashing in a wall, but quickly getting back up, glaring at the Riders who, much to Erza's surprise, undid their transformation.

\- "What are you guys doing ?!" she asked, genuinely fearing for their lives. "Why did you canceled…"

\- "This guy is the worst kind of people you can met in your life." Began Sento, cutting Erza as he reached for the box on his waist, pulling the Hazard Trigger out of it. "When I first used this, I had a hard time controlling it and end up doing things I couldn't forgive myself for. But one thing's sure this time : if I lost control, I won't feel sorry one bit."

\- "He's done too much to those we consider as a second family for us to ever forgive him." Added Emu, grabbing the Maximum Mighty X Gashat. "I'll give it my all, and protect our new family with my own hands !"

\- "Those are nice words, but I'd like to be the one doing the protection part." A new voice suddenly rang through the room, startling the Riders who turned around to look at the cloud of smoke where the voice came from, a voice they all recognized but had a hard time believing. "Jose… You have spilled much blood here… The blood of children…" the voice was getting closer, its owner slowly getting out of the smoke, confirming the mages and Riders thought about his identity. "Thanks to pitiful parents, children went through pain and shed many tears…. This had gone far enough… I must put an end to this !"

The owner of the voice was now standing in between Jose and the three others, his power shaking the ground as he glared at the Phantom Lord master, as the three others felt like this fight might finally come to an end as Makarov Dreyar was back.

\- "Master…" whispered Erza, tears in her eyes, the Riders simply looking at him with wide eyes, amazed that he was already back on his feet. For Emu, who was a doctor, this speedy recovery was out of this world.

\- "So you wish to cause a cataclysm ?" said Jose, looking at Makarov with madness shining in his eyes to which Makarov answered with a strong stare and an iron will.

\- "If it is necessary for my guild."

 _ **Wow, here we are. The masters showdown in coming ! I hope you all liked this chapter. As always, don't forget to leave a review, a PM or even just a follow or a fav to let me know if you liked it. See you in about a week, as usual, for the next one who will mark the end of this arc (at least). See ya !**_

 _ **Next time : The light of Fairy Law.**_ _ **An**_ _ **OOOps and a goodbye. The Lion's life is burning bright.**_


	25. Chapter 25 : Ending of a war

**Hello guys, how are you ? for my part, I'm good and happy to go and write that chapter that will mark the end of the Phantom Lord arc. I hope you'll like it and if you do, or don't, leave a review or just fav and/or follow the story so I can know what you think of it.**

 **I'm going to sped up a little the Riders transformation sequence sometimes, shortening it since some can be quite long sometimes, but I trust you won't have any problem visualizing how it happen in reality. And for Eiji and Ankh, they won't stay with the others, but I'm going to use a little stratagem to make them stay for at least this chapter to get some Ankh moments but he won't stay with the others, but someone will.**

 **Let's go !**

 **Chapter 25 : Ending of a war**

Wind blew gently in the lush trees, rustling their foliage as leaves flew around, falling like a green rain on the small hut of the pink haired healer as she gazed at the sky, her face solemn, eyes half closed as her mind was wandering.

 _"The trees… The earth… The atmosphere… They are all afraid…"_ she thought, feeling the elements around her shaking in fear of something to come. An angle passed and she suddenly lost her coolness, her fury back again as she swing her broom around her, fighting an invisible foe.

\- "UGH, this is why humanity is such a foolish race !" she roared, kicking and knocking down crates stacked next to her spilling their content in the process. "A race of simpletons who see fighting as the only way to accomplish anything ! That idiot Makarov ! If you want to die so much then go ahead !"

Going from hating humanity to cursing Makarov, Porlyusica had sent everything around her to the ground, one of them being a crates full of apple, the fruit rolling on the ground and one of them, rolling farther than the rest and stopping next to a man, sitting on a trunk, his body completely covered by clothes who silently reached and grabbed a hold of the apple. This was an unexpected guest and one Porlyusica knew very well.

\- "Mystogan." She simply said, a pretty simple greeting that didn't seemed to bother the mysterious S-Class Mage who waved the hand holding the apple.

\- "May I ?"

\- "I see… Now I understand how Makarov could have recovered so quickly. You gathered up all his magic back together." She deduced, looking at the back of Mystogan who, carelessly, took a bite of the apple, much to the old lady annoyance. "Don't just go around eating things !"

\- "A giant has made his move…" he said between his bites, keeping in his words as mysterious as he was himself. "The war will soon reach a conclusion."

\- "Though I don't like to make remarks that endorse the fighting of humans amongst one another… You're one of Makarov's nakama too. Shouldn't you get out there too ? It doesn't seems like your concerned by this conflict one bit."

True to his quiet self, Mystogan said no words to answer Porlyusica. Instead, he let the wind picked up and swipe a bunch of square clothes, all carrying the same symbol, much to Porlyusica's surprise. This symbol was Phantom Lord guild mark.

 _"Don't tell me… He singlehandedly destroyed all of Phantom's subdivisions ?!"_ she thought to herself in shock, genuinely surprise by what he did.

\- "I'd like one more of your apples."

Only to go back to her anger at the sudden out of subject question.

\- "I hope you're not planning on leaving your trashes lying on the ground !" she shouted, referring to the flags that now littered the ground. After a few seconds of silence during which Mystogan had sat down again, munching on another apple as Porlyusica continued her complaining.

\- "Truly, you people amaze me." She began, her face showing a certain sadness. "An excess of power causes nothing but sorrows… and anger can cause one to forget that one is caught up in that whirlwind of tragedies." Mystogan listened, staying silent a moment before looking at the sky, giving his own view on this.

\- "I wish to believe that those tragedies too are swathed in a sacred light. A sacred light, guiding us all." They stayed silent for a few seconds, deep in though before Mystogan finally got up, ready to take his leave. "Well, I should probably go. But there's one last thing I wanted to talk to you about." Porlyusica lifted her head, wondering what he wanted to talk about. "Did you met… Those Riders that joined Fairy Tail ?"

\- "… Yes I did. Only one of them, but I immediately felt that they weren't from that world. But I don't know much." Porlyusica said, remembering her encounter with Emu.

\- "From what I got told, they came in this world to fight against an evil organization from their world who have found a way to come to our own." Revealed Mystogan. "Apparently, they already helped Fairy Tail and even the council against those men but I can't help but feel worried. They say they come from another world, do you think this might affect the Anima ?"

Mystogan question tensed Porlyusica, apparently understanding his worry, but she shook her head negatively.

\- "No. I don't how they came here, but Anima has nothing to do with it." She revealed. "The one I met had not a single trace of it on him. However, there's still the mystery about whether or not their presence might affect the Anima or not, and if it does, in what way."

Both of them stayed silent after that, wondering about how things will turn out while back at Magnolia, war was reaching its end.

/- Back in Phantom Lord's HQ -/

The whole place was crumbling, falling into pieces due to the damages Natsu did when fighting Gajeel, large cracks appearing in the walls, roof and ground, threatening to fall apart and flatten everyone but no one dared to move, except for three mages who, until there, were out cold.

\- "Urg… What is this…" Groaned Gray as he woke up, lifting himself from the ground, a hand on his face, Elfman and Mirajane also waking up next to him.

\- "Wait… This kind of warm feeling…" said Mira, her eyes widening ever so slightly. "This magic that feel almost nostalgic, this is…"

\- "You must all leave this place." Came Makarov voice, catching the three attention as they realized that their master, who was supposed to be unable to fight, stood in front of Jose.

\- "Master ?! Why are you here !?" exclaimed Elfman, shocked as hell, stopping when he saw Erza running toward them.

\- "We should just listen to him." She said, glancing at the old man and his opponent. "If we stay, we'll just be a burden to him." She said as she helped Mira to her feet. As for Sento and Emu, they didn't moved, their hands clenching on the Hazard Trigger and Maximum Mighty X Gashat respectively, Makarov sensing their uneasiness before addressing them without turning to look at the boys.

\- "Don't worry, I'll be fine. After all, if Jose really want to prove they are the best, he won't go and use a foreign power himself, am I right ?"

\- "Indeed." Confirmed Jose, his smirk still present on his face. "I do admit that I was tempted at first, but I'm already powerful enough and I have faith in this strength." He said proudly, thought a sigh escaped his lips. "Which wasn't the case for some of my best elements. Aria, Sol and Totomaru accepted that power easily, Juvia and Gajeel being the only one with enough pride to refuse, even if they end up using them, albeit unwillingly."

\- "See ? He won't use that kind of power, so you can let me handle it myself." Added Makarov, talking to the Riders. "Get the others back to the guild. I won't be long."

\- "Alright, Emu, let's go." Sento said, accepting Makarov's decision, putting the trigger back in the box and pulling two FullBottles out of it.

\- "Okay." Emu said, doing the same with his maximum level Gashat, pulling two already used ones out.

 _ **TAKA ! GATLING ! BEST MATCH ! ARE YOU READY ? TENKUU NO ABARENBOU ! HAWKGATLING ! YEAH !**_

 _ **GACHAN ! LEVEL UP ! BAND BANG SHOOTING ! A GATCHA ! JET COMBAT !**_

The Riders flew off, grabbing the girls and boys on the way, pulling them out of the room and out of the building, back to their friends, leaving the two masters alone. While Makarov was looking totally serious, Jose was almost amused by the way the event were playing themselves.

\- "It has been, what, 6 years since we last stood face-to-face like that ? Who would have imagined at the time that Fairy Tail would become such a large guild in such a short time ? Ah… It's going to be nothing much but a pile of rubble anytime soon, now."

\- "A guild is not a building or anything physical !" declared Makarov, a light shining on his index finger as he drew lines around him. "It's the sum of its members !"

\- "Still, this does make me very happy…" continued Jose, his smile glued to his face. "For two of the Ten Wizard Saints to contest like this, to determine whom is superior."

\- "Youngsters, I thank you all for your efforts. Whether you're from this world or not, you have done well." Said Makarov to himself, his drawing expanding little by little, the old man not listening to his opponent. "Take pride in being a part of Fairy Tail !"

Suddenly, the clouds swirled in the sky, covering the otherwise sunny sky with a large layer of clouds who darkened everything as if night had fallen suddenly, the ground shaking like a mini earthquake and the water of the lake thrashing like a stormy sea as Makarov summoned his magic, sending a bolt of magic at Jose, piercing him in the shoulder in a blink of an eye, which shocked Jose for a second as he got sent flying, a grin coming back to his face as the same kind of wound suddenly appeared on Makarov at the exact same place as his own wound.

 _ **DEAD WAVE !**_

Getting back up, Jose struck the ground, sending a powerful blast of ghosts made of pure magic at Makarov who did some quick hand gestures, ending it by putting them in a triangle in front of him, two circle of magic forming around him, the master shouting as a powerful shockwave shook the whole run down building, sending Natsu, who was still inside, back to the ground, Lucy kneeling next to him with Kouta and a still "Ankh-ified" Happy.

\- "Natsu, are you okay ?!"

\- "What was that just now ?" wondered Ankh, looking around, frowning a little as Natsu grinned, much to the others confusion.

\- "There's only the old guy to have this kind of power." He said, looking genuinely amazed at the power his master was displaying.

\- "That's Makarov's power ?!" repeated Kouta, eyes wide as saucers. "Damn, that's what I call power."

\- "Fairly impressive." Said Makarov as he and Jose stood in front of each other, that last blast having them paused for a few seconds to talk. "So much power at such a young age… You have at least earned your place among the Ten Wizard Saints." Admitted Makarov, not being the one to lie. "Had you chosen to use your power for good and be a model for those still younger than yourself, the world of mages would surely have benefited greatly."

\- "Is that preaching I am hearing, old man ?" said Jose, almost tauntingly as Makarov just complimented the one who had declared war on his guild.

\- "As if the custom of Fairy Tail's justice system… I shall give you until the count of three." Said Makarov, trembling a little before suddenly growing until he broke the roof, towering over the other master. "Kneel."

\- "Hmm ?" was Jose's only reaction as he gazed at the giant, not impressed one bit.

\- "One." Began Makarov, white eyes glaring at Jose.

\- "Hahaha ! I was wondering what nonsense you were spouting, but asking me to kneel ?!"

\- "Two." Makarov put his hand close to each other, magic gathering to form a ball in between them.

\- "You want me to kneel before you, to acknowledge you as the greatest guild in the kingdom ?! Stop fooling around ! In combat, I am your match !" roared Jose, showing his defiance by ignoring Makarov warning. "No, more than that : I am the strongest ! You even needed help from people from another world to be a match to us !"

\- "Three."

\- "You are the ones who should be kneeling before me ! Now die ! CRUMBLE TO DUST AND VANISH FROM THE FACE OF HISTORY ! FAIRY TAIL !"

\- "That's enough." Said Makarov, slapping his hands together on the magic sphere, power surging from the ground around him as he held his hands like in a prayer.

 _ **FAIRY LAW : ACTIVATE !**_

Above the guild, the layer of clouds literally open up, as if the heaven themselves were looking down at what was happening as a bright light began to engulf the room Makarov and Jose were in, the light expanding even outside the building, blinding up to the mages and Riders who were eithers flying back to the guild or defending it against the Shades. And talking about the Shades, if the light was blinding the mages and Riders, it was utterly pulverizing the Shades who melted like ice in a desert.

\- "What is that light ?!" wondered Haruto, shielding his eyes from the light for a few seconds before he finally got used to it.

\- "The Shades are the only one affected." Noticed Shinnosuke, looking at the disappearing ghosts. "It's like… That light 'now' we aren't the enemy…"

\- "It's the Fairy Law !" finally said Erza, looking at the light with wide eyes full of admiration, much to the Riders and even the mages confusion. Apparently, the name Fairy Law wasn't really known.

\- "Fairy Law ? Is that some kind of spell ?" asked Sento, rubbing his chin interrogatively while standing next to Erza and the group they had brought back from the Phantom Lord guild with Emu.

\- "Yes. It's a holy light that assault the darkness." She explained, her smile still plastered on her face. "It only attacks things that the caster identify as an enemy ! This is a super-magic that can be counted as one of the legendary spells !"

\- "It only hurt the caster's enemy ?" repeated Emu, whistling in amazement. "I guess it has been used by Makarov, then ? If it was strong enough to wipe out all those Shades, I wonder how effective it must be a close range."

More than effective, it was fatal. As the light disappeared, Makarov had shrunk back to his former size, gazing at a Jose who was nowhere as confident. He was now completely white, from head to toes, eyes white and revulsed, his whole body shaking as he stood, completely still, what looked like cracks all over his skin and clothes.

\- "Never come near Fairy Tail again." Said Makarov, turning his heels as he walked away from the vanquished master. "You've done so much damage, the council won't be quiet about this ! For now we should… Take care of ourselves."

And as he walked away, Aria appeared out of nowhere in a swirl of wind. His body was battered as if he had been stomped over by a giant, which wasn't that far from the truth, diving at Makarov from behind, the old man seemingly not noticing him.

"Just like before ! He's full of opening ! I've got him !" he rambled, his mind racing as his eyes shone out of pure madness, smiling broadly.

*BAM* But this time, Makarov only seemed to not notice him. But the fist that hit Aria right in the jaw, knocking him out in less than a second proved that he had indeed noticed him and this time, he wouldn't take any bullshit from anyone right now.

\- "It's over ! We've ended this battle between us !" said Makarov without turning around, frowning as he kept walking. "If you wish to fight… I will this time exterminate you to nothing !"

While he walked out of the guild, outside, the mages and Riders were already celebrating for their victory against Phantom Lord, hugging and cheering between themselves, also welcoming back those who had gone to fought inside the giant robot-guild. Even Eiji and his double got thanked. After all, he might be a stranger, but he was a friend of the Kamen Rider and fought with them to protect, successfully at that, the guild from the Shades, which was more than enough for the mages to thank him. At the same time, Lucy had just landed among her friends, rubbing her neck sheepishly as she smiled at them, everyone happy to see her, Happy floating next to her and Kouta walking on the opposite side. However, Happy grabbed a lot of attention.

\- "Hey, Happy. What happened to you ? What's that arm ? Are you imitating Elfman ?" wondered Nab as they walked to him, only to be shout at by the flying feline.

\- "I'm no Happy, you dunderhead !" His voice, deeper than usual, grabbing attention.

\- "Wow, talk about a bad mood. Maybe you need to eat something." Said Mira, walking to him, grabbing his attention.

\- "That would please me, yes." He said, turning to the white haired barmaid, people still looking at him weirdly.

\- "Okay, I'll go in the basement and grab you some fish, okay ?"

\- "Fish ? Are you out of your mind ? You can keep it."

\- "WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT DID YOU DO TO HAPPY ?!" Was the global reaction, everyone shouting and pointing accusingly at Ankh who looked around, confused on how fish could cause such an uproar while Kouta said nothing, finding this situation a little too amusing while Lucy couldn't say a thing above the noise.

\- "What's the commotion ?" said Eiji, the original one in Gatakariba as he walked past the mages, noticing the floating cat with a quite familiar hairdo, hand and scowl. He stayed silent for a few seconds, Ankh, looking at him, also quiet.

\- "Wait, you know that thing ?" asked Elfman, pointing at Happy while looking at Eiji who turned to look at the man, nodding.

\- "That Ankh, an homunculi called a Greeed and apparently, he took over that cat."

\- "TOOK OVER !?" they all shouted, now turning back at the Greeed, their magic activating and aimed at the creature. "Give us Happy back, right now !"

\- "Okay, STOP !" Shouted Eiji, putting himself in between the mages and Ankh, who was feeling tensed at such animosity. "He's a friend of mine, don't worry."

\- "I'll give that cat his body back when we'll leave that place, hopefully soon enough." Promised Ankh. "He won't have any sequel. Now, calm down !" The mages stayed as they were for a few moments before finally calming themselves, but not without one last warning from Erza.

\- "Very well, but you better behave yourself while you're in him. Otherwise, I'll make you pay in any way I'll need to, is that clear ?" Ankh would have been as cold as he usually was and gave her the cold shoulder by telling her to go bother someone else, but the sharp sword put against his neck was strangely calming. So he simply grunted in agreement as Erza pulled her swords away, looking satisfied with the answer when she noticed that someone was missing. "Where's Natsu ?" asked Erza, frowning slightly, Lucy answering her.

\- "He stayed behind. He had some business to take care off."

/- With Natsu -/

\- "Oi, can you hear me, Gajeel ?"

Natsu was laying among what was left of the room he and Gajeel fought in, the other Dragon Slayer laying on the ground a few feet under him. Seeing the other mage didn't answered, he continued.

\- "Fine… whatever… I intended to make it quick anyway…" he began as he rolled on himself so he was laying on his belly. "Your Dragon Slayer magic… Where did you learn it ?" Still no answer, much to his annoyance. "Hey ! It's the first time I met with someone who have the same kind of magic as me ! You could at least tell me…"

\- "Metalicana…" suddenly said Gajeel, grabbing Natsu's attention. "The Steel Dragon Metalicana."

\- "So you did learn from a dragon, too !?" This time, it was Gajeel who seemed surprised by his statement about it being the case for him too. "Where is he now ?!" asked Natsu, crawling to his fellow Slayer, excited about learning something that could lead him to Igneel. But Gajeel answer wasn't the one he hoped.

\- "I dunno."

\- "WHERE… IS… HE !?"

\- "I said I don't know ! Trash !" both slayer bumped their head during their small quarrel, which made them both wince in pain. And during their forehead nursing, Gajeel gave more details. "He disappeared." He said, grabbing Natsu's attention once again. "He disappeared one day, without saying anything. What a selfish ass…"

\- "Let me guess…" began Natsu, feeling like this was a little too similar to what happened to him. "Did it happened on July 7th, seven years ago ?" This time, it was Gajeel's time to be shocked, turning to Natsu.

\- "Wait, you mean to tell me that two dragons disappeared on the same day, 7 years ago, year 777, on July 7th ? That's way too weird."

\- "Yeah, it does." Admitted Natsu as he got up, face strained by the pain he felt. "Well, I'll go back to my friend, but if you found anything about Igneel, my dragon, tell me."

\- "And why should I do that ?! Are you making fun of me ?!" shouted Gajeel, apparently not amused by what Natsu proposed, the fire Slayer turning to Gajeel with a grin.

\- "Aren't we both Dragon Slayers ? Isn't that a good enough reason ? I'm sure we will see each other again."

As Natsu walked away, heading back to his friends, Gajeel looked at him go, a scowl on his face. As much as he wanted to pound that stupid fire breather into the ground, he couldn't help but be thankful he got to meet him. It wasn't much, but now that he knew he wasn't the only one who was looking for a dragon, his dream of finding it once again felt much more real.

/- Back at the guild -/

\- "Hmm, it's still standing at least." Commented Makarov, standing in front of the guild who, despite everything that happened to it, was still standing. They were now all gathered in front of the building. Everyone was now calm and quiet as they looked at their master, the riders standing on the side, still transformed, looking at the scene as Lucy walked up to Makarov from behind, fidgeting around, visibly embarrassed by something.

\- "Uh…Um, Master… I…"

\- "Don't look like that, Lu-chan."

A new voice took Lucy out of her guilt induced sadness as she looked to the side to see Levy, standing with Jet and Droy, the three of them still bandaged, Jet with a arm in a cast and Droy on crutches. Reedus was also here, still wounded from when he had tried to protect Lucy from Gajeel? They weren't in the best of shapes, but they were okay.

\- "Levi-chan. Reedus. Jet… Droy…"

\- "Sorry for making you worry." Said Levy as Lucy was shaking slightly at the sight of her friends, but not because she was afraid or cold, but because she could hardly keep her emotion under control, her guilt trying to fight against the fact that no one seemed to be holding what happened against her.

\- "N…No… That's my…"

\- "We heard the story but no one here think it's your fault, Lu-chan." Added Levi, much to Lucy's distress, her conflicting emotion growing more and more. And Reedus excusing himself for being unable to protect her adding to her conflict.

\- "Lucy…" began Makarov, his voice soothing as he addressed the girl without looking at her directly. "Happiness, sadness…. We can't share all of it, but we can to some extent. That's what a guild is. One person's happiness is everyone's happiness. One person's anger is everyone's anger. One person's tears is everyone's tears. You don't have to suffer with guilt. Our thoughts should reach you." He said, finally turning to look at her, a gentle smile on his face. "Raise your head. You're a member of Fairy Tail."

This was the last straw for Lucy who couldn't hold it back anymore and began to cry soundly, her tears swallowed by the laughter from the others mages and Riders, Levy running to her friend who had fallen to her knees on the ground, wailing like a newborn, joy and sadness mixing in her sobs.

\- "THAT'S why I love you all ! Such strong bonds and friendship, I love that."

Everybody turned to Gentaro who had shouted with glee at the scene in front of him, finding this whole philosophy great. Noticing the Riders, Makarov turned to them.

\- "I think I must thank you all, too. From what I got, you defended that place along them and gave us a much needed help against those reinforcement we weren't expecting." He said, looking up at the guys who where standing a little bit more straight, as if the stood to attention. "To be perfectly honest, at first, I feared that since Shocker didn't seemed to be involved, you wouldn't get involved neither, but you proved that you truly belong to this guild." He said smiling as he looked at the OOO double. "Whether you're staying or not, by the way." He then caught sight of Happy, looking at it for a moment before talking. "Happy, did you ate something bad ? You look sick."

\- "You're the sick one, old man !" Shouted Ankh, sick of being mistaken for the cat, kinda forgetting that he was the said cat. But Makarov didn't pushed it and turned back to Eiji.

\- "So, who you all young men are ?"

\- "Well, in fact, we are all the one man." Said the original, in Gatakiriba, as he took a step forward. "My name is Eiji Hino. Kamen Rider OOO. And the Greeed who took over your cat friend is Ankh." He said pointing at the Greeed who just groaned. "And when we are called to help, we don't ask question and we help. But even without that, the Yummies kind of gave out who the bad guy was. And if I can help, it's with pleasure that I'll help." He said before looking at the building. "And talking about that, if you need help to repair the building, it will be with pleasure."

\- "I appreciate the proposition, but this should be okay. After all, it's not like you have anything to make amend of." Said Makarov as he walked to shake hands with the different doubles. "But I thank you for the help." As he got to shake hands with the SaGohZo, the grey combo walked out of the ground but tripped on a stone and began to stumble, the master stepping out of the way to avoid being stomped by the large feet, the clone tripping on his feet and ending his race by falling just in front of a wall, one of the guild wall to be more precise, the horn on his head grazing the wall. And suddenly, large cracks spread from the horn all over the walls and the second after that, the whole guild fell to the ground, being now nothing more than a pile of rubbles, the Sagohzo's feet being the only thing that was still seen from the clone who was buried under the rubbles. No one said anything as they looked at the guild, or what was left of it, looking peeved. As for the Riders, they really felt embarrassed, looking everywhere but at the clone who disappeared, just like the others clones.

\- "I guess that… He just did an OOOpsie ? "

Everyone turned at Gentaro, who had sunglasses on his helmet, absolutely not ashamed by his comment and pun as Eiji followed suit, now back in his civilian clothes.

\- "Well, I guess I have a reason for coming back and help to rebuild, right ?" he said sheepishly. "I'm really sorry, I never intended to do that."

\- "Don't worry about it." Makarov shrugged, not minding what happened. "It was so badly damaged that it was impossible to repair so we should have destroyed it anyway to build another one. Well, I guess your help is going to be welcomed, in the end."

The master and Eiji shook their hands, sealing the deal when Sento suddenly came and grabbed Ankh without a single word, much to everyone's confusion.

\- "Hey. What are you doing ?" asked the Greeed, fidgeting in Sento's arm, the scientist looking at him with a crazed spark in his eyes, a tuft of air raised on his head.

\- "Isn't that obvious ? I have to do some experiment on you;" he said as if this was something perfectly normal, Ankh's eyes widening in shock, just as every body else. "I mean, Exceed aren't just cat, they are some sort of magical beings and you could take one over easily, even managing to use his wings. I have to see how you did it and I'll do everything I can to discover why you could do it."

\- "Wait, what do you mean by 'everything' ?" asked Ankh, frightened by what that could imply and with Sento's silence and weird smile answering him, he got his answer. "No. NONONONO ! I won't let you do whatever you want with my body ! Let me go ! LET ME GOOOOO !"

\- "Let him go, you mad scientist !" Cried Natsu as he grabbed Sento's arm, trying to make him lose his hold on the Exceed, but when Sento had his mind set on something, pulling him out of it was mission impossible. "I can't let you do who know what to Happy !"

\- "I ain't Happy, you dimwit !" shouted Ankh, switching target for a moment as he looked at Natsu.

\- "You're in HIS body, you demon !" answered Natsu, just as pissed. "I could care less about what happen to you ! I'm only worried about Happy !"

\- "Why are you reacting like that ? I'm only doing this for science." Said Sento, sighing in annoyance as he kept walking, literally dragging Natsu as he tried to stop him.

\- "I DON'T FUCKING CARE ! JUST LET ME/HIM GO !"

Everyone laughed at what was happening in front of them, finding that scene very funny as Makarov looked at them, smiling, happy to see them all smile despite everything that happened.

"Yes. This is how we should all be feeling. This is the bond of Fairy Tail !" he thought proudly as darker thought crossed his mind, his face sweating and falling as they came. "On a side note, the council's going to be really angry… Wait… What if I get arrested, this time…" And with that, he began to cry, sorrow and fear about the council's future decision. For him and a few others, the next week was going to be complicated.

/- One week later -/

It has now been 1 week since the war against Phantom Lord ended with Fairy tail's victory and everything was slowly coming back to normal after a complicated period during which the council had, of course, investigated to discover what really happened. Barely a few minutes after they defeated Phantom, a whole platoon of Rune Knight working for the council came and began to investigate. They were questioned again and again, a full week of questioning that took it's toll on the mages, and even more on the Riders who were questioned a lot more than the mages, the council using this occasion to ask question that weren't really related to the event that transpired. Apparently, the council seemed to be convinced that they were hiding something huge and they wanted to get to the bottom of it, but they didn't get much information, as the Riders suddenly felt a lot more suspicious toward the council. Anyway, after one week, it was finally done, or partially done at least. The council still had to take a decision regarding what happened and give their verdict. But for now, they were all living their life without a care in the world, or at least not much, but they weren't working on jobs. Instead, they all were working on rebuilding the guild from scratch after the 'OOO Incident'.

\- "Heeeeaaaavy…."

Currently, Natsu was showing off, or maybe being simply stupid, as he was straining, trying to lift more than a dozen wooden beam on his back, his face constricted by the effort. This unnecessary display annoyed Gray, who was currently carrying one of those beams on his shoulder, looking at Natsu with a glare.

\- "Of course it is, you idiot. That's because you're trying to hold so many at once." he asked, before turning his head to the other side, feeling like he was being watched, only to see nothing, even though the feeling of uneasiness still lingered on him.

\- "HA ! That's probably your limit since you're so weak !" Taunted Natsu, mocking Gray who tried, and failed, not to be affected by the comment.

\- "Huh ? If I felt like it, I could carry twice as much as you !" And he did as a few minutes later, he was carrying twice the beams as Natsu had on his back, almost on his knees as he was bent in half, trying to hold on, his breath short as he was clearly straining.

*CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP*

Once again distracted, this time by a clapping who once again seemed to be coming from nowhere, distracting him a little too much as his legs gave up, ending up buried under all the wood he was carrying, much to Natsu's own fun who was laughing his ass off.

\- "AHAHAHAHAH ! So shameful, you couldn't even hold them !"

\- "Shut up, ash breath ! You were already straining with half less !" countered Gray from under the pile, Natsu reddening slightly in embarrassment as he couldn't deny that he did had trouble. But her was prevented from bickering with Gray when a wide arms shadow loomed over him.

\- "If you got trouble with those, you can just ask." Said SaGohZo Eiji as he came and lifted all the beams on his shoulder before walking away, followed by two others SaGohZo, carrying just as much wood, the two mages looking at them go, feeling peeved to see him lift them so easily while they couldn't even support half of them. Because indeed, Eiji hold his promise and came back to help them to rebuild what he had destroyed, even if people kept telling him that the building would have been destroyed anyway to rebuilt it. Of course, he came back with Ankh who had gone and took over Happy once again. This was the best host for him since that way, he wasn't taking over a mage whose power could be needed at some point, which would have forced him to switch hosts all the time. But this host also had some cons.

\- "And what about this one ?" asked a cheerful barmaid, holding a small version of the vest Makarov wore during the war.

\- "No."

He was currently sitting on the made up bar with Mirajane and he was currently wondering which was the worst : being Sento's guinea pig or being used by a barmaid who he had the misfortune to told about he missed having clothes, which had given her the perfect excuse to play doll with the Greeed. And if he wanted to fly away more than anything right now, one look at her way too sweet smile hiding a killing intent was enough to convince him that disappointing her would be worse than anything he's faced before, so he stayed silent and let her do as she pleased, much to his annoyance. Speaking about the Riders, they were all helping anyway they could. Gentaro had dug the foundation and was now sawing some beams, using his Chainsaw Module to get it down faster with the help of Emu, who had already hammered two of his fingers, showing that he knew how to use his hands when it came to healing, fighting and playing game, but nothing else. Haruto was using his Big Ring to hold together beams while Kouta and Shinnosuke were hammering them together.

\- "Hey, you guys." Came Erza's voice, requipped in builder's clothes, with helmet and all, as she looked at Gray and Natsu who had yet to go back to work, a wooden beam on her shoulder. "If you've got time playing around, hurry up and help. We've got to fix the guild as soon as possible !"

\- "She's really into it." Said Gentaro, lifting his head to look at her, before looking at the guild. "Then again, she's not the only one." He said as he looked at Makarov, in the form of a giant, putting large wood block into places. "He's really giving this is everything."

\- "AND HE SHOULDN'T !" Sento's angry shout could be heard all across Magnolia, his face showing every form of anger and distress possible. "Not with a plan like that ! Hell, that's not even a plan !"

While his colleagues were working directly on the building, Sento preferred to take a look at the plan and God only know how much he was glad he did, because they would have gone nowhere with the plan Makarov had done. It was not a plan, it was a drawing that seemed to be made by a child.

\- "Come on, Sento." Began Makarov, pouting like a child. "I pour my heart in this plan."

\- "The intention was here, but as we say in our world, Hell is paved with good intention." Retorted Sento. "You don't go and make plan for a building if you know nothing about architecture. The perspective is messed up, we have not a single information about the how the basic structure should be. Sorry if I'm blunt, but this is useless."

While Sento was trying to make the stubborn old guy realize that his plan wasn't one, others people had other problems.

*GRUUUUMBLE* - "Haaaaa…. I'm hungry…" groaned Natsu as his stomach woke up, shouting his hunger at everyone nearby as the Dragon Slayer fell flat on the ground.

\- "Yeah, I'm starting to get hungry, too." Admitted Gray, a hand on his stomach, feeling a rumble coming from it, albeit weaker than Natsu's one. *NYYYYYOOOOOW* in a blink of an eye, a blueish feminine silhouette had ran past Gray, disappearing as fast as it appeared, leaving behind it a package in Gray's hand, who looked at the neatly wrapped bundle with wide eyes.

\- "Uh ?! What happened ?" he wondered, still shocked by what happened as Natsu looked at where the silhouette had disappeared.

\- "Was that… A girl ?" he wondered, Sento looking their way, having witnessed the scene, a small smile on his face, as if he knew who did that. Meanwhile, Gray had opened the box, who appeared to be a fully packed bento, with a large rice portion with a heart drawn on the rice and a complete assortment of garnish, from vegetables to meat of many kinds.

\- "Wow ! I don't know who did that, but this looks good !" exclaimed Natsu, envious as he drooled at the meal Gray was holding. He was fighting his desire to literally dive on the bento and swallow it all.

\- "Well, it does look good. But how the hell am I supposed to eat all this ?" Said Gray, a little taken aback by the quantity, Natsu immediately spotting an opportunity.

\- "Then, can I have it ?!" asked the fire mage, drooling even more, but as Gray was about to agree, he was stopped by Sento.

\- "Come on, Gray. I don't know who did it, but this was for you." He said, glancing at the head of a blunette peaking at Gray from afar. "Even if you don't eat it all, the least you can do is to eat a part of it."

Gray didn't seemed convinced but in the end, he did just that and began to eat the bento with Natsu, the mysterious blunette looking a little disappointed.

 _"Juvia's a little sad ! She woke up early to make that for Gray-sama alone…"_ she thought to herself, small tears filling her eyes.

\- "Wow, it does taste as good as it looks. That's amazing !" admitted Gray, eagerly eating the content of the box, trying to eat as much as he could before Natsu could get his hand on everything and leave him with nothing.

\- "KYYYYAAA !"

\- "Huh ?!" Gray once again turned his head, once again feeling like he was observed but seeing no one, much to his annoyance and slight fear, Juvia having once again hidden behind a panel to avoid being seen, her hands keeping her mouth shut.

 _"Gray-sama liked it ! Juvia's so happy she could die !"_

\- "Natsu… Gray…" A shaky voice began, grabbing the two mages attention as they turned to the source. "C… Could… you give this to Lucy ?!" asked Loki, holding Lucy's key in his hand. But this wasn't what grabbed their attention the most. He was shaking and his face was thin, as if he didn't ate anything in the last few days.

\- "Loki ?! What the hell happened to you ?" said Gray, looking closely at his companion who smiled despite his apparent weakened state.

\- "Haha… It's tough… being a ladies man…" he said, trying to joke to divert them from him, but Gray didn't buy it. And as he was about to add something, Natsu had walked up to him and took the keys.

\- "Don't worry, I'll bring them back to her. She's probably home and now that I think about it, it's been a moment since we saw her. That will give s an occasion to go and check on her." He said, strangely joyous at the idea of going to see Lucy, already turning on his heels to go to her apartment.

\- "Wait, I'm coming with you." Said Emu as he approached them, dusting his hands. "I must say that I'm a little worried about her absence, so I'd like to be here to help if she's sick or something."

\- "Okay, then let's go !" said Natsu, turning to face Loki who had yet to move. "You're coming Loki ?"

\- "No, sorry. It's not against her but I have a bad experience with Stellar Spirit Mages." He said with a small smile, the look in his eyes a little to dim for Gray's liking who opened his mouth to say something when Erza came back, looking angry.

\- "You guys ! Where do you think you're going !? Get back to work immediately !" she roared, running after them while waving a large hammer above her head, ready to smash something, or rather someone, with it.

\- "RUN !" shouted Natsu as they ran away, straight to Lucy's home, an angry Erza following them.

/- Lucy's apartment -/

\- "Lucy ?! How are you doing ?!" shouted Natsu as he walked inside her apartment, only to find it strangely empty, Lucy not answering. Behind him, Gray and Emu entered the apartment, followed by Erza who was now wearing more casual clothes, Gray sweat dropping at her.

\- "And in the end, you came with us."

\- "I'm worried too." She simply said, the reason being quite simple, but it's not like they needed more.

\- "Why am I here ?" asked Ankh, bored as hell. Natsu had snatched him from Mirajane when they left the building site and if he was kind of happy to get rid of the demonic barmaid, he still wasn't really happy to be here.

\- "Because wherever I go, you go. Remember the deal." Reminded Natsu, pointing a finger at Ank who simply huffed in annoyance. He remembered the deal of course. The deal was that as long as he was in Happy's body, he had to : 1) always go where Natsu is going, just like Happy would do and 2) never do anything that could put Happy's body at risk. HE felt like a two years old whose parents always had an eye on, but with Erza's blade pointed right between his eye in a silence promise that any refusal would be synonym of eyes being gouged out, he had no choice but to agree with the deal. At least, they had agreed in making some ice sticks for him to eat, even if it was weird for them to see Happy eat something that wasn't a fish.

\- "Where is he ?" wondered Emu, when he suddenly thought about what happened recently and the guilt she felt, which made fear wash over him. "Check the bathroom ! I'm afraid that…"

\- "She's not here !" said Natsu, his head sticking out of the bathroom, his face slightly red.

\- "You're too quick to check the bathroom !" snapped Gray and Emu, shocked that he got so little shame.

\- "Looks like she's not here." Commented Ankh. He then flew around, looking for anything that might help them. "Maybe she left some kind of not…AAAARGH !" He had flew to a cupboard he had opened, only to get showered by a big quantity of letter, forming a pile under which he had been buried.

\- "Letters ? She wrote all those letters ?" wondered Natsu as he kneeled before the letters, looking at the sealed envelope with Emu. He would have opened them, but this wasn't something he should do. This would be invading Lucy's privacy. So he just read what was on the envelope.

\- "Dear mom… Dear mom… Dear mom… She wrote all those letters to her mother ? But why didn't she send them ?"

\- "Maybe because she ran away from home." Reminded Ankh sarcastically. "Then again, why did she wrote them if she knew she couldn't send them ?"

That question stayed without answer until Emu noticed that Erza was standing in front of Lucy's desk, her hair shadowing her eyes as she stared at the desk, raising Emu's curiosity.

\- "Erza, is there a problem ?"

\- "I found Lucy's note." She said, holding a small piece of paper as she turned to the boys, now deadly serious. "It says 'I'm going home.'"

\- "WHAAAAAAAAAT !?"

/- With Lucy -/

\- "I'm glad you came back… Lucy."

While her friends were all losing it over the note she had left on her desk, Lucy had been on a train heading back to her home town and to the Heartfilia residence. After everything that happened because of her, she realized that there was only one thing for her to do. Which explain why she was currently in her father study, wearing a regal dress. In front of her stood her father, Jude Heartfilia, owner of the Heartfilia Konzern. His hands behind his back, wearing a black tuxedo, he was looking at Lucy with an angry spark in his eyes, proof that if he was happy she was back, he was still pissed by her running away from home.

\- "I apologize for leaving without a word." Lucy said, bowing slightly at her father. "I shouldn't have left like that. I deeply regret it."

\- "You took a wise decision. If you had been any longer in the guild… I was on the verge of using my wealth to destroy it." Declared Jude, not even a note of shame in his voice.

"Because you weren't already doing that ?!" thought Lucy sarcastically, boiling inside but staying silent and keeping her façade of the nice and sorry little girl.

\- "You've finally grown up, Lucy. It seems you've learned an important lesson in just how destructive your selfish action can be." Lucy internally laughed at the irony, his own egoism at wanting to get her back having caused more damages than needed. "You are the daughter of the Heartfilia family. You live in a different world than everyone else." Lucy hung her head, those words feeling bitter to her as she remembered Natsu, telling her she belonged more to the dirty bar that was Fairy Tail, that the term of 'Lady' wasn't suiting her, a small smile gracing her lips, one her father saw but didn't paid attention to. "Anyway, if I called you back, it's because your future husband has been decided."

Lucy died a little on the inside. She had a little hope he was looking for her because a dad was worried for his daughter, but of course, it was nothing like that. He was just trying to save the future of his company. She frown but said nothing for now.

\- "He's the prince Sawalu, of the Julenelles. I'm sure you remember, as he expressed interest in you before."

\- "Yes, he did…" she said, frowning even more as she remembered clearly that guy. Fat and sweaty with an unbearable pronunciation default whose interest in her was only in her body.

\- "By marrying into the Julenelles, the Heartfilia Railways will be able to expand south." Began Jude, his voice now professional as he turned his back at Lucy, looking through the windows of his study. "This marriage has tremendous value to the future of our family. And you must also give birth to a son to continue our family name." The word family was the only thing that really grabbed her attention, caressing the Fairy Tail guild mark on her right hand. "That is all. Return to your room."

As Jude had finished and dismissed his daughter, Lucy had decided that she had heard enough, and decided that now was the time to do what she first came here for. Something she knew had to be done as she didn't do it when she first left this place.

\- "Father… Don't misunderstand me !" she began, her voice strong and decided as she looked at her father who was clearly surprised to hear her talk back, something he wasn't used to. "The reason I came back was to make myself clear ! I know it was wrong of me not to say a word. That's no different than running away. That's why I came back, to express my feelings. I'm leaving this house !" She declared, her tone not leaving any room to negotiation. Her decision was final and nothing her father, who was looking at her with wide shocked eyes, could say would make her change her mind.

\- "I will walk my own path ! You have no right to decide who I marry ! And don't you dare lay a finger on Fairy Tail again !" As she said that, she grabbed the front of her dress, ripping it to shreds, leaving her in her bustier, not that she was embarrassed by that. "The next time you even try, I… No, the entire guild will see you as our enemy." Now, Jude was petrified, shocked by her daughter sudden change in behavior and by the pure anger she felt toward him. "If you hadn't interfered, we could have continued our civil conversation, but it's too late for that now, you've caused too much harm to my friends ! I don't care about money or beautiful clothes ! I want a place to be respected for who I am ! Fairy Tail is my other family ! They're much more caring than this one ever was. I admit that leaving this place is painful because of the memories I made with mother here, and I'll miss everyone here." She said, the staff of the residence in tears as they eavesdropped on the conversation. "But… If mother was still alive, I know she would tell me to follow my heart." The sweet smile on Lucy's face as she thought of her mother was full of nostalgia, but what shocked Jude up to his core was that for the span of a moment, he swore he saw his deceased wife standing next to his daughter, arms crossed, a smile on her face as if she was approving of what Lucy just said. That's also why he did nothing to stop her when she turned her back to him.

\- "Farewell, father."

/- Later -/

Back in more classic clothes, Lucy was now standing in front of a large and beautifully engraved tomb, with a bunch of flower in front of it, Lucy looking up at the angel dominating the tomb with a small smile. Everything was pretty much calm until she heard a noise getting closer and closer, a rumbling noise she felt was pretty familiar. When the noise became way to loud and close, coming with people shouting at something, she turned her head to see a man in a white lab coat, riding a yellow bike. But he wasn't alone as he was followed by a flying pink haired young man thanks to a winged cat and on the bike were also a red head and a shirtless young man. To say that she was shocked by their presence would be an understatement, also dute to the fact that they were all tensed, talking about leaving the guild or others nonsense. It took many minutes to Lucy to convince them that they had nothing of the sort to fear and soon, the stress and anger they all felt was replaced by relief and joy, all laughing at the situation, all of this happening right under Jude's nose who was looking at them from his study.

\- "So you came to visit your mother's grave ?" repeated Emu, as they all walked back the way they came, now relieved that Lucy wasn't leaving the guild like they first feared.

\- "Yup. Sorry that I worried you guys." She said, rubbing her head in slight embarrassment.

\- "It's nothing. It's our fault for jumping to conclusion in the first place." Admitted Erza.

\- "By the way, I didn't realized it but this city is huge." Said Natsu, looking around him, amazed by the size of the place they were in, Lucy chuckling slightly.

\- "Ah, this is just the garden." She revealed as she pointed at the mountain on the horizon. "My family own all the lands up those mountains." When she realized that they were all gazing at her with wide eyes, Lucy got confused. "What's wrong ?"

\- "Your excellency ! It's an honor to know someone so humble !" shouted Natsu and Gray, standing at attention, much to Lucy's amusement and slight embarrassment.

\- "And here I thought that old Kougami was rich. This family could give him a run for his money." Muttered Ankh, the memory of the CEO making him cringe a little.

\- "Well, looks like we lost Natsu and Gray. Right, Erza ?" said Emu, turning to Erza was had her hands on her hips, looking at the sky with a distant stare.

\- "The sky… is blue…"

\- "Aaaaand we lost her too."

Lucy laughed at their reaction, feeling that she did made the right decision. This was her second family and in a way, the best of the two. She knew that starting from today, she will be able to be the one she really is without anyone telling her what to do. She was finally going to be herself, and she couldn't be any happier.

/- A few days later -/

While Makarov had gone to Era, accompanied by Shinnosuke, so the council could give their decision regarding the 'Phantom Incident', the rest of the guild was about to get some good news, coming from Mirajane.

\- "Everyone ! From today onward, we can receive job requests again !" she declared cheerfully, a big smile on her face. "Though this took a long time everyone should work hard at their jobs !" Every one cheered at the news, almost everyone rushing at the request board, causing a stampede that got some people getting trampled. But otherwise, they were all in a good mood, one Lucy had a little difficulty to understand.

\- "Why are they all getting excited about ? Usually, they just fool around and drink." She said, pointing at the crowd, Mirajane laughing at her statement. "By the way, have you seen Loki, Mira ?"

\- "Hmm, no, not recently. Why ? Have you fallen into his hands too ?" She said with a smirk, looking at Lucy with her matchmaker smile that made even the strongest in the guild cower in fear.

\- "NO ! I just wanted to thank him for retrieving my keys." She said, sighing. "Well, I guess that will have to wait."

\- "Now that you're talking about it, Loki has been weird lately." Said Gentaro, approaching Lucy and Mirajane with Natsu. Gentaro was transformed as he was just back from helping with preparing the wood block for the next step of the rebuilding. And talking about repairs, Eiji and Ankh were sent back to their home world but for a good reason. According to their friends, they were about to stabilize the portal, enough to send someone to join them permanently and they needed Eiji and Ankh back to make it happen. They were now waiting for their reinforcement, wondering when they would come.

\- "I'm sure there's nothing to be worried about." Said Natsu, standing next to Lucy. "He probably can't get over a girl. He'll get over… *BLAM* GAH !"

Natsu was suddenly knocked to the ground, hit behind the head by a flying table, much to everyone shock.

\- "YOU DARE SAY THAT AGAIN !" Came Erza's booming voice who stood, fist balled as anger filled her voice, and seeing who she was talking to, her anger became a little bit more understandable.

\- "Very well, I'll say it more clearly. This guild doesn't need weak bastards." Repeated Laxus, sitting on a bench, not seeing any problem in insulting his guildmates. "To be looked down upon by a guild like Phantom Lord… How embarrassing. I couldn't face anyone. And I'm talking about you, you three." He said, pointing at team Shadow Gear who hung their head in shame. "I heard you guys were beaten up by Iron Dragon Gajeel ? By the way, who are you guys ? You're disgrace ! AHAHAHAHAHAH !"

Laxus's laugh was too much for Levy who looked like she was about to cry, Laxus words hurting much more than she would have thought they would. And Lucy didn't liked it one bit. And neither did the Riders who all looked at Laxus with a glare, but staying silent for now, unlike Lucy who couldn't help but let some words escape.

\- "He's too much…" She said, glaring at Laxus, fists balled by her side, the S-class mage noticing her.

\- "Well, isn't this the princess who's the cause of all this ?"

\- "LAXUS !" Mirajane slammed her hands hard on the counter, grabbing the blonde man attention. "The matter is closed. There was no talk of blame from the start. You didn't participate in the fight and you don't need to add oil to the fire. Master said that."

\- "Of course this doesn't have anything to do with me." Admitted Laxus, almost proudly. "But if I was there, I wouldn't get beaten up like you did."

That last comment struck a nerves on the mages, and one of them was more pissed than the others.

\- "Laxus, you bastard !" roared Natsu as he rushed to punch Laxus, who literally zapped away from him in a shower of sparks. "LAXUS ! Duel with me, you unfeeling, unreasonable bastard ! I'll make you regret all those things you said !"

\- "Ahahahahah… you can't even touch me, and you still think you can beat me ?" laughed Laxus as sparks covered his hand, a nasty smile on his face. "If you really want to get fried, I'll be happy to remind you about who's the strongest !"

He pointed his hand at Natsu, a bolt of lightning coming to strike Natsu, creating an explosion which slightly blinded and when the light subsided, they all realized that the bolt didn't reached Natsu, but someone else who had stopped the bolt, a man clad in a golden suit with a shuttle shaped shield on his arm.

\- "I thought in this guild, you were all like a big family. This is clearly not how you should act with your friends." Said Gentaro, holding the shield up, twirling Billy the Rod with his right hand.

\- "So you're one of those guys who come from another world, the Kamen Riders, right ?" Asked Laxus, a small grin on his face. "I heard you were quite the fighters, exactly what a strong guild should be made of. Why are you wasting your time with those weaklings ?"

\- "Let me think about it ? Hmmmm, no." *KRZZZ* In a flash, Gentaro took a step forward and stabbed Laxus with his rod, taking the man by surprise, sending him a few steps back as he got zapped by the rod. Since his magic was an electric one, he wasn't that affected but it surprised him nonetheless. "I don't know what your problem is, but power isn't all that matter. And if you think you can act like you can do whatever you want here, you'll have another thing coming." At that, Laxus noticed the others Rider, all ready to jump in should they need it. But that only made Laxus smirk even more.

\- "I see. You think you're hot shit, huh ? When I'll succeed the guild, I'll erase all those weak shits away ! and every single one who opposes me ! I will build the strongest guild ! A guild that nobody will look down on. History's strongest guild ! AHAHAHAHAH !"

With that, Laxus left, laughing all the way as everybody looked at him, glaring at him.

\- "Succeed ? What kind of nonsense is he talking about ?" asked Lucy, sitting back on her stool next to Mirajane whose shoulder slumped as she sighed.

\- "It's not really nonsense." She said, looking at the glass in her hands. "After all, Laxus is master's blood and flesh grandson."

This shocked the Riders and Lucy, who just couldn't believe how a guy like him could be related in any way to Makarov. And for some of their mages friends, it didn't mattered.

\- "This bastards." Seethed Natsu, still trembling in anger. "That guy think he can say all those thing and get away with it ? I'll beat his ass one day for what he said." His insistence about what Laxus said left a strange impression on the Riders.

\- "Forget it… It'll be very troublesome if you have relations with that guy." Said erza, trying to calm Natsu as a smile appeared on her face. "How about this ? Want to take up a job ? Us four, just like before ?" she said, addressing Lucy, Gray, Natsu and Happy, much to the joy of the girl and Exceed and fear of the boys. As for the Riders, they all glanced at where Laxus had left, feeling like this was only the beginning of something that could become really bad.

/- A few days later -/

Natsu's team, composed of Lucy, Gray, Erza, Happy and of course Natsu, were all in Balsam, a small city known for his onsen, were they had just beaten a group of thieves hiding in a nearby castle. After taking care of that jobs, they had headed to the town to spend the night. After a nice bath in the hot source, Natsu, Gray and Erza had began a pillow fight but of course, like any other fight, they didn't knew how to hold back and after almost getting killed by a pillow who had send her through the room wall, Lucy decided to leave for a walk, with Happy coming with her.

\- "They really don't know how to hold back, huh ?" she said with a sigh, Happy simply answering with a 'Aye'. "Are they even human ?"

\- "Well, one of them was raised by a dragon." Said Happy, an argument that indeed could explain some things regarding Natsu. As Lucy giggled at him, she was joined by two new comers.

\- "Hey there, lady." She turned around to face two young man who were looking at her wide a pervert light in their eyes. "You look great in that yukata… Sightseeing ?"

\- "Wanna come with us for a drink or two ?"

\- "Sorry, I'm not interested…" she said, walking away when the guys grabbed her by her arm, and when she tried to pull away, she realized with horror that her body wasn't moving. _"What ? What's happening ? Are they… mages ?"_

\- "What was that ? Come on, play with us a little." Said the blonde one.

\- "Let's make this a real funky night, yeah ?" added the other as Lucy tried to break free when she was saved by a young man she knew pretty well, who knocked the two guys out in a blink of an eye.

\- "Are you alright ?" he asked, looking at the blonde who looked at him in shock.

\- "Loki !? What are you doing here ?"

\- "Those guys are rogue mages known for targeting women." He explain. "I was on a mission to capture them."

\- "Oh. Well, thank you for saving me." Said Lucy with a smile as Loki began to drag the two criminals away when she stopped him. "Hey… I would like to thank you for saving me, but also for getting my keys back the other day. Could you come with me for a bit ?"

Loki seemed confused but accepted her proposition and follower her to an inn located not far from where they met, both sitting at the bar. But much to Lucy's annoyance, Loki decided to let 3 empty seats between them.

\- "Are you for real, Loki ? I mean, I know you had an history with a Stellar Spirit mage, but I'd like to know what exactly. Why are you acting like that ?"

\- "I'm sorry about that, but I don't really want to talk about it." He said, looking down at the bar, his eyes reflecting a certain sorrow that Lucy couldn't help but notice. But she didn't insisted, seeing that she would go nowhere with him right now, so she got up from her seat and began to walk away.

\- "Well, I hope one day you'll be able to talk about it. Thank again for saving me."

\- "Wait." He suddenly said, grabbing her arm as he got up and, without warning, pulled her into a hug and if this was already shocking for the blonde, what he said was even worse. "Lucy… I… Don't have long left to live."

\- "Huh ?!" Now, Lucy felt shocked and afraid. This wasn't something she was ready to hear and she didn't knew how to react. Was that real ? Was he really about to die soon ? When he pushed her away a little, she was still petrified by what he said, but what he did next wasn't something she was expecting.

\- "AHAHAHAHAH !" Loki now began to laugh, much to Lucy's shock. "You fell for it ! It's a little trick I use when I'm chasing girls. It help to get some sympathy…"

*SLAP* Of course, this wasn't the kind of joke or stratagem Lucy liked and, anger replacing the sympathy she felt as her hand left a red stinging mark on his face.

\- "I hate those kind of joke !" she shouted, turning her heels in anger and slamming the door behind her, leaving Loki alone in the bar, the young man looking at the ground, balled fists by his side.

"What am I doing… I let my emotions get away from me… I can't drag Lucy into this !"

/- The next day -/

Little did Loki know, it was already to late as Lucy couldn't get his words away from her mind. She wasn't even fazed by Gray and Natsu, who managed to get covered in bandages due to their pillow fight the night before and were now trying to decide who had won that fight.

\- "Why do you even have to take a pillow fight so seriously ?" asked Gray, forehead head bumping on Natsu's one.

\- "I do everything with full effort !" retorted Natsu with the state of mind.

\- "And you still lost !" added Gray, taunting Natsu who of course came back at full force.

\- "WHAT ?! More like YOU lost !"

 _"How do you even determine who wins a pillow fight_?" even Juvia was trying to find some sort of logic in this dispute.

\- "LUCY ! Didn't I win !?" they both asked at the exact same time, turning to the blonde who…

\- "Knock it off !" Was clearly not in a mood to deal with their shit, the glare she send them calming them down immediately as if they just stared into Erza's angered eyes.

\- "So…Sorry." They said, almost surprised to feel genuine fear regarding the blonde. As for Lucy, she turned back to her glass, her mind wandering back to the one she couldn't help but think about recently. Namely Loki and what he did last night in Balsam. He seemed really genuine when he said he didn't much time to live. This plus the fact that he seemed to have problem with Stellar Spirit mages, she had some questions and she knew someone who would help her in getting the answer she needed. That night, and after running away from a group of angered girls who were all some of Loki's conquest Mira had involuntarily, or maybe not, send after her, she was now in her apartment, sitting on her bed with Happy as she faced one of her spirit, the spirit of the South Cross, Crux, who was an old man with a cross shaped head and long mustaches.

\- "So that's the way it is, crux-jiji." She said the old spirit to which she explained what happened recently with Loki. "I overreacted and slapped him. But as I think about it, I can't help but feel like he wasn't joking. Can you find anything about any Stellar Spirit mages who has been involved with Loki in the past ?"

With a hum, the old spirit began to wobble slightly before his arms fell limply by his side, his mouth opened slightly as he began to slightly snore.

\- "He fell asleep, Lucy !" warned Happy, but Lucy didn't seemed surprised.

\- "No, he's searching." Said Lucy, much to the cat shock. "He's an expert on Stellar Spirit magic. He know all that's going on between the human and spirit world. He even know which spirits had been summoned by which mages."

\- "AHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA !" The old spirit suddenly woke up with a powerful shout that made Happy cower behind Lucy in fear, the blonde edging closer to the spirit to listen to what he had to say. "In the Spirit world, one's activities is still a private matter, so I can't be precise." He began in with calm voice. "The Stellar Spirit mage Mr Loki has been in contact with is Miss Karen Lilica."

\- "Karen Lilica !?" repeated Lucy in surprise, much to Happy's confusion. "She was a very famous Stellar Spirit mage and a real beauty who's been on the cover of the Weekly Sorcerer many times. But she died many years ago, how can she be linked to Loki ? Karen and Loki… Why do I feel so strange…"

\- "LUCY !" The blonde shrieked in fear and jumped a few feet in the air as Gentaro suddenly appeared by her window, in her Rider form. "Big trouble ! Loki left the guild !"

\- "What ?! But why ?!"

\- "Nobody know and everyone is looking for him." He explained. "From what I could see, he had been acting strangely, recently."

\- "Could it be…" Began Lucy as she got up suddenly, feeling like she had discovered something.

\- "Lucy, you know something ?" asked Gentaro, looking at the blonde who was getting ready.

\- "I think I know where he is. I'll go look for him." She said, putting some shoes on as Gentaro smirked under his helmet.

\- "Need a lift ?"

\- "With pleasure !" she answered with a smirk of her own.

 _ **ROCKET ON !**_

/- Later -/

While everyone was looking for him, Loki was alone, standing on some sort of cliff surrounded by tall waterfalls. In front of him was a single tomb, with a large ring on top of it with a small bell, the tomb itself standing out in this otherwise quite romantic place. Loki was looking down at the tomb, not moving one bit, a solemn look on his face which became a small confused scowl when he heard a strange noise reached his ears, one that became louder and louder, making him turn around to see Gentaro, flying toward him with Lucy under his left arm, landing behind the young man, quite surprise to see both of them here.

\- "Whew. That was one hell of an experience." Said Lucy as she got her heart back under control, the rocket trip being a little too much for her.

\- "Sorry. But this was the fastest way to get here." Added Gentaro, turning off the Rocket Module as Lucy turned to look at Loki, a small smile on her face.

\- "Lucy ?! Gentaro !?" Was all Loki could say, surprised that someone managed to find him.

\- "Everyone is looking for you." Began Lucy, her eyes carrying a pure concern for the young man in front of her. "Is this Karen's grave ?" Now, Loki was awestruck. How did she managed to know about Karen ? But it wasn't the only shocking thing Lucy had to say. "The famous Stellar Spirit mage, Karen Lilica, is your summoner." Loki's eyes widened even more for a second before becoming suddenly more serious and solemn. As for Gentaro, he frowned, wondering if he heard her right. "Stellar Spirit Loki, or should I say Leo the Lion."

\- "EEEEEEEEEHH ?! The Lion !? Like, the Lion of the Zodiac ?!" asked Gentaro as he instantly began, as usual, to picture his own Leo with this one and if it was only a little strange to picture Tatsugami with Leo's clothes, it was more the idea of him acting like a ladies man that really threw him off. He couldn't believe what Lucy had stated, but Loki did nothing to correct her, on the contrary.

\- "You're something, to be able to discover my secret." Admitted Loki, or rather Leo as a small smile graced his lips.

\- "I'm a Stellar Spirit mage myself who's made a lot of contracts with spirits. I finally felt the real you." She said, the same smile as Leo gracing her own lips. "But I should've known sooner. Normally, when the summoner who hold your key dies, the contract is broken and you're forced to return back to the Spirit World until your next summoner call you."

\- "Wait a second, let me try to understand, here." Said Gentaro, walking to stand next to Lucy. "From what I understand, your owner died many years ago, and yet you're still here. Which means that you must have a pretty good reason to stay, right ?" The smile on Leo's face answered him, a pained smile that showed that indeed, there was a really good reason.

\- "Furthermore, just as humans can't live in the Spirit World, spirits can't survive in this world for long." Added Lucy. "Your life force will slowly be drained away until you die."

\- "Yes, and it's been three years already…" revealed Leo, much to the two others shock.

\- "Three years !? I can't believe you could even made it past one !" exclaimed Lucy, Leo's performance taking her by surprise.

\- "You must have one hell of a life force to last that long." Added Gentaro, impressed by Leo's stamina.

\- "Maybe, but I'm reaching my limit. My strength and my will are soon going to reach their limits." Reveled Leo, much to Lucy and Gentaro's horror, more shocked by the resignation in his voice than his statement.

\- "Maybe I can help you ! Tell me why you can't return and I'll try to open the gate for you !" proposed Lucy, determined in not letting the poor spirit die. But Leo didn't wanted help. Or rather, he couldn't be helped.

\- "I don't need your help. And the reason why I can't go back is pretty simple. I've been exiled forever because I broke a sacred bond between a summoner and a spirit." This stopped Lucy's rant as she and Gentaro waited, fearing what the reason might be. Ut since he got exiled forever, this couldn't be something small. "This is my sin and I'll die for it without complaint."

\- "What kind of sin are we talking about here ? You made it sound like you almost destroyed the world." Said Gentaro, who racked his mind trying to find what he could have done. And saying the answer shocked him would be the understatement of the century.

\- "For a spirit, what I did can be seen as equally worse as that, Gentaro." Said Leo, his face serious and voice straight as he drop the bomb. "I'm a traitorous spirit. I killed my own summoner Karen."

Silence followed his sentence as if it just killed all life in the surroundings. Lucy and Gentaro couldn't believe it. Can their friend Loki really have killed his own owner.

\- "No… way…" whispered Lucy, to shocked to say anything.

\- "A spirit that take the life of his summoner cannot return to the spirit world. I will simply disappear, right here."

\- "Stop talking for a moment." Cut Gentaro, feeling like they were missing something that could be important. The context. "How did that happen ?"

\- "It happened three years ago…" began Loki as he told them the whole story. "Karen was a famous mage belonging to Blue Pegasus. She was a good mage, but not a really good human. She was a woman who kept seducing man after man, a diva who though she was above anyone else. One day after deciding that she didn't wanted to spend time with a bunch of guys she had brought to the guild, she summoned one of my friend, Aries the Ram, and ordered her to keep them company."

\- "She what ?!" cried Lucy, who cannot believe that one could use a spirit like that. As for Gentaro, he tried to stay focus on the story and not visualize Yamada, the Aries Zodiarts, entertaining a group of men.

\- "She was horrible with her spirit, and Aries even more than the others. That day, Master Bob, the master of Blue Pegasus, scolded her for mistreating Aries once again and Karen didn't reacted like she should have." At that moment, Leo's face depicted a growing anger as the memories of that day came back. "She thought that Aries had told the master of how she treated her, even though anyone could see it, and punished her by beating her down and…" He took his time to breath before continuing. "… And decided to punish her by making her stay in the human world for 7 days." Lucy gasped as Gentaro scowled even more. "That's when I had enough and decided to take charge. I used my own power to close Aries door and open mine, taking her place. And since I came with my own power, Karen couldn't send me back to the Spirit World and by being in this world, I also prevented her from summoning other spirits since she didn't had the strength to summon more than one spirit at a time. And I used that to propose an ultimatum to her : I asked for her to remove the pacts she had with me and Aries, otherwise I'd stay in this world to make her unable to fight and be a mage."

\- "Let me take a wild guess : she never agreed to let you and that Aries girl go, isn't it ?" Gentaro said, feeling like that Karen seemed to stubborn to give up.

\- "You're right. I stayed in this and she never agreed to let us go. I held strong for all those time and after three month, I finally decided to go back, ready to forgive her but when I got back, I learned that she died, supposedly in a mission."

Lucy and Gentaro looked at him and now that they knew the whole story, they couldn't help but feel like Leo's punishment was unfair and stupid. And when Loki suddenly fell to the ground, they both ran at him, worried for his well-being.

\- "Loki !"

\- "Hang on, buddy !"

\- "Because of me, Karen was unable to summon any other spirits and in that state, she went out on a job and lost her life." He resumed, panting and sweating as if strength were leaving him. "Ever since that day, I've been unable to go back to the Spirit World. I guess the Stellar Plane is disobeying, too; rejecting one of its own." He then turned to look at his friends, a warm smile on his tired face as his hands were starting to fade away. "This is the end of the road for me, but I'm glad I could meet such an amazing summoner like you. Thank you, Lucy. And Gentaro, I hope you and your friends will be able to stop those Shocker guys and save this world."

\- "Wait ! I'll find a way to help, there has to be one !" Shouted Lucy, refusing to abandon her friend.

\- "I can't be saved. It's useless." Whispered Leo.

\- "She's right ! I'll never abandon a friend, you hear me ?!" Added Gentaro. "Nothing is impossible when you do it for your friend ! I have friends whose friendship was strong enough to bring me back from the dead ! We WILL save you !" While he talked, Lucy had wrapped her arm around Leo and tried as hard as she could to forcefully close Leo's door, eyes shut as she concentrate and put her whole heart in her words.

\- "OPEN ! Door to the Lion ! Return Loki to the spirit World !" she chanted, refusing to give up on her friend, even more on something as unfair as that. When Loki asked her to let go, that he was fine with his fate, she felt her heart swell even more. "No, it's not fine ! How can I just sit back and let my friend disappear right in front of me ?!" At that, her own magic began to manifest, sending golden sparks out of her body as she was hurting herself in trying to send Leo back. And this time, Leo lost his composure, shouting at her.

\- "Lucy ! You can't use all your power at once like that ! It won't open ! You have to stop you're starting to merge with the spirit energy ! If you keep this up, you'll disappear with me ! DON'T ADD TO MY SIN !"

\- "WHAT SIN ? If that's the rule in the Spirit World, then I'll change it !"

As soon as she said that, a wave of pure energy began to swirl all around them, a wave so strong the waterfall began to collapse before the waters got sucked up to the sky who literally opened, forming a large portal showing the stellar void as the energy began to gather in the form of a gigantic man with a large mustache and a large azure plate armor with a star on his helmet, towering above the three mages and Riders who looked up at the newcomer with wide eyes, Leo being the only one to recognize him.

\- "You've got to be kidding me ! That's… The Stellar Spirit King !" exclaimed Leo, not believing that the King himself would show up. In his current state of mind, this couldn't end well for them. As for Lucy and Gentaro, they were shocked, looking at the giant spirit with wide eyes. What could the most powerful Stellar Spirit want of them ?

\- "Old friend, we who pledge oaths to humans… we who bear keys, we are forbidden from killing." Said the King, his voice deep and rumbling, not carrying any animosity, only a profound respect for the rules as Leo frowned sadly as he listened to his King siding against him. "Though not directly, you did cause this indirectly, Leo. It is forbidden for you to return to the Spirit World."

\- "Wait a minute ! Don't you think you're being unreasonable ?" asked Lucy, not wavering in her desire to save her friend, and neither will Gentaro.

\- "She's right ! He's been suffering for 3 years, stuck in a world he doesn't truly belong to ! And he did it all for the sake of a buddy !"

\- "Old friend, that's the one 'rule' o cannot change." As he said that, Leo's eyes widened.

 _"No way… He must have heard Lucy when she said she'll change that rule… Why did he show up personally for something so insignificant ?"_

\- "You're really stubborn, old man !" shouted Gentaro, much to Leo shock. "He never intended to kill Karen and if she did as she was told, if had freed Leo and Aries from their contract, she would have survived ! She got killed by her own stubbornness ! So how could you blame him for helping a friend ?!"

\- "This isn't about an old friend, old beard-guy !" added Lucy. "We're talking about the present and what's happening right now ! Can't you see this was just an unfortunate accident ?!" as she felt her anger and feeling of unfairness grow, she closed her eyes, feeling her power grow. "It's like Gentaro said. This isn't Leo's fault ! I'll never accept him as anything but innocent !"

\- "That's enough, you two !" cried Leo, who had enough and wanted everything to stop. "I don't need forgiveness ! I want to atone for my sin ! Disappearing… Into oblivion… is fine…"

\- "We won't let you do that !" shouted Lucy and Gentaro, both of their power exploding. "Caring about your friend's feeling is not a sin !"

As they shouted those words, cosmic energy seeped out of Gentaro, forming many human silhouette Leo didn't recognized but the people they represented were smiling at Gentaro while looking up at the King. But the most surprising, at least for Leo, was the fact that Lucy, in an unbelievable surge of strength, managed to summon, even for a few seconds, each and everyone of her golden Spirits, plus Plue, at the same time, the Spirits standing by her side, glaring defiantly at their own ruler. The spirits disappeared almost immediately after that as Lucy, depleted of her magic, fell to the ground, Leo running to her ad Gentaro stood his ground, the silhouette disappearing.

\- "My friends all feel the same way too." Added Lucy as she struggled to get up, tiredness taking nothing out of her motivation. "As a Stellar Spirit, you should understand Loki's and Aries's feeling too !"

\- "You almost bit off more than you could chew !" scolded Leo as he got to Lucy, still amazed by her multiple summoning but worried for her health. "It may have only been brief, but you could have died !"

\- "… If you would go this far for my old friend… Maybe the 'rule' is the one at fault." The Kings words struck Leo's like lightning as he look up at his King, not believing what he was hearing as Lucy and Gentaro simply smiled. "You committed a sin for your comrade Aries's sake, Leo. I'll try and save that Leo, old friend. For the sake of that radiant bond, I'll consider this case an 'exception'. Leo… I'll allow you to return to the Spirit World."

Leo was shocked beyond words. He stood there, not moving, as he processed what the King just said. As for Lucy, she was all smile as of now.

\- "You've got a benevolent side after all, old beard-guy." She said with a grin, the King grinning in return before looking back in front of him, seeing Gentaro hovering in front of him.

\- "I knew you weren't a bad guy at heart, old man." He said, holding his hand to the King who, surprised, reached for him allowing Gentaro to do his usual handshake. Well, partially since this wasn't the kind of hand he usually shook, doing only the last part of it, bumping his fist on both sides of the King's. Once he was done, he smirked under his helmet and bumped his chest before pointing at the king with the same fist. "I guess this makes us buddies now, right ?"

\- "You're fearless, old friend." Simply said the King with a smirk as the starry void began to wrap around him, looking down at Leo one last time. "Leo, you were falsely accused. Thank the guidance of the stars."

\- "Please, wait… I…." Tears were falling down from his face, his whole body shaking as he took in what had just happened, not believing he was worthy of such a judgement. But the King was having none of it.

\- "Even after this, if you still feel compelled to atone for your sin, then I command you to become a pillar for your friend and live on." Said the King voice, his body already gone as Leo looked at the sky with a gasp. "Those are the type of friends who have the most significance. There is much nobility in willing to lay it all on the line… To protect someone…"

And with that, the waterfall returned back to life, the water splashing the cliff they were on as Leo looked down, a small smile gracing his lips as Gentaro landed next to him and Lucy, the girl looking at him with a large smile.

\- "See ? What did I tell you ?!"

Leo said nothing, his tears talking for him as he looked at his two friends, a golden door appearing behind him, opening on a bright light that began to suck his body in.

\- "Thank you. I look forward to working with you… And to being your backbone…" he said as he began to slowly disappear, his body and mind going back to the place it truly belonged to.

\- "Likewise." Was Lucy's answer, a small smile on her face as a light began to shine in her hand.

\- "And thank you too, Gentaro. Thank you a lot."

\- "Don't sweat it. I just helped a bud, you got nothing to thank me for."

With one last smile, Leo had completely disappeared and the door closed, before disappearing in turn, reappearing in the shape of a key in Lucy's hand. Leo, Spirit of the Lion, just joined Lucy's team. Everything seemed good now, but just as usual, the good times didn't lasted, a voice disturbing the newfound peace.

\- "Damn it ! That humongous power is gone ! We're too late !"

Gentaro and Lucy turned their head toward the newcomer, only to see a bunch of weird guys. Clad in a black skin tight suit, their completely black head, hidden under a hooded jacket, had no face. They wore grey boot and had some sort of grey ribcage design on their torso. On their waist, they had a belt with a big purple eye on it with a red iris. Among those guys, the one who talked was quite different. His boots were a gold color, his face was red with four blue eyes and some sort of black and white headset. He wore a large white robe with light blue on the top and bottom and golden lining all over it. If his left arm was normal and covered in pieces of white armor, his right arm was basically a blade, like some sort of Katana. Lucy gasped, staring at them in shock as Gentaro squinted his eyes in annoyance.

\- "Of all the kind of guy they could send, they chose Gamma." He muttered, grabbing the Elek Switch. "As if that day could get any weirder."

 _ **ELEK ! ELEK ON !**_

\- "If you missed your target, I'd suggest you leave."

The Gammas turned their head, the sight of the golden clad Kamen Rider grabbing their attention, now turning toward the slightly stiff Rider.

\- "Well, if it isn't a Kamen Rider ? Looks like we didn't came here for nothing in the end. We can always take your head." Said the Katana Gamma as he glanced at Lucy, who was still on the ground, too tired to move, clutching her new key to her chest. "And I feel some great power coming from that girl. Whether it's something in her or on her, I'll take it too."

\- "Yeah, right, as if. If you want to get your hands on her, you'll have to get through me first. No one touch my friends."

\- "You don't want us to lay a hand on her, but the question is : can you land yours on us ? Attack !" The Gamma commando obeyed their boss, running at Gentaro who tried to keep them away by sending electric arc at them with his rod, and by relying on others Switches.

 _ **WATER ON !**_

Gentaro was in a pinch and he knew it. With his Water Module, he could send the Gamma back and use his electric rod on the drenched creature to fry them, but he knew he couldn't hold them back for long and seeing the Katana Gamma slicing through the water and easily dodging the electric moon shaped attacks, he began to feel slightly desperate. When a Rider fought a monster he wasn't made to fight in the first place, he always lost a little power, they weren't as effective as they would against their own enemies. And it was even truer when it came to Gamma. They were ghosts and as such, were only truly affected by attacks that stood on the same plane of existence as them. He was swarmed and could do nothing as he got slashed by the Katana Gamma which had send him flying backward and past Lucy who was now alone with the Katana Gamma.

\- "So, let's see what we've got here." He said, grabbing Lucy roughly by her arm, trying to make her let go of her keys. "Come on, little girl. Those keys seems powerful. Give them to me !"

\- "Never ! I'd rather die than letting you monster get your hands on them !" She shouted defiantly, refusing to let go of those she consider like a surrogate family.

\- "Defiant even through death, huh ? Well, if that is what you wish for…" he said, raising his bladed arm up while Gentaro was trying, and failing, to free himself from the others Gamma who kept him busy, the Rider starring powerlessly at the poor blonde.

\- "LUCY !"

*BRAAM* Out of nowhere, something fell from the sky and landed next to Karen's tomb, a cloud of smoke covering the figure who had joined the fray. No one dared to move, too curious by what, or who, has arrived, when an unknown; at least for Lucy, voice came from the cloud, followed by a flying form.

 _ **EYE ! BATCHIRIMINA ! BATCHIRIMINA !**_

*SHING-SHING* A dark flying shape came and pushed the Gamma away from Lucy and Gentaro, forcing them back together as the form hovered next to Lucy who was looking at it wide eyes wide as saucers.

\- "Did I got saved… by a flying jacket ?!"

Indeed, the form was in fact a strange black jacket with really thin, stick like arms sticking out of the black short sleeves, orange lining on the sides and around the hood, who had been lifted to cover a faceless head, two orange eyes shining from under it. Gentaro however was smiling at it from under his helmet, already knowing who it was.

\- "Looks like reinforcement are here." He said before turning to the dust who was slowly disappearing. "So you're the one they send, huh ?"

\- "Indeed I am. HENSHIN !"

 _ **KAIGAN : ORE ! LET'S GO ! KAKUGO ! GHO-GHO-GHO-GHOST ! GO ! GO ! GO ! GO !**_

The flying parka flew to the dust and disappeared inside it, a single eye glowing through the smoke before the dust finally disappeared, revealing a man Lucy had never seen before, even if it wasn't that hard to guess what kind of man he was. A black armor whit orange designs running all over his body with a blue eye on the torso. He was wearing the same orange parka that saved Lucy and Gentaro, he had a whitish belt on his waist that looked like an eye with a big orange handle on the side and his face was mainly orange with two large black spot to form some kind of eyes and a single horn on his forehead.

\- "My life is burning bright !"

\- "Go get them, Takeru !" Shouted an ecstatic Gentaro, Ghost running at his opponent.

What happened next would be nothing more than a blurry memory for Lucy, as she looked at the newcomer who was plowing his way through their foes, reducing them to nothing without even breaking a sweat, and Lucy swore she saw him float above the ground, giving the name Ghost a part of truth. Soon, only the Katana Gamma was left, much to the latter frustration. As for Ghost, he decided to have a little change of clothes to end this, inserting another Eyecon in his Driver.

 _ **KAIGAN : MUSASHI ! KETTO ! ZUBATTO ! CHO KENGO !**_

For a moment, the Rider lost his jacket, now faceless as a new one appeared, fully red this time with two long blades instead of arms. When it got on the Rider, two swords appeared in the latter hands. He and Katana began to fought, for a moment evenly until he finally took the advantage against his opponent. He blocked his opponent assault while landing each and everyone of those he threw. Gentaro, now back in civilian clothes, looked at the fight while walking to stand next to Lucy who was still amazed by this new Kamen Rider.

\- "Is he… Are his powers coming from those vests ?" she asked, still trying to understand how it worked while Ghost was starting to slowly but surely pummel his opponent.

\- "Yes. Those are the souls of people from our world who are considered to be heroes due to what they did. Musashi for example was a legendary swordsman who founded the art of fighting with two katanas." Explained Gentaro while Ghost, now feeling like this was enough of a fight, decided to put an end to it. With one last slash, he send his opponent rolling on the ground and put his sword in front of his driver, the eye on the sword looking directly into the one in his belt.

 _ **DAI KAIGAN ! GAN GAN MINA ! GAN GAN MINA !**_

The standby began as a red energy covered the blades, Ghost using them to repel the last desperate assault that Katana had tried, none of his blows reaching its target, Ghost simply pressing the trigger on the swords to finish it all.

 _ **MUSASHI OMEGA SLASH !**_

Ghost swung his swords at Katana, slashing him first horizontally, throwing the monster off balance before lifting the swords and swinging them down, slashing it once again and this time, the Gamma was done for, exploding with a cry of agony, a sword and a white eye-shaped device appearing for a brief moment before both shattered, leaving nothing behind. Soon after, Ghost walked back to Gentaro and Lucy, still transformed.

\- "Sorry I'm late. The gate had been a little harder to stabilize than we first though." He said, addressing Gentaro who shrugged it off.

\- "Doesn't matter, you came at the right time, that's all that matters."

\- "So, you are one of Gentaro's friends, right ?" asked Lucy as she got up, still a little shaky due to her summoning prowess, Ghost chuckling a little at what she said.

\- "Indeed I am. Let me introduce myself properly." OYASUMI ! Said the Driver as he pulled the Eyecon out of it, revealing Takeru in the same kind of clothes he wore back when he first began to be Ghost, looking at Lucy with a gentle smile. "My name is Tenkuji Takeru, also known as Kamen Rider Ghost. Nice to meet you."

 **First of all, I broke my record in term of chapter length. More than 17000, holy hell. Second, AND HERE HE IS ! Takeru is joining the Riders and he's ready to go ! Concerning Ankh, I received a few ideas from some of you, and I used that stratagem about the collapsed guild to make them stay so I could include some of those ideas. But they won't stay for too long now. They'll appear a little next time, and Ankh a little bit more since he might take part of the next arc, but not after that, or unless I decide to bring them back, as reinforcement (temporary or not). I hope you liked that chapter. Don't forget to review and comment, it's always nice to read what you though about the fic so far. See ya !**

 **Next time : Introducing the newcomer. A resort for fairies. The ghosts from a painful past.**


	26. Chapter 26 : A resort full of memories

**Hello guys ! Here we are today for the beginning of a new arc, the one where Erza's past come back to haunt her. Of course, there will be some twists since we have a whole batch of new people to include. Let's not waste time talking and let's go !**

 **Chapter 26 : A resort full of memories**

\- "Has anyone found him ?"

\- "No. Nothing."

\- "For fuck's sake, where is he hiding ?"

As the first ray of morning light began to replace the night, the fairies where all feeling down. Most of them spent the whole night looking for Loki who had disappeared suddenly, without a single word. Needless to say, with his recent behavior, they were all worried he might have done something really stupid. They were all gathered in front of the guild, talking to themselves among the construction materials, wondering what could have happened. Furthermore, they only now realized that Loki wasn't the only one missing now.

\- "Wait, where's Lucy ? I thought she was looking for him with us ?" wondered Natsu, feeling worried for the blonde.

\- "Calm down, Natsu. I bet she's still looking for him." Answered Happy, back in control of his body as Eiji and Ankh had to go back temporarily to their world, the cat floating next to the pink haired mage.

\- "And I'm ready to bet Gentaro is with her, I saw both of them fly away from her apartment." Added Gray, hands in his pockets, feeling nervous about his friend's wellbeing, not noticing a blue haired girl still looking at him from afar.

\- "Don't worry guys, Everything's good now." came Gentaro's voice as he flew to the rest of the mages and Riders, Lucy under his left arm, the blonde smiling as she clutched something to her chest. Their reappearance made some of them sighed in relief, realizing that nothing happened to them.

\- "I'm glad you're alright." Said Erza as he walked up to them, a smile on his face that disappeared, replaced by a concerned frown. "But it seems like you have yet to found Loki."

\- "Well, not exactly." Said Lucy as she looked at her hands, the others noticing the golden key that rested in them.

\- "Wait. Is that a new key ? Where did you found it ?" wondered Natsu, looking at the key as Lucy stayed silent, grabbing her key and focusing to summon the corresponding spirit, knowing this would answer everyone's question. At least, the main one.

 _ **OPEN THE GATE TO THE LION : LEO !**_

In a burst of golden light suddenly appeared the spirit, but his appearance took everyone by surprise. Since in front of them stood Loki, a smile on his face, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

\- "Hey, guys."

\- "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHH !?"

\- "What the… How is that… ?"

\- "Loki here has in fact always been a Stellar Spirit." Revealed Gentaro. "He stayed in this world because he was punished and long story short, Lucy managed to have the sentence lifted."

\- "You also played a part, Gentaro." Smiled Lucy. "You helped me and even protected me from those hm… How did you called them already ?"

\- "Gamma." This word took the riders by surprise who all turned to Gentaro and Lucy.

\- "What ? How did you managed to beat Gammas ?" asked Sento, his mind racing as he tried to find an explanation about how he could have done it. But Gentaro's smile stopped him.

\- "Don't go overheat your brain trying to find an explanation, Sento." Said Fourze as he powered down. "I didn't destroyed the Gamma. But someone else did and that's another surprise we have for all of you."

\- "And who beat those ghosts-like monsters ?" asked Shinnosuke when he felt something quite familiar closing on them.

\- "I did." They all turned and if the mages didn't know who that young man was, the Riders reaction was enough to let them know that he was an ally.

\- "Takeru !" They all shouted as they walked to welcome their colleague. Once they all said hello to their friends, Gentaro joined them, passing his arm around Takeru's neck, introducing him to the mages. "Guys, let me introduce to you the ghost themed Kamen Rider, simply named Kamen Rider Ghost !"

\- "The name is Tenkuji Takeru. Nice to meet you all." He said with a slight bow, the mages all welcoming him, with a nod or a 'hello' or a 'hi' as the master walked up to him.

\- "Well, I guess I also should introduce myself. My name is Makarov Dreyar, Fairy Tail's master. And on behalf of the guild, I welcome you to this world, young man." He then turned to look at Lucy and Loki, a small smile on his face. "As for you two, I guess we do deserve some explanations, isn't it ?"

\- "Yeah. We'll tell you everything." Agreed the lion as they all gathered around him, happy to see him back, even if starting from today, it won't ever be the same for him.

/- Later -/

\- "So you basically scolded the Stellar Spirit King ?"

Gray's sentence felt weird, but Lucy couldn't deny that he was right in a way. She, Loki and Gentaro had told everyone about what happened, but also about Leo's story and needless to say, they were all moved by what he did in the past, all for the sake of a friend. They were also quite impressed by what Lucy and Gentaro did, standing up to the most powerful Stellar Spirit, to protect their friends for an unfair fate. Natsu was listening to their story, genuinely impressed by what Lucy had done.

\- "That's so cool, Luce ! And the fact that you summon all of those spirits ! I would have loved to be here to see that !" Lucy blushed slightly at the compliment, many people around them nodding at that. She did managed to do something no one has ever done before and even if it lasted for a small moment, it was still an impressive feat. As for the Riders, the one thing that stuck to their mind was Shocker sudden appearance.

\- "So they were interested by the power the Stellar Spirit King was giving off ?" resumed Sento as he was sitting at a table with the rest of the Riders.

\- "Yeah, but it's not like they could have guessed the King would have appeared." Added Gentaro. "Leo said that the King almost never show up, even less for something as trivial as that affair."

\- "Which means that they put their former plan aside when they felt his power, knowing they could get much more power from him than from their mission." Deduced Shinnosuke, Belt-san put on the table before him.

\- "So they are looking for strong power. Either to use them or to use them as power source for something else." Said the belt, his voice carrying a certain concern.

\- "I guess we'll have to do some works if we want to know why they need that much power." Added Takeru, who had already been marked as a member of the guild, an orange mark on the back of his hand.

\- "Indeed, and I have a feeling that we won't like it, no matter what it is."

While the Riders were talking, Gray, who was with the rest of his friend, was wondering about Loki, or rather Leo, and his status within the guild.

\- "Say, now that you are back to being a Stellar Spirit, is it okay for you to just carry on as you've been doing up until now ?"

\- "I'm afraid those days are over for me now that Lucy's my owner." Revealed the spirit. "When's Lucy's in trouble, I'll gallantly show up. After all, I am her knight in shining armor." He said as he suddenly picked Lucy up bridal style and walk away with her. "Speaking of which, let's go talk about our plans for the future."

\- "Put me down !" she cried, fighting against his hold as Natsu looked at them do with a slight scowl.

\- "I'm kinda jealous, I'd love to get a spirit too." He said, something else bothering him in his chest as he looked at the blonde squirming in Leo's arms.

\- "What kind of spirit ?" asked Happy, his question making Natsu grin as he began to box an invisible enemy.

\- "A dragon, of course ! I've learned Dragon Slayer Magic but if I can't use it on real dragon, it's a total waste !"

\- "You can't just summon stellar spirit to have some sort of free for all…" Sweat dropped Lucy, now back on her two legs, finally free from Leo's arms, but not from Leo himself.

\- "That's right ! You summon them for declaration of love…"

\- "You can leave now too." Said Lucy, eyes closed as she pointed the golden key at Leo, who had been a little too close for her taste when he took a few step back suddenly, holding a hand to stop her as he rummaged in one of his pocket.

\- "Hang on a moment. Here." He said, handing three tickets to Lucy, who took one while wondering what this could be. "I've got these tickets for a resort hotel that I planned on inviting all my girlfriends to. But since I can't stay in this world for long period of time anymore, you guys can have them. You guys really helped me out, that's the least I could do. I already gave one to Erza."

\- "And there's not one left for me ?" teased Gentaro, half-scolding the lion as he stood next to him.

\- "Sorry, but I only had four of them…"

\- "Don't sweat it." Laughed Gentaro as he slapped Leo on his back. "I couldn't have gone even if I wanted to, we have some Riders works to do."

\- "I see. Well, have fun you guys !" Leo had said those words as he finally disappeared, back to his own world, leaving awestruck mages behind him, looking at the tickets with wide eyes filled with stars.

\- "Oh my god, that's awesome !" said Lucy as she turned to the others. "Guys, let's all go and pack our things. It's holyday time !"

\- "Why are you guys just standing around ? If you want to hitch a ride, feel free to hop on…" said Erza as she walked by them, already changed, a buoy around her, pulling a huge cart filled to the brim with luggage of all sort as always.

\- "It's okay to dawdle every once in a while !" shouted the three mages, dumbstruck at the speed at which Erza had gotten ready as they all ran back to their home to pack their things, their mind focused on the holyday waiting for them.

/- The next day -/

After a day of travel in train, the group of four mages and one Exceed finally reached the Akane Resort, a highly touristic seaside town renowned for, well the beach, and the numerous holyday related activities, activities our mages were more than excited to do. Well, everyone but one.

\- "Why did I have to come, again ? Because I would have loved to stay at the hotel." Asked Ankh, arms crossed. Because yes, Ankh was back once again, since he followed Eiji who, just like he promised, came back once again since the guild had yet to be completely repaired and Ankh had followed him, taking over the Exceed once again since it was the only body he could take without hindering the strength of the guild. And of course, since he had to follow Natsu everywhere, he had to follow him to the resort and if the mages were delighted to be here, the same couldn't be said for the Greeed.

\- "Because if you think we're going to let you alone to do who know what with Happy's body, you got another thing coming." Said Erza, her glare freezing the Greeed who simply turned his head, knowing better than to anger that redheaded monster so he kept silent. That aside, their day had gone smoothly, full of fun and pleasure. They of course enjoyed the sea, Natsu having the time of his life, Gray almost getting arrested for public indecency when he, God only know how, lost his swim trunk, the eyes of a blue haired stalker not leaving him even one second, Lucy got in trouble when she smashed someone in the head instead of a watermelon due to Natsu's willingly wrong indication, the blonde getting her revenge by forcing Natsu on some sort of a boat dragged by a big fish with her, the pink guy muttering his excuses as his motion sickness kicked in, everything happening right under the eyes of Gray who was laughing his ass off, Erza who smiled as she tanned on a beach chair next to Ankh who managed to get his hands, or rather paws, on some ice sticks that helped him to make this a little less of a suffering for him. And after a volley-ball match, when the sun came down, they all got back to the hotel to get some rest, like Erza who was laying on her balcony on a lawn chair, eyes closed.

 _"All things considered, today was a blast…"_ she thought to herself, a peaceful smile on her face _. "It really was…"_

But if it was peaceful on the outside, the same couldn't be said on the inside as she slipped away, her mind wandering to some darker moments. Like a slideshow, she saw what looked like a building site, with cloaked men whipping chained people as they pulled large stones while being shouted out. Among those people, wearing a ragged dress, her hands tied by chains, curled up against a wall, her hands on her short red hair as tears ran down on her face, covered in bruises and holding back sobs.

 _"Erza… In this world, freedom is merely an illusion…"_

*GASP* Erza suddenly woke up, pulled out of this nightmare with a gasp, sitting back up, sweat covering her body as her breath was short, the girl trying to put her breath back under control.

\- "A dream ?" she whispered, trying to calm down, gazing for a moment at the now black and star filled sky as she got up and head back in her room. "I must have just nodded off…" As she walked back inside, she stopped in front of a window to look at her reflection, admiring her bikini clad body before sighing and requipping into her usual armor. "I'm most at ease in armor after all. There's no changing a girl like me."

\- "Erza !" The knight turned her head to find Lucy at her door, walking inside her room. "They've got a casino in the basement ! Want to come check it out ? Natsu, Gray and Ankh are already down there playing."

\- "Well, I'm not really fond of gambling… but well…" she then twirled on herself, changing from her armor to a sumptuous dress with an almost naked back and a slit along one leg, her hair tied in some sort of bun and long gloves. "This should work, right ?"

\- "Dressing casual would have been fine…" chided Lucy, a drop of sweat on her face as she took in the way Erza looked. But the knight wasn't really caring.

\- "Since I'm going, it'd be an insult to the casino if I wasn't playing to win…"

\- "Yeah, yeah. We're off !" said Lucy, going back to change into something a little bit more classy before they both head down to the casino, Erza glancing at her reflection one last time before heading out with a smile.

/- A little bit later -/

\- "Please, a 17. Come on, come on, come on…"

\- "25 Red."

\- "What the hell !? It landed on 17 and slipped over the edge ! What is that thing ?!"

\- "That's the principle of the roulette, dumbass. Why do you even play if you don't know the rules ?"

While the girls were on their way, the boys were already playing in the casino and Natsu was playing the roulette with Ankh, or rather he tried to since he couldn't understand the rules, much to Ankh annoyance and Gray's laughter.

\- "HAHA ! That guy's such a bumpkin !" he said, sitting at a slot machine not noticing someone getting closer to him.

\- "Gray-sama…" he turned his head to look who was addressing him, his eyes widening when he realized who it was. "I tagged along."

In front of him, dressed in a beautiful dark blue dress stood Juvia, finally out of the shadows as she stood shyly in front of the ice mage who immediately recognized her. Since things had to be said, they headed to the bar, leaving Ankh alone to deal with Natsu's antics.

\- "Come on, what the hell is that game, for real ? Who invented it ?!"

\- "Boy." Natsu's stopped his rants when he heard that deep voice grabbing his attention, turning to the owner who was sitting on a stool. "When you're in a place for adult entertainment, you should just enjoy it in a dandy fashion."

\- "A… A square man ?!" was all Natsu could muster, as he took in what that guy looked like. He was wearing a purple smoking, a fedora and a white scarf while smoking on a cigar but his clothing wasn't what grabbed the attention, but the fact that he was literally cubic, as if he was made of polygon.

\- "Boy, let me give you some advice." He said as he kicked the floor and began to spin on the stool. "There are only two paths a man can take. He can live in a dandy fashion…" he then jumped suddenly, diving at Natsu as he slammed him to the ground, putting a gun inside his mouth. "… Or he can just keel over and die."

\- "What the hell !?" shouted Ankh, not expecting such a turn of even as Natsu looked at this cubic man without understanding what his deal was, people fleeing the room to avoid getting stuck in the middle of a fight. Ankh was trying to think of a plan, not realizing that they weren't the only one who had problem on their hands.

/- At the bar -/

\- "So… I heard that Phantom has been disbanded or something like that…" Said Gray, starting the conversation with Juvia, both of them sitting at the casino's bar to talk about things.

\- "Yes… Juvia is once again an independent mage…" she explained, a red hue on her cheeks as Gray's eyes slide down, reddening slightly at the sight of her cleavage, even if he was more focused on the large Fairy Tail emblem she wore like a necklace.

\- "And I guess you have your eyes set on Fairy Tail ?" He asked, Juvia confirming vigorously, which made Gray cringe a little. "You know, after the stunt you guys pulled… I mean, I wouldn't mind, but I wonder what master would say…"

\- "Juvia will do anything !" she affirmed, her mind dead set on joining the guild, which made Gray smile a little at her motivation.

\- "If you say so… I guess I could…" he got stopped by a large shadow covering them, due to a massive man looming over them. Before neither of them could do anything, the man slapped Juvia violently out of the way, sending her to the ground.

\- "Juvia !" cried Gray before he turned to the man with a glare. "You trying to pick a fight ?!"

\- "Gray Fullbuster, if I'm not mistaken ?" asked the guy, who was wearing some kind of toga with a turban and a metal protection on his jaw before asking a question at the same time as the square man, the question being the exact same. "Where's Erza ?"

/- Meanwhile -/

\- "Royal straight flush."

\- "WOOOOOOOOOW !"

\- "Erza, you're amazing !" said Lucy as she jumped on her friend who was as humble as usual in her reaction.

\- "Fufu… Luck's on my side today."

The dealer announcement amazed everyone as they looked at the card lined up in front of Erza as she just won yet another game of poker, the chips stacking up on her side.

\- "Time for a dealer change." Said a blonde tanned man with piercing on his face who took the place of his colleague as a dealer in front of Erza.

\- "Right now, I feel like I can't lose no matter who I'm up against." Stated Erza, feeling confident in her, the dealer smiling at that as he shuffled a deck of cards.

\- "If that's the case, why don't we enjoy a special game ? Except we won't be betting with chips or coins." He said mysteriously as he gave Erza her cards, the redhead looking at the five cards, each one of them bearing a letter forming a pretty sinister message : D.E.A.T.H. She looked up at the dealer, feeling like something was off and when she saw the dealer's face, she felt her confidence wither away. "Let's bet with our lives, Erza-neesan."

\- "Shô…" was all Erza managed to say, her eyes wide in confusion and incomprehension, her whole body shaking, much to Lucy's surprise who wasn't used to see the famous Titania shake in fear.

\- "It's been a while… nee-san."

Lucy was completely lost. Che kept looking between Erza and that Shô, trying to understand what was going on and more importantly, why was Erza acting like a frightened child. One thing was sure however : their peaceful holydays were now long gone.

/- At the bar -/

\- "Where is Erza ?" asked the tall guy once again, looking down at Gray who was still glaring, not feeling like answering that questions, at least not until he got some answers.

\- "Who. The hell. Are you ?" he said slowly when a mass of water appeared in front of him, forming the body of Juvia, who stood protectively between Gray and that mysterious man.

\- "Juvia won't let you lay a finger on Gray-sama. Juvia will be your opponent." She said, her face showing a unwavering determination as Gray looked at her, quite awestruck as she addressed him. "Go and find miss Erza. She's in danger."

\- "Hm ?" the humming coming from the tall man stopped them, as he put two finger on his head, in the same way Warren does when he used his telepathic powers. "You've already found her ?" Gray and Juvia's eyes widened as they realized that that guy wasn't here alone and that Erza had already been found. "I see. Then… Mind if I tidy things up on my end ?"

 _ **LINEAGE OF DARKNESS MAGIC : INSTANT DARKNESS !**_

As he said that, the whole room suddenly got plunged into darkness, Juvia and Gray now defenseless as their opponent lunged at them, painful cries filling the darkness. With Natsu, things weren't much better. Now in the dark, Natsu was still laying on his back, a gun in his mouth as Ankh was trying top understand what was happening.

\- "What is it now ?!" he shouted, trying to find its way in the dark.

\- "Nighty, night… boy…" said the square man as he pressed the trigger, shooting inside Natsu's mouth at point black range.

Back with the girls, thing weren't that better. They weren't attacked in the dark but they could hear gunshots and fighting noises that made them worry for their friends when the light slowly came back, only for them to realize that they were now alone, everyone else besides them and Shô had disappeared.

\- "Where is everyone ?!" wondered Lucy, worried as Shô threw cards to the ground.

\- "Don't worry about them, they are still in one piece. In a way." Looking at the cards, Lucy and Erza realized that they weren't your usual playing card. The drawings were moving and talking. Those were the others clients, all trapped inside the cards. "Surprised, Erza ? I learned how to use magic, too."

\- "Magic ?" repeated Erza, as if this was the first time in her life that she saw someone use magic. "Just… What do you…"

\- "Meow."

*WHIZZ**SNAP* a bunch of orange colored ropes appeared out of nowhere and wrapped around Lucy dragging her away from Erza and restraining her as she now stood next to a cute girl with cat ears, a little collar with a bell on it and medium length brown hair with some whiskers like tattoo on her face. Even her mouth was reminiscing of a cat.

\- "Meow. Super strong, right ?"

\- "Milianna ?!" asked Erza, apparently knowing the girl, just like she knew that Shô, but also not believing that she could be here. 'You can use magic, too ?!

\- "Long time no see, Er-chan !" she said, waving at Erza with a smile.

\- "What's the meaning of this ?! Lucy's my nakama ! Let her go !" she ordered, a little bit of her usual persona coming back, but this didn't seemed to faze the newcomers.

\- "Nakama ? Weren't we yours, Nee-san ?" said Shô, making Erza shiver once again as Lucy registered what they said. "That is, until you betrayed us of course." Shô voice became full of venom as he looked at her accusingly, Erza feeling shivers running down her whole body as she shut her eyes and hold herself, as if she was trying to comfort herself.

\- "Don't ruffle her feathers too much, Shô…" came a voice as a body appeared in pixels like lights next to Lucy, forming the same cubic man who assaulted Natsu. "Dandy men know how to maintain their composure… You turned out to be quite the looker…" he finished, looking at Erza and ignoring the utterly shocked Lucy who was still struggling against her binds who kept on getting tighter.

\- "That voice… Wally ?" Asked Erza, the voice of that man being the only thing that seemed to remind her of someone.

\- "I'm not surprised that you don't recognize me. Compared to the Wally from the old days, I'm much more 'well-rounded' now…"

\- "You… can use magic too…"

\- "No need to be so awestruck." Said the large man that faced Gray and Juvia, appearing out of nowhere, commenting on Erza's remark. "Once that guy gets his mitts on you, anyone would be able to use magic… Right, Erza ?"

\- "Simon ?!"

\- "Erza… Who are these guys ?! And why's that guy calling you nee-san ?" asked Lucy, now laying on the ground as she looked up at her friend who was still as nervous as before.

\- "He's not really my brother." She said, shaking as she looked at the group of four now standing in front of her. "They're all my former nakamas."

\- "Nakamas ?! But I thought you've been in Fairy Tail since you were little ?!" shouted Lucy, not understanding what was happening. As for Erza, she was becoming even more distressed as seconds got by.

\- "This…This was before I joined…" she revealed, turning to face the four of them. "What's the old gang doing here ? Let Lucy go."

\- "We came back to bring you back." Simply said Wally, which made Erza cower even more. Apparently, she clearly had no desire to go back to that place, whatever it was. So he pointed his gun at Lucy's back, readying it. "And if you insist on being pig-headed about it…" This had the intended effect as Erza didn't lose one second to try and make him stop.

\- "S…Stop it ! I'm begging you ! Please stop !"

*BANG* In a quick movement, Wally had teleported the bottom half of his arm, including the gun, behind Erza and shot her the knight taken by surprise as she struggled a moment before falling unconscious, straight into Simon arms.

\- "Hey, watch what you're doing, Wally !" scolded Milianna, looking at the square man with a scowl on her feline face.

\- "Don't worry, this was a sleep bullet." He said, turning to the cat girl as Erza was indeed snoozing in the tall guy arms. "Oh. Before I forgot, I got you something, Milianna." The cat girl turned to look at what the square man was making appear in his hands and what appeared shocked not only Milianna, but also Lucy, and for two different reasons.

\- "Let me go, you cubic freak ! Once I'm free, I'll rip your throat open !"

\- "KYAAAA ! A KITTY !" cried the cat girl delightfully as she took the Greeedified Happy and tightly hugged him, muffling his profanities.

\- "Ankh !" Shouted Lucy as she struggled even more, anger and worry making her reach her breaking point. "Where are you taking Erza !? Give her back !" She struggled as much as she could but the restraint were getting so tight that she realized they could snap her back in half it this kept up for too long. As for the group of four, they began to walk away.

\- "Mark acquired. Let us fall back." Said Simon as they all walked beside him. Among them, Shô was crying in joy and relief.

\- "Nee-san… You're finally coming back home…"

\- "Oh… so you're bringing her back to Magnolia ?"

\- "Huh ?"

*BA-BA-BANG* Many shots were fired at the group of four, stopping them in their tracks as they turned their head, trying to locate who just attacked them. Lucy also looked around her, when she finally noticed someone standing a few feet away from her. She might have never seen this form, but the global getup and white eye like belt was quite unmistakable.

\- "Takeru !"

Indeed, much to everyone shock, Kamen Rider Ghost was standing in front of the bad guys, wearing a brown leather-like parka and a cowboy hat, his face a brown color with a revolver barrel in the middle.

\- "I may have joined recently, but from what I can see, it seems the legends I heard were right : Fairy Tail really is a trouble magnet." Joked Takeru, his rifle still pointed at the group of mages who were looking at him with squinted eyes and annoyance painted on their faces. As for Lucy, she was shocked as she wasn't expecting a Rider to come here of all places and she needed some answers. But this would have to wait. For now, she decided to see how things will turn out and hopefully, he could take them all down and save their friends.

\- "Oi, Ghost ! Don't stay planted here like a god damn tree. Do something !" shouted Ankh, still held tightly by Miliana.

\- "Don't worry. This was my intention." He said, taking another Eyecon from the same box the other Riders had, taking the Billy The Kid out of the Driver.

 _ **KAIGAN : BENKEI ! ANIKI ! MUKIMUKI ! NYODACHI !**_

Now clad in the white parka ghost themed after the infamous sohei, the Gan Gun Saber appearing in Hammer mode in his hand, he rushed at his opponents, Wally and Shô attacking by shooting at him or throwing cards, which were easily deflected by the Rider who managed to land two strong hit on the mages. He then turned to Simon, aiming to strike him as he saw that he was about to summon his magic, but he forgot about Milianna who wrapped one of her magic rope around his weapon, stopping him and giving Simon time to once again make the whole building fall into darkness. And now that he had lost his sight to the shadows, Takeru was wide open and the group of mages used that to their advantages. If Takeru could feel the cards coming and dodge them, the same couldn't be said for the super-fast flurry of block that pummeled him, making him go off balance and feeling a rope wrapping around him and tying him up tightly. When the light came back, he was lying on the ground not far from Lucy who was disappointed in seeing the Rider in the same state as her.

\- "Well, this wasn't much of a challenge in the end." Said Wally as he looked down at the struggling Rider. But his enthusiasm wasn't necessarily shared by the others, one in particular.

\- "We should hurry and go back to the boat. We're going to be late." Said Simon as he put Erza on his shoulder, turning around to leave the room, the others following him with an Ankh shouting at Ghost for his pitiful performance, tears running down Shô's face.

\- "Yes, let's head back. To the Tower of Paradise. I bet Jellal will be smiling ear to ear…"

"Tower of Paradise ?" Thought Erza as she began to come back to her senses, her body still numb. "It…It was a success ?!"

With that, the four mages and their prisoner left the room, leaving Lucy and Takeru alone to be literally shattered by their restrain. Lucy managed to drop her key to the ground and managed to grab them but alas.

\- "CANCER'S GATE… OPEN !" Nothing happened. "What the… Cancer ! Taurus ! Loki ! Come out, please !"

\- "Looks like that thing is preventing you from using magic, am I right ?" Theorized Takeru, a theory she couldn't help but admit as true. She began to be really tight in those binds and felt she might break at any time now.

\- "Please… Tell me you have something to free us from those horrible things !" cried Lucy, turning to look at Ghost who was starting to feel a little too tight for comfort.

\- "If I could get my hands on my Driver, I could, but they are pretty much tied at the moment." His comment drew a groan from Lucy who thought they were done for when Takeru sighed. "Looks like I have no choice. Yurusen !"

Lucy felt like he had lost his mind when she saw something appear out of thin air next to Takeru. She was now looking with wide eyes at a small ghost like creature with an orange body covered by a white cloth, a large yellow eye taking most of his head, with a small mouth and small orange arms.

\- "Would it kill you to call me Lord Yurusen, for once ?" said Yurusen as he looked at Ghost who grunted in answer.

\- "Now's not the time. I need Musashi's Damashi. Quick !"

\- "Okay, okay, no need to shout." Said the little ghost as it floated to grabbed the red Eyecon, pressing the button on the side of it before opening the Driver, taking out Benkei to replace it with Musashi.

 _ **EYE ! BATCHIRIMINA ! BATCHIRIMINA !**_

The Parka Ghost appeared, floating above Takeru with his swords-like arms crossed, looking down at the Rider.

\- "Could you please help us and cut loose those binds ? And start with the girl, she's in a worse situation than me."

The parka nodded and flew to Lucy who said nothing as it worked his magic on the rope, cutting it down in many place, Lucy sighing deeply in relief as she got free.

\- "Aaaaahh. At last." She sighed, massaging her wrist as she got up, looking at Takeru who was being freed as well before powering down, sending the parka ghost back into his Eyecon. "But why are you here, Takeru ? I thought you went on a mission ?"

\- "And that's precisely why I'm here. But I'll explain later, when we will have regrouped. Let's go find the others !"

Lucy nodded and they both ran toward the casino where Lucy knew the others were. She glanced curiously at Yurusen, wondering what that thing really was, but now wasn't the time to wonder about that. When they reached the casino, the place had been trashed, broken chairs and tables scattered everywhere, but apparently, no one had been injured since their were no bodies anywhere. At least until they looked at the bar where the found something that made Lucy's blood ran cold.

\- "Gray !" she cried as she looked, wide eyes, at the ice mage who was sitting against what was left of a table, a long metal pipe piercing his torso right where the heart was supposed to be. A fatal wound. The blonde immediately kneeled next to him, trying desperately to wake him up. "How could… This can't be ! Hey wake up !"

\- "Calm down, little girl, he ain't dead." Said Yurusen , earning a glare from Lucy to which he paid no attention. "Besides, you're not even looking at a real corpse, here."

\- "What do you mean by th… *KRIK*" a cracking noise cut Lucy who turned back to see that cracks were covering Gray's body who shattered soon after in a bunch of ice shards and blocks. Lucy stood there in shock, eye wide and mouth gaping at what happen, totally slack jawed.

\- "Please don't worry." Lucy turned her head to the side, as well as Yurusen and Takeru, to find that the lady laying next to them was getting up, her body made of water taking the Rider and his ghostly friend by surprise while Lucy immediately recognize her, alas.

\- "You… You're from Phantom ! You're…"

\- "Gray-sama is in Juvia's body." She said, Gray literally falling out of her as he gasped for air, Lucy looking at the scene with a weirded out look on her face, sign that she didn't know how she should react to this. As for Takeru, since he was still new to this magical world, this was literally too much, looking agape at what was happening. "Not your body, but mine." Added Juvia, a winning smile on her face as she literally got into Lucy's face, as if she was rubbing something on her face. Meanwhile, Gray sat up, his breath back in check.

\- "So… You made a false body with ice…" began Takeru, pointing at Gray before pointing at Juvia. "while you hid the real one… IN… your body…"

\- "Yeah, that's what happened." Confirmed Gray, before turning to Juvia who was on cloud nine as she remembered having her dear Gray-sama in her own body. "But you shouldn't have done. Now we lost him !"

\- "Hey, she tried to protect you, didn't she ? Cut her some slack, you pervert." Said Yurusen, Gray looking up to him with a fire in his eyes.

\- "Who did you call a pervert, you little flying shit ?"

\- "Well… You literally stripped down to your underwear right now, so…" added Takeru, pointing at Gray's almost naked body, the ice mage yelping in shock, fervently looking around for his clothes, the ghost Rider looking baffled. "…Is he always like that ?"

\- "Always. Emu is trying to find a cure but he's pretty sure it's chronic." The whole group turned to look at the newcomers, namely Natsu, who was nursing his mouth, tongue out, but also Shinnosuke and Haruto, much to the two fairies surprise. "Anyway, are you guys alright ?" asked Haruto.

\- "Yeah, but I guess it could be better." Said Gray as he got back up, now fully clothed, much to Juvia's deception. "And where's Erza ? Those guys are after her."

\- "WERE after her." Corrected Lucy, grabbing the attention of everyone who wasn't there when it happened. "They got her. Takeru tried to stopped them but they outnumbered him and got away."

\- "That means we'll have to follow them, wherever they are going." Stated Natsu, a frown on his face. "Besides, I have 1, to even the score with that block head, and 2, get Happy back."

\- "Why would they kidnapped him ?" wondered Belt-san when his little digital face suddenly shown an alarmed expression. "What if they are after Ankh ? That could be some bonus for them !"

\- "How could they know for Ankh ? And I think you still own us some explanation : what are you three doing here ?" Gray said, turning to look at the Riders, awaiting answer, which Haruto decided to give.

/- Flashback, a few hours ago -/

\- "Troubles really like that guild, apparently." Said Haruto out of the blue.

The Riders could only nod in wonder as they saw where they were standing. While Lucy's group was enjoying a nice day of relaxation and fun, the three Riders had been working. Back at the guild, they had learned of sighing of strange humanoid creature near a forest near the coast for the last few days. From the description they got, there was a great chance this could be Shocker so they came to investigate. Takeru of course proposed himself for it since this would be his first mission in that world. And Sento being busy with the remaking of the plan, Makarov having finally agreed to remake them for the new guild, Gentaro as always helping them and Emu and Kouta deciding that they wanted to get some rest for now, this left Haruto and Shinnosuke to go with Ghost. Up until now, their little investigation was fruitless. They had walked aimlessly for hours now and there was not a single trace of what could have been a Shocker outpost or even a simple clue that they had indeed been here. When they reached the end of the forest, they were facing the sea and lost themselves in the contemplation of what they had in front of them. A slight breeze was blowing as the moon reflected on the water, a silvery light covering the small waves as they came crashing on the shore, making them explode, the droplets shining like stars as they fell on the stones. The Riders all smiled at that : just like their own, this world had marvels that needed to be protected from the evil that lurks in the dark and even if they weren't home, as Kamen Riders, they had the mission to protect what can be protected. But looking at the water, they realized that they missed something during their little investigation : if there was no trace of Shocker in that forest, that might be because they weren't hiding in it but out of it, like a boat in the middle of the sea for example. However, there was no boat to be seen and since they had no other ideas, they decided to follow the coast, hoping that they would soon find something, like where the boat, if there was one, was moored. And shockingly, they did. Shockingly, but as they though about it, not completely surprising, since they were standing on a small hill on the outskirt of Akane, giving them a complete view of the resort. Exactly where Lucy and her friends had gone on vacation.

\- "Well, maybe they does, but who know. They have been here, but I don't see anything that screams Shocker, here." Takeru said, trying not to jump to conclusion when a pair of binoculars was put in front of his face by the detective next to him.

\- "I wouldn't be so sure. Look at the beach."

Takeru did as he was told and looked at the beach through the binoculars and he saw that indeed, they hit the jackpot. Moored next to the beach was a large boat, sails furled with many people working on and around it as they saw 4 silhouettes that didn't looked like Shocker members heading toward the large hotel. Among those little silhouette working on the boat, Takeru saw some pretty familiar faces, black with white outline and big grey belt.

\- "We found them apparently." He said, handing the binoculars back to Shinnosuke. "What do we do ?"

\- "I guess we can either go straight for the boat and destroy them before they could do whatever they want or we can wait for them to go and follow them discreetly to see what they are up too that made them work with Shocker." Said Haruto, listing their possibilities. "To be honest though, the fact that they come here when Lucy and the others are too, I found that pretty weird."

\- "You think they might be after them, huh ?" asked Shinnosuke, Haruto nodding his answer as Shinnosuke pondered their options and which one they should follow. "I think we'd better go and check on our friends. Whether they are in danger or not, nothing change the fact that Shocker seems to be working with mages and if hybrids are involved, we'll need magic too."

\- "I guess that settles it." Said Takeru, stretching his arms. "Let's go check on the hotel."

/- Flashback end -/

\- "After that, we came to the hotel to try and see what those guys were up to when it became dark all of a sudden. We decided to split up and, well, the rest is history." Finished Haruto, the mages nodding, when Belt-san realized that there was someone here they didn't quite acknowledged but whom he remembered pretty well.

\- "Hmmm ? Aren't you one of the Element 4, young lady ?" Juvia gasped as she looked up, recognizing the belt and, by extension, deducing that the one wearing it was the armored man she fought in Magnolia, gulping nervously in realization.

\- "Hey, she is. You're one of the two who came to kidnap Lucy." Added Shinnosuke, remembering that day as head turned to Juvia, who felt really nervous, Natsu's gaze piercing and burning her soul. The dragon seemed ready to pounce on her, but Gray stood in front of her.

\- "Hey, she protected me today, alright ? I'll never forget what Phantom did to us, but it's not like she did everything herself. Besides, everyone deserve a shot at redemption, no ?"

\- "Hey, I never said I was holding anything against her." Said Shinnosuke. "Besides, I don't know what will happen, but we might need all the help we can get to get Erza's back." Everyone nodded at that, agreeing about it, but turning toward Lucy, who was the one they needed agreement from.

\- "It's okay. Don't worry about me." She said, Juvia avoiding her gaze as Natsu kept glaring at her. "But if I agree on going after them, we don't even know where they are right now."

\- "I'll smell them." Simply said Natsu, forgetting Juvia to focus on the others who looked at him. "Don't underestimate a dragon's nose. Now let's go, we have two friends to bring back."

/- Meanwhile, at the tower -/

The Tower of Paradise. A quite sinister tower, build in the middle of nowhere, a construction that needed many years and a whole lot of workers, for the most part unwilling, to be built. Right now, it was standing tall and proudly in the night as a boat sailed to it. If a large part of the people in the tower were pretty insignificant, there were two people who were quite important, and they both stood in what looked like a throne room. A hooded man was sitting in a throne, head resting on his fist, the other man, one with long black hair and bird like nose standing in front of him, brows furrowed and hand behind his back.

\- "Jellal-sama." He began, addressing the man in the throne. "We've received words that Erza has been successfully captured. They are on their way back." This made the man named Jellal smile while the other man frowned a little bit more. "Well, they had some difficulties since I heard they ran into one of those Kamen Riders, but they managed to deal with him. But why take the effort to capture that traitor now ? With your powers, getting rid of her should be a piece of cake."

\- "Hahahaha… We can't have that." Jellal said, laughing slightly in amusement, much to his colleague surprise. "This world would become boring. But now that the Tower of Paradise is complete, to let her live would cause a lot of trouble. The time has come." A sinister smile graced his lips as his mind wandered to the red-headed mage. "Become my perfect sacrifice, Erza Scarlett."

/- Meanwhile -/

When she opened her eyes, Erza noticed two things. First, her whole body was feeling numb, as if she had spent the few hours not moving, which was probably the case as she remembered the events that lead her here. Secondly, she realized that she had no idea where she was. She was tied to a pole in a room completely made of wood. Crates, barrels, linen bag and even clay vases were stored all around her, a stair on her left. The room was lit by oil lamps hanging here and there as she noticed that the room seemed to be rocking a little bit.

\- "Where is this ? where am I ?" she asked herself loud, fighting against those strange bonds tying her hands behind the pole she was sitting in front of.

\- "We're on a ship, nee-san." Answered Shô as he walked down the stairs, heading toward the redhead. "A ship headed for the Tower of Paradise."

\- "Really ? Is that right…" she said after a few seconds of silence, looking almost relieved as she sighed. "Can you release me ? I won't fight anymore."

\- "Sorry, but I can't do that. Because you're a traitor." Answered the blonde young man as Erza struggled even more on her handcuffs. "You can stop struggling. Milianna's ropes have the power to seal magic. Not even you can free yourself."

\- "I understand… At least, let me put on the armor." She asked, bringing her knees closer to her face as she felt more and more vulnerable as time passed by, sweat running down her face. "I'm afraid to go back to that tower. If I don't put the armor on, I'll never feel secure." She admitted, showing a vulnerability her friends never thought she had. As for Shô, he stood there with a smile as he looked at the young woman in front of him.

\- "Those clothes suit you too, nee-san." He truthfully said, meaning each words before falling on his knees to hug Erza, much to the woman surprise. "I didn't want to do this to you." He began, as tears began to fall from his eyes, hugging Erza even tighter. "I wanted to see you so bad, really… Nee-san… Why did you… betray us ? WHY DID YOU BETRAY JELLAL !?" His sudden outburst took Erza by surprise as she looked at the young man, the name he said bringing back many memories to the knight, who remembered a period of darkness. Darkness who had trapped a young and terrified girl and her friends as they all looked for the freedom that got taken from them. A world of darkness and despair in which she had, despite all odds, found her light in the form of a young boy. A young boy named Jellal. A boy who was once her light and who, many years ago, became her darkness.

/- Meanwhile at the Magic Council Meeting Hall -/

\- "You mean to tell me remnants of the R system still remain ?! That's impossible !" roared one of the councilmen as he slammed his fist on the table in front of him.

While the Akane Resort was attacked and Erza kidnapped by her old friends, the council had met to discuss something they thought was solved a long time ago. And judging by the tension surrounding the table, this was far more serious than another case of 'Fairy Tail destroyed a town while on a job'.

\- "8 years ago, a cult that worshipped black magic invested a large sum of money to initiate the building of the R system." Reminded one of the councilman, another following suite with a perplexed light in his eyes.

\- "Those seven towers ? The council put a halt to these construction. There shouldn't even be any traces left of them now."

\- "There was an 8th tower. It's on the coast of Kaelum." Added Belno, one of the only two woman of the council, her face serious and tensed.

\- "D…Don't tell me… It hasn't been completed, has it ?" asked the first councilman, teeth grinding as he thought about the implication to which Belno answered.

\- "Unfortunately, our recon team isn't known for his sense of humor."

\- "So it had been completed, then…" added Ultear, Sieglein's associate.

\- "Why would the R system show up now…" wondered Michello, an old man with a cat like tails and ears on his head.

\- "The Tower of Paradise." Suddenly said Sieglein, strangely calmer and serious than usual as he grabbed everyone's attention. "It's not the R system. It's the Tower of Paradise."

\- "It doesn't matter how you call it, Sieglein !" shouted the first councilman, as nervous and authoritative as ever. "The R system is taboo magic ! It places a grievous toll on anyone subjected to it ! It creates havoc ! We have to mobilize the army immediately ! We need to suppress this as soon as possible !"

\- "But we know nothing about our opponent…" added a small hooded man, looking at the paper in front of him, a tall three-eyed man turning to him.

\- "Know nothing ?! Bit it was just stated that a cult decided to built it."

\- "It appears as though the forces currently occupying the tower have no relation whatsoever to the cult mentioned earlier…" added the small man, shocking his colleagues, except Sieglein who stayed serious. "It is currently under the supervision of Jellal, a man shrouded in mystery. We know nothing of him except for his name."

This made everyone around the table tensed. If they had no idea who that man and his forces were, there was no way they could send the army there to took care of things. However, among the councilman, Yajima, an old friend of Makarov who helped him out of troubles more than one time, was looking at Sieglein, feeling like something was off with the young man, without realizing how right he was as in the next hours, he would play a big part in what could be then end of the world as they knew it.

/- With the Mages and Riders -/

\- "Where the hell are we ?!"

Gray's question was more than legitimate. Following Natsu's keen sense of smell, they took a small boat and rowed away from the coast, in hope to find the boat they were looking for, but right now, they were literally lost in the middle of the sea, the water covering everything around them, not a single boat of speck of land at sight. Even the Riders were feeling down.

\- "Well, this was bound to happen when one go at sea without any navigating skill." Sighed Shinnosuke.

\- "Natsu, are you sure it's around here ?" asked Lucy, turning to a green Natsu whose head was hanging over the railing of their small boat, suffering from the boat ride as usual.

\- "Y…Yeah…" his voice was shaky, but he seemed sure of himself. But that wasn't enough for Gray who seemed as tensed as a bowstring.

\- "God damn it ! I can't believe they took Erza and Happy while we were unconscious… How sad is that…"

\- "An accurate assessment…" began Juvia, now wearing the same clothes she did when they fought her as Phantom Lord. "To think a mage as able as Erza would be defeated…"

\- "Ain't no way she was beaten…" suddenly growled Gray, looking at Juvia with a glare as dark as the deepest level of hell, making the young woman cower in fear. "You don't know the first thing about Erza…"

\- "Please….Please forgive me…" begged Juvia, feeling her heart break as she saw her love looking at her like that.

\- "Calm down, Gray… You have to stay focused." Said Haruto, putting a hand on Gray's shoulder to stop him, the ice mage huffing as he sat down, muttering a sorry to Juvia. "Besides, from what I know, it's not like YOU or anyone else at the guild really know her. Did she ever talked about her past before ?" The silence from Gray was all the answer Haruto needed. They indeed knew almost nothing about her past, he couldn't deny that.

\- "Still, it doesn't change the fact that we don't even know where to go." Said Takeru as he looked around, trying to find anything that could help them when he spotted something. "Forget what I said, we are headed straight at it."

They all turned their head, even Natsu who tried to look without puking, and they all saw something poking through the horizon, standing tall and visible in the middle of the sea, like a lighthouse of some sort, but this was no lighthouse, but their destination.

Finally, they were closing on the Tower of Paradise.

And while they were getting close, their targets were already there. Erza, still tied by magic, walked through the hall, looking everywhere around her with wide eyes, not believing what she was seeing. In 8 years, they had successfully completed the tower. A long period of time during which her friends had changed. Maybe too much, to the point she could barely recognized them anymore. She was brought to a cell where she was tied to a wall, standing and her arms above her head. Simon left after escorting Erza, leaving her alone with Shô.

\- "The ceremony will be held tomorrow at midday. These will be your quarters until then…" he began while Erza tensed suddenly. The word 'ceremony' echoed through her mind as she realized what that meant : they were trying to activate the R System. "No hard feelings, right ? After all, you betrayed us and Jellal is pretty pissed at you. He decided to use you as the sacrifice for the ceremony. We won't see each other ever again, nee-san, but this is for the sake of 'Paradise'." He then noticed that Erza's was shaking, his smirk growing as he noticed it. "You're shaking ? Is it because being the sacrificial lamb frighten you ? Or is it this place that bring back some nostalgia ?" Nostalgia. Erza almost laughed at the word. This place had been her prison and nightmare for many years. Many years of slavery and torture, of protecting each other from their kidnappers and slavers. This was an horrible period she would never be able to forget, but at least, back in the day, her friends were exactly that, her friends. But right now, she was feeling like they died and became something much worse than that cult. "I'm sorry for everything that happened the day they took you. I was the one who planned everything, but I was too much of a coward to speak up. All I could think about was saving myself…"

\- "I don't care about that anymore." Suddenly cut Erza, not feeling like listening to his excuses. "Do you guys really understand the risk of using the R system to resurrect people ?"

\- "Wow, I'm surprise you even know what the R System is used for…" said the young man as he raised an eyebrow.

\- "The R System, for Revive System… In exchange for one living sacrifice, one person can be brought back from the dead. Forbidden Magic completely divorced from humanity." Recited Erza, not losing a beat as Shô smiled more.

\- "From the moment of its inception, magic had nothing to do with humanity. All magic wears away at humanism."

\- "Spoken just like a member of that black mage cult. You're exactly like those guys." Spat Erza, disgusted by how his old friend had changed.

\- "Those guys could only recognize the R System as a basic device used for reviving people… They lacked Jellal's foresight… He's going to guide us to the 'Paradise' ahead." Right now, Shô face was distorted by some kind of madness as he got closer to Erza who was scowling dangerously.

\- "Paradise ?" repeated Erza, her voice low.

\- "When Jellal revives that person, the world will be born again. And we shall become its rulers." With each words that came out of his mouth, Shô's face became even more twisted by madness and his voice became louder. "The remnants of those who stole our freedom… The friends of nee-san who betrayed us… The ignorant people living without a care in the world… The morons of the council… We'll inflict fear and sadness on all of them ! And then we'll rob every one of their freedom ! WE'LL BE THE RULERS OF THE WORLD !"

*BAM* Shô got suddenly shut down by a powerful strike from Erza's knee, the red head not feeling any remorse of striking him, feeling like his old friend was completely gone, now replaced by this monster. As Shô fell to the ground, knocked out by the blow, Erza pulled on her bind and bite on them, snapping them and getting her magic back.

\- "What have you done to make people change so much ?!" she said to herself as she requipped into her usual armor, a fierce expression on her face, her magic blazing around her. "I'll never forgive you, Jellal ! I'll put an end to this !"

 **Well, here we are. A lot of talking in this chapter, but I promise there will be more action in the next one, even if you'll have to wait the next one for some real action. Anyway, I'll see you next time. See ya !**

 **Next time : Infiltrating the tower. Memory of a burden. Getting the feline back.**


	27. Chapter 27 : Erza's burden

**Heya, guys ! How are you ? I hope everything's good for you, whether it is at work, school, or whatever. Personally, I'm starting to feel the need for some holydays growing, but I'll have to wait till the first week of June to got some. I hope I'll survive till then. But for now, I'll keep YOU entertained with a new chapter for this fic you seemed to like a lot judging by the reviews and messages I get with every update.**

 **Anyway, let's go.**

 **Chapter 27 : Erza's burden**

\- "Hurgh… What happened ?" After being put to sleep by magic because he won't stop shouting and struggle, Ankh finally woke up, blinking the sleep out of his eyes as he take in the room he was in and to say he was shocked would be an understatement. No matter where his eyes landed, he saw cats. Cats everywhere, on the walls, the roof, the ground, everything in this room was cat shaped of cat themed. "The hell ? What kind of people would live in a room like this one ?!"

\- "Meow" he jumped suddenly, turning his head to see the same young girl with the cat ears that almost strangled him when she hugged him on the way here, wherever 'here' was.

 _"A cat room for a cat freak… Guess it makes sense."_ Thought Ankh before turning back to the girl, a scowl on his face. He couldn't fight and he wasn't going to take the risk anyway. "Where the hell am I ?"

\- "Meow ! It's a talking cat !" exclaimed Milianna, all happy about her new 'toy' when Wally's voice came in.

\- "Milianna… Make it dandier." He said, leaning on a wall. "It's not a talking cat. It's talking, so that makes it a cat."

\- "Meow ! Now I get it !"

\- "What is there to get ?! That makes absolutely no sense !" Shouted Ankh, outraged by how little sense that block guy was saying. "Where am I ? And where are the others ?!"

\- "Well, if I had to guess, I'd say that right now, they are probably six feet under. Even your armor wearing friend." Ankh squinted his eyes at him, not believing any of his words. If Takeru was at Akane, he was probably not the only Rider there, which meant they probably are all probably on their way. Those guys were going to get the beating of a lifetime, and soon enough he hoped. And as if to prove him right…

\- "Wally ! Milianna ! Erza escaped !" Simon shouted as he ran into the room, the two mages gasping while Ankh barely smirked, happy to see how things were turning.

\- "Escape ?! That sure brings back memories !" said Milianna, almost happy by her evasion, much to Ankh's confusion.

\- "You gotta be dandier Simon. There's no way she can escape from this tower." Added Wally, feeling confident, but Simon was about to surprise them.

\- "It doesn't seems like she's running away. She's going for Jellal." This took the cat woman and block man by surprise as they ran out of the room, following Simon, leaving a perplexed Ankh behind.

\- "Why would Erza go after that guy ? Well, this doesn't concern me. Let's get out of there." He deployed his wings and flew out of the room… And straight into Milianna's arms. "What the…"

\- "Meow, kitty. I can't let you all alone now that you aren't sleeping anymore." She said with a smile, snuggling him close to her chest. "I'm taking you with me !"

Ankh could only groaned as he was carried away by Milianna, cursing his luck all the way. If the others were on their way like he predicted, they better be quick.

/- Meanwhile -/

\- "AHAHAHAHAHAH !"

\- "Jellal-sama ?"

In the throne room at the top of the tower, Jellal was laughing, already knowing about what was happening downstairs, not worried in the least.

\- "Erza is a fine woman, as expected. She truly is fascinating. Will I win ? Or will Erza win ?" he wondered, still smiling, amused by the whole situation. "Let's enjoy it. Spinning together life and death… Past and future. The game of Paradise."

\- "B…But… The movements of the council are also a cause for concern." Strangely, despite the trueness of his black haired comrade, Jellal barely smiled, as if he already took it into consideration. As if he knew what they would do.

/- Era -/

Back at the council, the meeting was still as boiling and tensed as it was before, maybe even more as of now.

\- "The R System ignored the law of human life and death. It's an unforgivable magic, which gave rise to an extremely dangerous idea. Whoever's occupying the tower, we have to consider him an enemy ! The army must be dispatched immediately !"

Mutters rose among the mages, everyone trying to come with a way to deal with this situation. But among them, one wasn't satisfied with the situation and was about to make his opinion known.

\- "Weaklings." Was all that came out of Sieglein's mouth and this immediately dragged the attention of everyone around the table, outraged by what he just said, but he wasn't going to back down, getting up and slamming his hands on the table, his whole body shaking as he thought of the R System. "I'm telling you that as far as I'm concerned, just dispatching the army can't be called anything but weak-willed. It's too dangerous. You people don't understand anything ! Right now, there's only one way to destroy the Tower of Paradise ! The Satellite Square's Etherion."

Sieglein knew he had just dropped a bomb in the discussion, but he didn't care. For him, this was the only way and clearly, everyone wasn't sharing the thought around the table.

\- "WHAT !? The magic of destruction that transcends space-time ?! Are you insane ?!" roared Michello and Belno.

\- "Do you have any idea of the damage it could cause ?!" shouted the three eyed one and the hooded man. "That magic has enough power to make an entire country disappear ! Etherion is our ultimate weapon ! It's much more dangerous than the R System !"

Among the mages around the table, Yajima was the only who stayed silent, letting everything sink in as he listened to Ultear giving her approval to Sieglein's plan.

\- "Maybe, but Etherion can also target everything on the surface. And if we want to destroy that huge structure, it's our only option." He said before taking a breath, turning back to his colleagues.

\- "There are 9 of us. If 3 others members agreed, we'll use the Etherion. "

\- "We don't have time for this ! We absolutely cannot let the R System be used !"

Sieglein's mind was set. Nothing could make him change his mind. And as Yajima looked at him, the old man couldn't help but feel like this young man was hiding something from them. Something huge.

/- Back at the tower -/

After getting close to the towers, the group of mages and Riders were now standing behind some rocks, looking at the stairs leading to the tower and alas, they were heavily guarded, with armed men everywhere on the said stairs.

\- "That's a lot of guards." Whispered Gray, looking at the security from behind rocks.

\- "Who cares ? Let's just plough through them !" Natsu seethed, about to jump over their cover, only to be stopped by Lucy.

\- "No, Natsu ! They've got Happy and Erza. If we do something like that, we might put them in danger."

\- "She's right." Agreed Shinnosuke, taking on the situation they were in. "Besides, with that tower straight ahead, we won't stand a chance if we're found."

Just then, as they were trying to find a way to get inside the tower, water bulged behind them as Juvia reappeared, her body still merged with the water.

\- "Juvia has found another way into the tower's basement through the water."

\- "Seriously ? Great job !" congratulate Gray, much to the water girl pleasure as she got into Lucy's face with a snarky smile.

\- "The one Gray-sama praised was Juvia. Not you."

\- "Well, at least we have a way in." said Haruto, ignoring Lucy smiling awkwardly at Juvia. "Is it far from here ?"

\- "About 10 minutes, more or less. You won't have a problem holding your breath for that long, right ?" asked Juvia, talking about a 10 minute apnea as if this was nothing.

\- "10 minutes is nothing !" stated Haruto who could easily move underwater with the right ring, but Gray and Natsu also said they could, which was a bit less believable.

\- "Not that I doubt your ability to hold your breath underwater, but there are people here who can't do it. So if someone could come up with a solution, I'd be really glad because I don't feel like dying again." Said Takeru, eyeing the water as Juvia apparently already had a solution, apparently not bothered by, or having not noticed, what the end of his sentence implied.

\- "Please wear this." She said, motioning to a medium sized water bubble she had just formed. "It uses water to enclose your head with oxygen, so you can even breath underwater."

\- "That's pretty nice." Said Shinnosuke while putting his bubble on his head. "But I guess it's only temporary, right ?"

\- "Why aren't you putting yours on ?" Juvia wondered, looking at Haruto who simply chuckled as he pulled a blue ring out of its holder.

\- "I have my own way."

 _ **SHABADOOBI, TOUCH HENSHIN ! SHABADOOBI, TOUCH HENSHIN !**_

\- "HENSHIN !"

 _ **WATER, PLEASE ! SUI-SUI, SUI-SUI !**_

Juvia was quite surprised to see Haruto's Water Style. She knew he was a Rider and as such was bound to have so kind of power she would have never saw before, but seeing him use what clearly looked like magic to transform was a bit too much. But she shook it off and dived in the water, followed by the others. They indeed at to swam a good 10 minutes to reach the underground entrance but once they did, they were glad they did as the place looked pretty much deserted.

\- "Looks like we're good. The coast seems clear." Stated Shinnosuke while pulling his bubble off, before putting his jackets back on.

\- "I have to say, those things sure are handy, even if it does look pretty silly." Commented Lucy, looking at the bubble in her hand, not really noticing someone sending a glance or two at her bikini-clad body.

\- "Lucy really did well making her breath last, even after I made hers a little smaller than the rest." Praised Juvia with a smile as Lucy turned to her, outraged by the barely hidden assassination attempt.

\- "If we are in the tower's basement, there has to be a way up." Said Takeru, looking around him, only to be interrupted by voices coming from the wooden scaffold next to them.

\- "Yee !"

\- "Who the hell are you guys ?!" Up above, a bunch a guard, exactly the same as the one from outside, stood, weapon in hands, ready to defend themselves. However, this time they weren't alone, a bunch of Shocker Combatmen stood among them, as ready ad they were, and just as surprised. As for the Riders and Mages, they realized that even if they entered discreetly, fighting was unavoidable in the end. And as usual, Natsu was the first to react.

\- "Who the hell are we ?! Don't you know good fighters when you see them ?!" he said, destroying the scaffold with one blazing punch, sending the soldiers raining around him with the broken wood, his fists exploding with anger. "We're from Fairy Tail, morons !"

\- "Well, I guess there's no other choices."

 _ **START YOUR ENGINE !**_

 _ **EYE ! BATCHIRIMINA ! BATCHIRIMINA !**_

\- "HENSHIN !"

 _ **DRIVE ! TYPE : TECHNIC !**_

 _ **KAIGAN : EDISON ! EREKI ! HIRAMEKI ! HATSUMEI-O !**_

Now that everyone was ready, the fight could really began. Dodging one of the soldier that had dived at her, sword in hand, Lucy backflipped out of the way, grapping a key in the process.

 _ **OPEN THE DOOR TO THE CRAB : CANCER !**_

\- "Long time no see, ebi." Said the spirit while rushing at the swordsman, knocking him out while cutting his hair in the process. Lucy smiled at her spirit before rolling to the side, barely dodging a laser shot coming from a bunch of Shocker soldier who were standing on a scaffold, guns pointed at her. She was about to trade Cancer for Sagittarius, but someone beat her to it, the shooter being struck by electric arcs coming from behind her, knocking them out. When the girl turn around she was met with Takeru, clad in his silver suit with yellow lining and shoulder pad, shaped like light-bulb.

\- "You have good instinct, but you should learn to act a little bit faster." He advised with a slight mockery in his voice, Lucy simply smiling in return.

\- "Thanks for the save. But hey, I have a question. About your power." Takeru simply hummed, prompting her to ask her question while he shot at the soldier. "Your powers are coming from those ghost things, right ? But what are they exactly ?"

\- "Parka Ghosts are, simply put, the soul of a great historical figure from my world, unsealed from an object connected to said historical figure. And by wearing the Parka Ghost, I gain powers linked to said figure."

\- "So… You're basically wearing your power ?"

\- "Yes. It's the basic idea, yes." Confirmed Takeru, still shooting at his opponents. As for Lucy, she was thinking about something.

\- "Wearing your power, huh ?"

Meanwhile, Gray was climbing on the scaffold, punching and kicking his way among the soldiers and guards. After kicking some out of the scaffold, he put a fist in his palm and used his magic.

 _ **ICE MAKE : HAMMER !**_

A large hammer made of ice appeared and slammed the guards, crushing them. However, ray being airborne made a perfect target for the Shocker soldiers who were waiting for him at his landing point. But someone else was also here for them.

 _ **TIRE KOUKAN : ROAD WINTER !**_

A wave of cold air suddenly came and froze the soldiers, allowing Gray to land safely next to Drive, in Technic type, who was shooting at guards who were behind him without looking, the icy blue tire wrapped around his neck.

\- "How can you shot at them like that ? I'm sure not even Alzack or Bisca can do it and they are the best shooter I know ?" exclaimed Gray, amazed and shocked by his performance.

\- "That's Technic Type for you. Not as physically strong as the others, but really good when it comes to mechanic and multitasking." Answered Shinnosuke, a smirk on his face as he kept shooting, Gray rolling his eyes before joining the Rider to finish them off. Meanwhile, Juvia was facing some soldiers who came rushing at her, swords in hands, but she did nothing to doge them, letting them go through her water body, much to their shock.

 _ **WATER SLICER !**_

She then slashed the two men with a water blade, knocking them out. She then saw a small group of Shocker Soldier in front of them, waiting for her. She was still determined to fight, but something made her stop.

 _ **LIQUID, PLEASE !**_

A mass of water fell on the soldier, knocking them down and sending them into the water. Juvia looked, wide eyed, as the mass of water gathered into the blue armored wizard, who looked at her with a shrug.

\- "It would seem like we have more in common that I first thought, isn't it ?" he said, standing next to her as she simply smirked, following him to take care of the rests. It took nothing more than a few minutes for the team to get rid of their opponents. Once they had cleared the basement, they felt that something was weird when a trap door open right above a ladder.

\- "Did someone opened that door ?" Wondered Natsu, feeling weird about that sudden opening. And the feeling was shared by the Riders, like Shinnosuke.

\- "This feels like they are inviting us to come up. This is not good."

/- Up in the throne room -/

\- "Jellal-sama, what are you thinking ?!" said the long haired man, feeling less and less at ease with how Jellal was doing things. "Just letting the intruders enter like that !"

\- "I told you, this is a game. This just means that they cleared the first level." Said Jellal. "It's really gotten interesting."

\- "However, if we do not proceed quickly with the ceremony, sooner or later, the council will get wind of this."

\- "You're still worried about that, Vidaldus ? It can't be stopped. Not for this worthless council anyway !"

/- Back with the team -/

\- "Oi, square bastard ! Where are you ?!"

\- "Stop ! We're in enemy headquarters ! Don't yell !" Scolded Lucy, slapping her hand on Natsu's mouth, shutting him up.

\- "We could only go crazy before because we were underground. Now we'll have to sneak about." Explained Gray, his explanation quite logic, but it didn't seemed that good to Shinnosuke.

\- "I wouldn't be so sure." He said, pointing at the trapdoor on the ground. "This had been opened remotely, which means that whoever did it know we are here and is letting us do as we want for now."

\- "But is they know we are here, why aren't they truly trying to stop us ?" wondered Lucy, a hand on her chin in a thinking pose.

\- "This could be a provocation. They might think we have no chance in hindering with their plans." Theorized Takeru before glancing at Lucy, noticing that something had changed with her. "Wait. Where are those clothes coming from ?!"

Lucy was indeed standing there, garbed in a long dress held around her neck by a thin strap. She also had a long bandana around her head. And she seemed quite happy in those clothes.

\- "They are from the Stellar Spirit World." She explained, striking a pose with a satisfied look in her eyes. "I don't like wearing wet clothes, so earlier I took the opportunity to ask Cancer to bring them for me. I mean, aside from Juvia who can turn into water and Haruto, you guys sure are putting up well with wearing those wet clothes."

\- "They dry real quick if you do this." Stated Gray as he, Takeru and Shinnosuke rubbed their clothes, standing next to a burning Natsu, the heat he emitted drying the clothes pretty quickly.

\- "We had a dryer right here ?!"

\- "There they are ! It's the intruders !"

Lucy was put out of her surprised daze by the arrival of a whole squad of guards, weapon in hands. But before anyone of them could od anything, the whole squad had been beaten in a matter of seconds by none other than Erza, dual wielding swords, holding backward. When the redhead saw them, needless to say she was surprised.

\- "Wh…What are you guys doing here…" she asked, clearly taken aback by their sudden appearance. And her question and genuine surprise didn't pleased Natsu one bit.

\- "What do you mean why ?! We'd be disgracing Fairy Tail if we just backed off and let them walk all over us ! and there's no way I'm letting that square bastard off easy !"

\- "Um…" While Natsu was as fiery as ever, the same couldn't be said by Juvia who was clearly feeling tensed being in the same room as Erza, mainly due to what she did when she was part of Phantom Lord. "Juvia is here because… well…"

\- "Go back." Cut Erza, her voice sharp but her eyes conveying a form of sadness and resignation. "You guys shouldn't be here."

\- "But Erza…"

\- "They've got Happy shut up somewhere too !" Natsu shouted, cutting Lucy. "We can't just go back."

\- "Happy's here ?" repeated Erza, genuinely surprised before looking down at the ground in though. "Don't tell me… Milianna…"

\- "Where is he ?!" asked suddenly Natsu, getting close to Erza who simply looked down, not knowing where the Exceed was, but this won't deter Natsu who turned heels and walked away. "Ok, got it !"

\- "What do you mean, you got it ?!" shouted Gray in disbelief, not knowing what was going on in the Slayer's mind.

\- "Happy's waiting for us ! I'm coming Happy !" And just like that, he was gone, running straight forward, as his friends simply sighed.

\- "That moron. And it's not Happy he's after, but Ankh." Sighed Shinnosuke. "I'll go after him, to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."

\- "You can't." Said Erza, holding a sword in front of him. "Go back. Millianna is the biggest cat-lover around. I don't think she'll hurt Happy, or rather Ankh. I'll take care of Natsu and Happy and bring them back."

\- "Sorry, but it can't agree with that." Stated Shinnosuke, pushing the blade aside, much to Erza's surprise. "You probably have a really good reason to say this doesn't concern us, but since Shocker is involved, us Riders can't just walk away." Apparently, judging by the surprise on her face, Erza didn't know of the Shocker presence in the tower. "I'll go fetch them. I won't be long."

And with that, he ran off after Natsu, hoping he could find him before he did something stupid or ran into the wrong guy. As for Erza, she stared at where Shinnosuke and Natsu had disappeared, her back turned to the others who stayed silent until Lucy took the initiative.

\- "Erza, what is this tower and who's this Jellal ?" Erza said nothing but the sight of her head slumping into her shoulder was a clear sign she was holding something back. "Though it's fine if you don't want to tell us… I know you said those guys were your friends before… But we're your friends now. We'll always be here for you, Erza."

\- "G…Go…" was all Erza could mutter, her body shaking as she struggled to keep herself from crumbling down.

\- "This isn't like you, Erza." added Gray. "Why can't you just stop saying all those useless stuff and tell us 'follow me' like you always do ? We'll help you out. Even you're allowed to be scared sometimes, you know."

Gray think he was ready for everything, but he was proved wrong when Erza turned to face them, tears running down her usually steely face, taking everyone by surprise.

\- "Sorry." She said, wiping the tears away. "In this fight… Whether I win or lose… I'll disappear from this world no matter what… This is an unavoidable future…"

\- "This is wrong, Erza." Haruto said, grabbing everyone's attention. "Nothing is unavoidable. Fate isn't something you have to accept and lived with. You can also fight it and choose to live your own life, no matter how hard it is to change things. But whether you accept help or not, there are two things you can do at the very least. One, since Shocker is involved, is to accept the fact that us Riders won't leave until we get rid of them. And two, those guys are your new family and the least you could do, is to tell them the story behind this place and how it's linked to you."

Erza stood there not moving before smiling slightly, her eyes sparkling slightly as she processed Haruto's words.

\- "I guess. Well, in this case, I'll tell you everything I know." She said, everyone turning to her, knowing that whatever she was about to say would be important. "This tower is called the Tower of Paradise, also known as the R System. About 10 years ago, a dark cult tried to build a tower whose magic could bring the dead back to life." This was a first shock for the listeners, and they weren't even at a tenth of the story. "This project wasn't allowed by the government or the magic council, so they rounded up people from all countries and forced them to work as slaves on the construction."

\- "Let me guess…" interjected Takeru, already knowing why she was linked to that tower. "You were one of those slaves, isn't it ?"

\- "Yes. When I was young, I was forced to work here." Her revelation shocked her friends, the Riders simply frowning in disgust at the idea of slavery. "Jellal, Millianna, Shô, Wally and Simon were also slaves here and that's how we all met." She took a deep breath and began to told the true story. "After a failed evasion attempt, I had been punished by our captor. Jellal had managed to find me but he was also stopped by one of them. In the end, I was send back to my cell with the others, weakened by the punishment while Jellal was being punish instead of me. Seeing me come back all beaten up was too much for some of the, like Shô who was quite the cry-baby back in the day. His cries, the guards shouting and Jellal's words about us having to fight for our freedom, all of that awoke something inside me. My body had moved on its own and I took out the two guards and fueled by those boiling emotion in me, I led a rebellion. We were freeing slaves after slaves and as our number grew, it became easier and easier to defeat the guards, but none of us were ready to face mages and that's when everything took a turn for the worst. Using their magic, they literally plowed through our ranks like it was nothing. I tried to stay strong to prevent the others slaves from running away and I was so entranced in doing so that I didn't saw the spell sent my way." Her listeners gasped at that as she took a deep breath, feeling tears burning in her eyes. "But I was saved by an old man named Rob. He was like a grandfather for me. He taught me what magic was and he's the one who made me dream of being a mage in the first place. I swore that one day, I'll be free and take him with me, flying through the sky. But by saving my life, he gave up his. And as I cried over his corpse, that's when I used magic for the first time in my life. I don't really knew how I did it at the time, but all the weapons around me began to flew around and slashed at the mages, knocking them all out and with that, we could finally keep going and be free. But I still had to get Jellal. But…"

\- "Something happened to him." Finished Lucy, tears in her eyes as she finished her sentence, seeing that she had a hard time doing it herself.

\- "I don't really know what happened to him, but when I found him, he had become even worse than our captors. He could now use magic and didn't hesitate in killing those guys as this was a game for him. He saw freedom in Zeref's world, his eyes were full of hatred and darkness, I barely recognized him. He wanted to finish the R System and use it for his own plan. He said that I could leave if I wanted, but the others belonged to him."

\- "So he let you go ? Why do I feel like you missed on the most important part ?" said Haruto, already feeling angered enough but feeling, alas, that he was about to be angered even more.

\- "He did let me go, but he made it clear that if I spoke about what happened in that place to anyone, he would destroy every proof of what happened here, including the slaves, and he also forbid me from getting close to the tower ever again because if I did, he would kill Shô and the others as well as the other slaves. After that, I was knocked out and when I woke up, I was alone on a beach, knowing that I had a horrible burden on my shoulder."

The others said nothing, but they now understood the situation and pressure Erza must have felt all those years. She knew that if the R System was completed, it could led to the return of something unfathomable, but on the other hand, if she tried anything, all of her friend who have been killed. That plus the fact that her old friend though she had betrayed them, probably because of whatever lie Jellal told them, the Riders and mages now realized how much she must have suffered despite appearances and seeing how she managed to live despite that, she definitely deserve all the respect she was given as a mage.

\- "I… I want to fight Jellal…" she finally said after a silence, tears running down her face from a single eye, her whole body shaking due to the surplus of emotion that washed over her. As for the others, they couldn't help but share a common though and objective : to stop Jellal to free Erza from her burden.

/- Meanwhile, at Era -/

\- "In order to wipe the Tower of Paradise from this world… To prevent Jellal from activating the R System ! Right now, aside from the Square Satellite and Etherion, we have no other options !"

The debate was as fiery as we left it. Sieglein was still trying to get the council to agreed on the use of Etherion to destroy the Tower of Paradise and so far, he had 3 vote out of the 5 he needed. And judging by the face the others were making he might get the two missing one soon enough.

\- "The R System has been forbidden since the ancient times." Added Ultear. "I think everyone here understands the implications of this."

\- "Using the Etherion would mean destroying absolutely everything." Reminded one of the council man, seeing the point Sieglein was making but still feeling wrong about agreeing. "That includes innocent bystanders. Everyone inside that towers will be killed."

\- "To protect the order of the magic world, that's a price that must be paid."

\- "Just like Sieg says, we've all gotten here on the sacrifices of many others." Agreed the hooded mage, the one who finally agreed with Sieglein and Ultear. "That's also evident in the history of this magic world that exists today."

\- "But Reiji-sensei !" interjected another mage, addressing the hooded one. "If we unilaterally attack Kaelum's soil, it will leave a black mark throughout all of history !"

\- "Then that's part of the sacrifice we'll have to make !" said Belno, finally agreeing with the idea. "One cannot return from the dead. These kids must understand the value of life. There's no getting out of it. I approve of the use of the Etherion."

\- "Just need one more." Said Sieg, as at the exact same time, a hooded man, sitting at the top of a very particular tower, smiled as he said the exact same words.

/- Back with the team -/

\- "Hey, Erza. In your story, I heard you speak about a guy named Zeref. Who's that guy, exactly ?" asked Takeru, having replayed Erza's story in his mind and having noticed that he didn't know of that name.

\- "He's known for being the most brutal and cruel dark mage in the history of the magic world." She explained as Lucy remembered something.

\- "In…Indeed. The monster summoned by the Lullaby was created by Zeref if I remember correctly."

\- "Not only that." Added Erza, turning to her friends. "I'm afraid Deliora could have bee, another one of his creation." The memory struck Gray, remembering the demon his master had sealed at the cost of her life.

\- "That's the Zeref Jellal plans to revive ?" said Juvia, eyes wide in fears as she realized the implication.

\- "That could also explain why Shocker is here." Said Haruto. "Ever since we came here, they seemed to have taken a liking in Zeref's creations. Reviving him could bring them a new powerful ally. But this doesn't really explain why Jellal want to revive him."

\- "I'm not sure either." Admitted Erza, as perplexed as they were. "According to what he said that fateful day, when Zeref is revived, they would become rulers of 'Paradise'."

\- "When you put it like that, I really can't understand the actions of your old friends." Stated Lucy. "They said that you were a traitor. But the real traitor seems to be Jellal, right ?"

\- "I guess he may have lied to them, to make himself pass as the victim and put the blame on Erza. Besides, who know what kind of lies he had fed them during all those years." Said Takeru, his explanation sounding pretty logic.

\- "I don't know either. But I did abandon them for 8 whole years. I guess that's kind of a betrayal." She said, looking slightly down.

\- "But that's because Jellal threatened you with your friends lives ! You couldn't get close ! How could those guys blame…"

\- "That's enough Lucy." Erza said, putting an end to Lucy's rant. "If I can just take care of Jellal, it'll all be over."

They all stayed silent, not saying a word, letting all the words sink in, even if for some, like Gray, her words about disappearing from this world seemed weird, as if she was still hiding something. But those though were interrupted by a new voice, belonging to a young man who was slowly walking toward them.

\- "Nee-san…" said Shô, grabbing everyone's attention, his body shaking. "Those words… What do you mean by them ?" Apparently, he had heard everything and needless to say, he was shocked and didn't know what to believe. "All that nonsense you just said, are you just trying to pry sympathy from your friends ? Don't joke around ! The truth is nothing like that !" he was full of anger as he revealed to the others what supposedly happened. "8 years ago, weren't you the one who bombed the ship everyone was on and then ran off by yourself ? If Jellal hadn't discovered your betrayal, we would have all been blown to bits ! He explain it to us ! That this was the fate of those who can't handle the proper form of 'magic' ! You went mad with your new power and gave up everything to do with us !"

\- "So you believed everything he said without any proof ? Weren't you trusting Erza, back in the day ?" said Takeru, a scowl on his face as he looked at Shô, who seemed surprise they weren't believing him.

\- "Does that sound like something the Erza you knew would have done ?" added Lucy, also looking at him with a scowl as his face began to distort in panic and confusion.

\- "You fools don't understand anything ! You don't know a thing about us !" he said, shouting his mind out. "I was saved thanks to Jellal ! We built this tower for the last 8 years ! For Jellal ! All of this has been a lie ? If nee-san is right, then everything Jellal said was a lie ?!"

\- "That's right."

Everybody turned at the new voice, coming from the tall and large masked guy that attacked Gray and Juvia back at the resort. Gray was about to pounce on him, but he was stopped by Juvia.

\- "Hold on, Gray-sama ! When he attacked us at the resort, he knew that was an ice dummy of Gray-sama, but he attacked it anyway. There's no way a Dark age wouldn't have detected something like that. This is one of the reason Juvia tagged along. To confirm it."

\- "No wonder you're one of the famous Phantom's Element 4." Praised Simon, not denying what she just said. "I didn't plan on killing you then. I wanted to fool Shô and the others and I intended to do that by knocking you out, but you ice double helped me in making your death look more realistic."

\- "You were just trying to trick us ?" Realized Shô, looking at his friend as his current world began to crumble around him.

\- "You, Wally and Millianna. Everyone had been fooled by Jellal. I waited for the right time, and pretended to believe him also."

\- "Simon, you…"

\- "I believed Erza from the beginning." He said, cutting the redhead as he scratched his cheek, a smile appearing under his mask. "It's been that way for 8 years." Erza was touched by the trust Simon had in her and she came to hug him, happy to know that at least one of her old friend was still the same. "I'm so glad I was finally able to dee you again, Erza."

\- "How could… How could you trust her like that…" muttered Shô as he fell to his knees. "Why can't I trust nee-san, trust her like you do ? DAMN IT !" And just like that, he broke down, falling to his knees, fist on the ground as tears stream down his face, not knowing what to do nor who believe anymore; "Who's telling the truth ?! Who am I supposed to believe ?!"

\- "I know it's hard to accept everything right now. But let me just say a few words." Said Erza, kneeling in front of the crying Shô. "In these 8 years, I never forgot about you guys. I couldn't do anything… I was too weak. I'm sorry."

\- "But you're ready now, isn't that right ?" said Simon with a smile, grabbing Erza and the others attention. "I've been waiting for this moment. Now that all these powerful mages are gathered in one place. We'll fight Jellal with our combined strength. And also take care of those Shocker guys."

\- "You can count on us for that." Said Haruto, standing arms crossed with Takeru.

\- "I hope. But before we can do anything, we need to stop Salamander and Wally's impending battle."

\- "Yeah, I guess." Said Takeru, tilting his head to the side as he pulled a phone out. "Let me contact Shinnosuke. Once he'll know of the situation, he'll probably be able to stop them from killing each other."

/- With Natsu -/

\- "Square dude ! Where are you hiding ?! Happy, where are you ?"

For the past minutes, Natsu had been running all over the place, looking for Wally so he could even the score and beat his ass, and at the same time, he was of course looking for his buddy and until now, he had no luck. After looking into many rooms, for the most part empty, he finally reached a very peculiar room.

\- "What kind of room is this ?" He said as he looked at the place, completely covered in cat themed object and furnitures. "There's cat everywhere." As he he looked around, he spotted a large cat head that he put on his own head, laughing like an idiot at his discovery. "Hahaha ! This is pretty cool ! But there's no time for that. Let's get that off…" He then grabbed the big cat head and pulled on it, not managing to pull it off. "…". He tried again, with even more strength and energy, shaking his upper body as if this could help him in taking the fake head off. Spoiler : it didn't. "… I can't take it off… Well, it doesn't matter. I'll take care of it later." Now okay with his current situation, hands on his hips. "Well, let's look around. If there's a place Happy can be in, this has to be here."

He then began to look around, trying to find his friend he hoped was somewhere around here, all while thinking of ways to use this new head to mess with his friends. He was so busy that he didn't even noticed someone standing in the doorway, gun pointed at the Slayer, a smile gracing his square head.

\- "This is the end for you, boy." Said Wally, not loud enough for Natsu to hear him as he armed his gun. He was about to fire when…

\- "NOOOOOO !"

*BANG* Millianna had suddenly jumped on Wally, grabbing his arm and making him miss his shot, the bullet embedding itself in the wall in front of Natsu, taking Natsu by surprise as he turned around, finally noticing the two others mages.

\- "Square !" he said, before noticing the struggling bundle in the girl arms. "Happy !"

\- "You took your time, you lazy… WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOUR HEAD !?" he shouted, noticing the large cat head he had right now, his face distorted with anger. "Now's not the time to play !"

\- "Wh-What are you doing ?! That was the perfect chance !" complained Wally, looking at Millianna who looked at him with a scowl.

\- "You can't go around bullying kitty-cats !"

\- "He's no cat ! Just take a look at him !"

Millianna did as she was told, looking at Natsu who was standing still, not saying anything, probably as weirded out by their interaction as Ankh was.

\- "…. Nyaaa."

\- "See !?"

\- "Why, you !"

\- "Can anyone of you be serious even two minutes ?!" wondered Ankh with a tired sigh.

\- "Oh, I haven't forgotten what you did back there !" finally said Natsu, pointing at Wally, the dandy running at him, his body splitting into many block that levitate above the ground.

\- "Move it, Millianna! He's our enemy !"

 _ **POLYGON ATTACK !**_

Natsu expectedly dodged the polygon that were coming at him like bullets, piercing holes in the ground. Natsu even used his environment to protect himself, like a big cat plushy. As for Wally, he glanced at Millianna who was still standing on the side, a sad look on her face.

\- "Enemy ? A kitty-cat… ?" she muttered, squeezing Ankh even more, much to his discomfort.

\- "I already told you, he's not a cat ! There's a human inside there !"

\- "Nya !?"

\- "Kinda slow, aren't you ?" muttered Ankh, the girl slowness shocking him.

Meanwhile, Natsu was still busy dodging the numerous block, or destroying them with his flames. Wally could see why Jellal told them to watch out for the fire mage. He was a force to be reckoned with. The block man also knew that alone, he ill have a hard time taking care of him but luckily for him, Millianna finally saw behind his disguise (was it even one to begin with) and needless to say, she was pissed.

\- "NYAAA ! Pretending to be a cat even though he's a person… That pisses me off !"

\- "Er…. Did you look at yourself in a mirror recently ?" said Natsu, the irony of her words striking him hard, just like it did for Ankh.

\- "Talk about double standard."

 _ **NEKOSOKU TUBE !**_

Using her magic, she conjured a rope that wrapped itself around Natsu's wrist, the flames on his hands dying as soon as it came in contact with him, much to Natsu's surprise and Wally's joy who could finally attack the guy without any obstacle.

 _ **32 FPS ATTACK !**_

The block then quickly rushed at him, dealing damages to Natsu, more precisely, he was hit 32 times in one seconds, hence the name of the attack. Natsu tried to get rid of that rope on his wrist, feeling like this was the reason why his magic didn't worked, but another rope appear on his ankle, making him fall to the ground, allowing Wally to hit him in the back hard, before Millianna wrapped him up in the tube, completely sealing his arms.

\- "Well, looks like this is it for you, Salamander." Said Wally, reforming as Natsu struggled in his binds. "Let's see how you like this prerendering polygon shot."

\- "Wally ! Take him out, quick !" asked Millianna, her need to see this fake-cat taken care of growing with each second that passed.

\- "Wait, Millianna. I almost forgot my dandy parting shot." He said, guns pointed at Natsu who, right now, didn't felt good, feeling like if the shot hit him, he would have no way to protect himself. "Your destiny came to an end, the moment you met…"

 _ **VE-VE-VEGAS ! HISSATSU ! FULL THROTTLE : DREAM VEGAS !**_

Wally and Millianna turned their head at the same time, looking behind them only to see a big wave of golden coins falling on them. With a cry, they both got buried under the coins, Ankh managing to escape Millianna's grasp and fly out of the way. When the coins stopped, the tow mages were completely buried under the coins and Natsu could finally see who did this.

\- "Oh ! Shinnosuke ! How did you…find … me…. What the hell happened to your body ?!"

\- "It's nothing, don't worry about it." Shrugged off the Rider, even if he could understand that the sight of his elongated and twisted body due to the three drums on his body. "But I could ask you the same question. What the hell is wrong with your head ?"

\- "Don't worry about that for now. Free me from those binds !" Ordered the Slayer as he struggled against his binds, Ankh going to him. At the same time, the two mages erupted from the coins and needless to say, neither of them were happy by what happened.

\- "You ! You're one of those Riders we heard about, right ?" asked Wally, pointing at Drive who was back in his usual Vegas form.

\- "I'm ready to bet you heard it from those Shocker soldier that work with you." He said, glaring at them beneath his helmet.

\- "It doesn't matter how we know." Answered Wally, his body splitting once again. "You won't leave this place alive anyway !"

 _ **32 FPS ATTACK !**_

 _ **DRIVE ! TYPE : TECHNIC ! TIRE KOUKAN ! ROLLING GRAVITY !**_

With a change of tire, Shinnosuke slammed the 10 Ton Weight on the ground, creating a zone of heavy gravity that forced the block on the ground, unable to move, much to Wally's shock.

\- "What the hell is that !? Millianna, do something !" shouted Wally, feeling the strain of the gravity on his body parts. "Get rid of them !"

\- "Nya ! Leave it to me !"

\- "I don't know what the hell those ropes are, but they aren't coming off !" groaned Ankh as he was trying his best to free Natsu, but he couldn't get them off.

\- "Get off me, I have an idea !" said Natsu as he got to his knees and turned to look at Millianna. "Hey, cat-girl !"

 _ **ULTIMATE STRIKE ! KITTY IN PAIN !**_

\- "Nyyaaaaa…"

Shinnosuke didn't what was the most disturbing thing : the fact that Natsu managed to make tears fall of the fake cat head or the fact that it made Millianna let go of the tube holding him.

\- "What are you doing Millianna !?" shouted Wally in disbelief, looking at the crying cat-girl.

\- "But the Kitty-cat was…"

\- "Alright ! Time to finish this !" shouted Natsu, getting up and making his opponents come back to earth.

\- "Shit ! Millianna, get out of the way !"

\- "Sorry, but I can't let you do that." Said Shinnosuke, pulling out his Door-Ju and pulling the Rolling Gravity Shift Car on it.

 _ **HISSATSU ! ROLLING GRAVITY ! FULL THROTTLE !**_

 _ **FIRE DRAGON'S WING ATTACK !**_

As Natsu rushed at the mages with his arms covered in flames, their evasion was cut short by Shinnosuke who fired a golden sphere above them, sphere that them proceed to fire a flurry of bullet on them, restraining their mobility and as such, allowed Natsu's attack to hit his targets, knocking both mages out.

\- "Nice ! I got my revenge on square guy !" Celebrate Natsu, not noticing something orbiting around his helmet.

\- "Very good, really, but you should now get rid of that ridiculous fake head." Advised Ankh, cutting Natsu's celebration short before Shinnosuke came into the conversation.

\- "Well, I hope you still have a lot of strength left, because this is only the beginning on the story." His words intrigued the mage and Exceed who looked at him, head cocked to the side in confusion. That's only after a few second that Natsu realized that something was repeatedly poking his body, a thing he tried to swat away like a fly but who kept coming back for more.

\- "The hell is this ? Leave me alone !"

\- "Max Flare ? What are you doing ?" asked Shinnosuke as he grabbed the fiery Shift Car, who kept honking, as if he was trying to say something. But the Rider didn't listened.

\- "What do you mean by this is only the beginning ?" asked Ankh, trying to take them back to the main subject.

\- "This is a pretty long story. Let me explain it to you." He said, glancing one last time at the Shift Car in his hand that kept wiggling to try and get out of his grasp, the Rider frowning before turning his head to the other to explain the situation, even if he couldn't shake up that something felt strange with his Shift Car.

 _"Why is he so insisting on getting to Natsu ? Could it be… ?"_

/- Meanwhile -/

At the top of the tower, Jellal was standing in front of some kind of chess game, with very specific shaped pieces. He was actually holding a dragon shaped one and another shaped like a wheel and just used them to knock down two other pieces, one with cat ears and the other showing a man with a bow before putting the two pieces in his hand down on the chessboard.

\- "Shô and Simon have betrayed us. Wally and Millianna have been defeated by the Salamander and Kamen Rider Drive. Hm…" he looked at the chessboard in front of him, not feeling bothered by how things were going right now. "Yes, this is how a game should be. There's nothing more boring than a one-sided game."

\- "Jellal-sama, let us quickly capture Erza and hold the ceremony." Advised Vidaldus, more concerned by how things were going. "This is no longer the time to be playing around."

\- "In that case, why don't you go yourself ? Vidaldus."

Jellal's proposition took Vidaldus slightly by surprise.

\- "Are you sure ?"

\- "Well… They've finished their turn, have they not ?" Asked Jellal rhetorically, putting three new pieces on the board as Vidaldus smiled and took a stance that kinda looked like the one used for Iced Shell. But instead of freezing everything, Vidaldus got engulfed in light and when the light subsided, there was three people standing in the room. The first one had the same body and hair as Vidaldus, but he looked more like a heavy metal musician with heavy black make-up, rocking his head madly. The second one was a beautiful woman wearing a white yukata, her pink hair ted in some sort of knot, eyes closed and smiling as she hold on a katana. The last one was a tall man, heavily muscled, with the head of a owl and rockets on his back.

\- "Special raiding squadron of assassin' guild 'The Skull Order'… Trinity Raven." Said Jellal, looking at his three new soldiers. "It's your turn now."

\- "GO TO HEEEEEEEELLLL !" shouted the rocker, named Vidaldus Taka, tongue hanging from his mouth. "Hell ! Let me show you the deepest and darkest depths of hell !"

\- "Who-Who-Whoo…" was all the owl guy, Fukurou, said, his head twisting from side to side.

\- "Perhaps it is the fate of both love and life to scatter on the wind…" said the woman named Ikaruga, opening her eyes as she smiled at Jellal. "Tonight shall be a festival."

 **And here we are. Starting next time, fights are coming and I'm sure of one things : you probably will be surprised by what I have in store. I may have teased a part of what is going to happen in the next fight in this chapter, by the way. Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter. I may have been a little quick on Erza's story, but since I didn't felt like going through a whole flashback where nothing would have changed, I decided to do it like that instead. Don't forget to review and comment. See ya !**

 **Next time : The Paradise Game. Fighting for a friend. The Siren and the Aquarius Guardian join the Dragon.**


	28. Chapter 28 : Dragon, Siren and Stellar-Z

**Hello guys ! How are you ? I have to say, I'm really excited about this chapter and for very particular reason. In this chapter, I'll use a whole new 'Hybrid' form for a mage, one I'm honestly quite proud of. I'll explain everything about how this idea came to me at the end of the chapter. So, in the meantime, enjoy the story !**

 **I'd like to thanks every single one of you who review, follow or fav the story, it's really a pleasure to see all that support, it really help in making me motivated to continue.**

 **And talking about reviews, I noticed one written by KRKing (thanks for the review by the way). The mages who used Kamen Riders trinkets to change into some sort of armor aren't really Kamen Rider. This is just a mode used to mix Magic and Rider power to fight against creature born from mages perverted by Shocker power and technology. Those mix are what I call 'Hybrid' and some of them might be back later on.**

 **Enough chit chat, here we go !**

 **Chapter 28 – Dragon, Siren and Stellar-Z**

After hearing Erza's story, the group made of Erza, Gray, Lucy, Juvia, Haruto and Takeru, led by Simon and followed by Shô, was running through the hallway of the tower, climbing stairs after stairs while the Darkness Mage was trying to contact his friend, alas with no avail.

\- "Damn it ! My contact with Wally and Millia is being blocked !" Seethed Simon in frustration.

\- "Contact ? You mean some sort of telepathy ?" asked Takeru, running next to the tall guy who simply nodded.

\- "If someone is blocking you, then this can't be good for us." Stated Haruto, running a little behind, the others nodding at his statement. At the same time, Erza looked at Shô, who was still following them but with his head hanging down, which was worrying the knight a little.

\- "Are you okay, Shô ?"

\- "Yeah…" answered the card mage, a smile appearing on his face whose eyes were still hidden in the shadow of his bangs. "As long as you're here…" Erza smiled at that, happy to see her friend coming back to his sense. Meanwhile, Gray had something on his mind, which he shared with Juvia, not bothering in lowering his voice.

\- "Hey… Are you sure we should actually be trusting that guy ?" he asked, glaring at the tall man back. "I mean, I'll accept he didn't actually try to kill us, and that all very well, but in that situation, Natsu and Lucy could easily have died…"

His statement made the others realize that, if Simon had no intention to kill them at the resort, it was because he never trusted Jellal to begin with. But the same could not be said for Millianna, Wally and Shô, which meant that Lucy and Natsu really were in danger at the time.

\- "I do not plan on making excuses." Said Simon, not looking back at Gray. "If you were the sort of mages who could be killed that easily, then you could never have fought Jellal anyway. Besides, I had faith that Natsu would not die."

\- "And… What about me ?" muttered Lucy, shaking slightly, feeling like she wasn't important, Haruto calming her by putting a hand on her shoulder.

\- "Don't take it personally. After all, you're still new as a mage, you have yet to be known."

\- "And knowing that Erza was in Fairy Tail, I hoped some of those famous Kamen Riders would be joining to." Continued Simon, the two Riders presents feeling like he didn't meant he needed them as reinforcement against Jellal, but potentially something else. "As for Natsu, you people have still not realized his true power. When Natsu holds the true power of a dragon… evil will perish."

His audience could only frowned and think about what he just said. It is true that with a magic like his, Natsu had the potential to become a really powerful mage, probably one of the most powerful in the whole kingdom, a mage like no other.

/- Meanwhile -/

If Natsu was as strong as people believed he was, his current situation was light years away from the image people had in mind when they thought of Salamander.

\- "Come on ! You need to pull harder !"

\- "I'm pulling as hard as I can, you pink haired lizard !"

Natsu was currently holding for dear life on a wall while Ankh, still in Happy's body, was pulling on the cat head Natsu had around his own, trying to free the Slayer. But as things were going, the wall Natsu was holding onto would broke down before they could free Natsu. That or his neck will snap before.

\- "NNGH ! You're gonna snap my neck !" shouted Natsu, whose neck was starting to stretch a little too much for his taste, Ankh neve letting go of the cat head.

\- "You know, there is an easier way to do it." Said Shinnosuke, Natsu turning his head to look at the Rider who was in Wild Type, his Rumble Dump Tire on and his drill in hand, already spinning. Natsu's eyes got wide as saucer when he realized what he was implying and immediately shut down his idea.

\- "NO WAY ! Get that freaking thing away from m…Bleh !" Natsu almost puke at the end of his sentence, his nausea coming back as usual when he looked at Drive who, as usual, didn't liked his reaction.

\- "GET YOUR SICKNESS UNDER CONTROL, FOR FUCK SAKE !"

\- "I'm really amazed by how fast he can get sick at the sheer sight of a vehicle." Muttered Belt-san, the digital face showing a poker face.

*POP* After one last effort, the cat head finally got off, freeing Natsu who immediately cheered at his new found freedom while the cat head flew across the room, rolling in between the two others mages who were still on the ground, even if Wally was starting to woke up.

\- "At last ! I was starting to suffocate in that thing."

\- "How the hell did it even got on your head ?" wondered Ankh, Shinnosuke shifting back to his Default Tire.

\- "I put it on myself." Said Natsu matter-of-factly, which of course unnerved his companion.

\- "You really are an idiot, you know that ?" said Ankh, sweat dropping at the Slayer stupidity, Natsu not listening as he turned to walk out of the room.

\- "Well, since we got Happy back, let's head back to the others."

\- "Wait…" The group of three turned their head, seeing Wally getting back up, struggling as he did so. "This match isn't over yet, Salamander. Nghh." If he felt like fighting, his body clearly couldn't as he put a knee to the ground, clutching his torso in pain.

\- "You're not in any shape to fight. You should just give up." Said Natsu, looking at the guy with a raised eyebrow. "We've got to go back now that Happy's safe."

\- "Indeed. Beside, we still have to stop whatever that Jellal want to do." Added Shinnosuke, arms crossed. But Wally still had things to say.

\- "Our goal is Paradise…" he began, getting the two guys attention. "The true freedom of which Jellal speaks. A world where we rule over the people…"

\- "Rule the world ? Can anyone think of anything more cliché than that ?" said Ankh with a sneer but before anyone could answer, the walls and roof began to twist as large mouths appeared everywhere.

\- "What the heck is that ?" asked Shinnosuke, looking at the mouths with an uneasy feeling.

\- "What the hell ?! This is getting really creepy !" added Natsu, looking around him, seeing mouths everywhere his eyes landed. Little did they know, it wasn't just happening in Millianna's room, but absolutely everywhere around the tower, which meant that the other group were surrounded by those creepy smile too. But as they were wondering what those things were, they all began to speak at the same time, and with one voice.

\- "Welcome, all of you. To the Tower of Paradise."

\- "Jellal ?!" Glancing at Wally who apparently recognized the voice, Natsu and Shinnosuke looked at each other with a frown. They were about to learn what all of this was really about. As for the others.

\- "Those mouths just spoke ?!" Said Juvia, slightly frightened by this new decoration.

\- "They seem to be conveying Jellal's words through the entire tower." Deduced Simon, not creeped out but on his guard, just like Erza and the Riders who listened attentively to what came next.

\- "I am Jellal. Ruler of this tower." Jellal said, introducing himself as he was still in his throne room, surrounded by the Trinity Raven. "The pieces of both sides are now in place. I think it's about time for us to begin. The Paradise Game."

The mention of game didn't please anyone, who looked at the mouth while listening to the words that came out of it.

\- "A game ?" repeated Natsu, Shinnosuke frowning next to him, Wally looking surprised. Apparently, this wasn't part of something Erza's four old friend knew about.

\- "He's screwing with us." Said Gray, seething.

\- "I do feel like this isn't going to be a fair game." Said Haruto, fidgeting with his Rings. As for Takeru, he was listening without a word, feeling like he won't like were this will end.

\- "The rules are simple." Began Jellal, grabbing everyone's attention. "My goal is to use Erza as a sacrifice to revive Zeref." Collective frown on behalf of the mages and Riders. "In other words, if I can open the gateway to Paradise, I win. And if you people can stop me from doing it, you win. However… that in and of itself wouldn't be too much fun, so I've arranged for three warriors to fight on my behalf."

\- "Three warriors ?" repeated Simon, eyes widening. "Who are they ?"

\- "Apparently, he hid some things to you all." Added Haruto, eyeing the mouths while wondering if some of those warriors really were mages or something else.

\- "If you cannot first get past them, you will be unable to reach me." Continued Jellal. "In other words, this is a battle royale, three versus seven."

\- "If those guys are only three, they must be some strong people. We have to be on our guard." Advised Juvia, edging closer to Gray. They thought that Jellal had finished, but he still had something to add.

\- "Oh. And there's one last rule I should probably tell you about." He said, a slight amusement in his voice. "There's a possibility that the council could launch an attack on this tower using the Satellite Square." This news made all the mages in the hallway got wide eyed in shock, while the Riders looked confused. "They possess the ultimate magic of destruction, Etherion, with the power to reduce everything to naught. The time limit is unknown but the moment that Etherion strike, everybody here will die. It will be game over and there won't be any victor. Now, let's have a little fun."

\- "Hey ! If we got hit by that thing, every one of us will be send to hell !" said Vidaldus, a slight shock in his voice as he addressed Jellal. "You never said anything about that, Jellal !"

\- "Why, Vidaldus, are you afraid ?" asked Ikaruga, glancing at the rocker with an amused smiled, the black haired man laughing at that.

\- "Not a bit ! Just the opposite ! The reverse !" he shouted, laughing like a madman. "That's the best news I've ever heard ! A treacherous job like this is just what I've been waiting fooor !"

\- "I'm glad to see you're so motivated." Said Jellal as he turned to the group of three. "It is now time for you to go and enter the game."

\- "Indeed. Let's get going." Said Ikaruga as she turned to leave, followed by her partners, but stopped by Jellal.

\- "Wait a second." He said, the three assassin stopping to turn to their boss. "Before you go, I'd like to give you three a little something that might prove to be useful should those Riders prove to be a bigger pain that I originally thought. I'm sure you'll like those little gifts." He ended with a nasty smirk, stretching his hands to them, showing three small trinkets that made the Raven smirk.

\- "Who-Who-Whoo… This does look like a nice addition." Said Fukurou, taking one.

\- "Hell yeah ! This is gonna be sick !" added Vidaldus, grabbing another one.

\- "I might not need it, but I appreciate the offer." Said Ikaruga, still smiling as she took the last one. Jellal smiled at them, feeling like this will be one entertaining game.

If the Trinity Raven were feeling kind of ecstatic about what was about to happen, the same couldn't be said for the Riders and mages.

\- "That Etherion thing… Is it as powerful as they made it sound ?" asked Haruto, frowning as the mages were all looking tensed.

\- "It is. The council is the only one who can decide on using it." Said Gray, a bead of sweat running down his forehead. "If they decide to use it, it will destroy the tower and everything around it."

\- "That's insane…" said Lucy, shaking in fear at the implication. ""What on Earth is that Jellal thinking ?! Playing a 'game' when he himself could get killed…"

\- "This is basically a game of life and death. What kind of sicko would play with other people's life like that ?" seethed Takeru, taking his mages friends by surprise, not used to such a reaction from the young man.

\- "There is something I don't understand." Said Haruto, a hand on his chin, thinking about what they just learned. "Erza was threatened by Jellal so she told no one about the tower. This imply that no one else knew about the tower. So how could the council know about it if she told no one ?" Before anyone could answer, Erza began to shake, wide eyes, as things seemed to settle on her mind.

\- "Etherion ? The council ? Im… Impossible ! Unless…" *PUFF*

Before she could finish her sentence, she was trapped in a playing card by Shô, much to everyone shock as the young man's face was unreadable, his eyes shadowed as he held the card.

\- "Shô ! What are you doing !?" Shouted Simon, fearing what Shô might do.

\- "I'm not gonna let anybody lay a single finger on nee-san." He said, his eyes showing a determination laced with some kind of madness. "I'll defeat that asshole Jellal myself !" As soon as he said that, he ran off, followed by Simon.

\- "Shô, stop it ! You can't do this alone !" eh then turned to the rest of the group. "I'll go after him ! You guys have to search for Natsu !"

\- "Wait a second ! I'll go after him !" This time, it was Takeru, a clear anger in his voice, who overtook Simon and managed to follow Shô, leaving the rest, now made of Gray, Lucy, Juvia and Haruto, behind.

\- "Gaaah ! They are all such a pain in the ass !" shouted Gray, not believing what just happen. "And what's the deal with Takeru, seriously ?"

\- "Juvia will go this way with Gray-sama." Declared the water mage. "Lucy-san, you go that way."

\- "You're sending the weakest one of us off on her own !?" Shouted Lucy, outraged by Juvia's repartition, when a hand landed on her shoulder.

\- "Who said you would be alone ?" Said Haruto, smiling at her through his helmet, Lucy feeling relieved to not be left alone. "And as for Takeru, I guess we'll explain his story a little bit later. Let's just say life and death are something pretty special to him. But that's not important for now. Let's go find our fiery friend and Drive? Hopefully, they'll have already found Happy." And with that, they all took off, looking for their friends and hoping they'll be able to stop Jellal before it was too late.

/- With Natsu and Shinnosuke -/

\- "Well, it look like we are in for a rough ride."

Shinnosuke and Natsu, just like their friends, heard the message from Jellal and his invitation to play the Paradise Game. Needless to say, Shinnosuke wasn't pleased by how things turned out, Ankh feeling the same even if he didn't looked as concerned as him. As for Natsu however…

\- "I'm not exactly sure what's going on, but it sounds like this fight's over if I beat up that Jellal guy. I'm up for it !" he declared, slamming a fist in his palm, flame spurting around them upon impact.

\- "You might be up to it, but I feel like this isn't going to be that easy." Added Ankh, still looking at the wall where a mouth stood a few seconds before.

\- "Furthermore, I don't know if this Etherion threat is real or just another of this man mind game, but we can't just brush it aside." Said Belt-san. "We have to put an end to this as soon as possible."

\- "Yeah. There's much more at stake than just Erza's life." Added Shinnosuke.

\- "Wh… What are you doing, Jellal !? Etherion, you say !?" Muttered Wally, shuddering as the situation was starting to set in, just like it did with Shô. "If we take a blast like that, every one of us will die. All we ever wanted was true freedom…"

\- "Hey, I don't know what kind of freedom you're after…" said Natsu, looking at Wally with a smile. "But at Fairy Tail, you can be free, and have a lots of fun, too !" His words struck Wally, who looked at him in a new light

\- "If you try to be free by taking the life of someone, then you'll never be truly free as you'll be prisoner of your own guilt, a guilt that will never allow you to live your life fully." Added the Rider, shocking the square man even more. As for Natsu, he grinned and turned to look at Ankh.

\- "Ankh ! Can you take both of us flying ?" he asked, motioning to himself and Shinnosuke. The Greeed sighed, but nodded.

\- "Yeah, I guess I can do it." He said half-heartedly, unfolding his wings. "Let's get over with it."

\- "Yes ! Let's fly straight to the final level !" Shouted Natsu as they flew off through the window, Wally looking at them go with a smirk.

\- "Salamander, you've got… a great… scarf…" he said, falling unconscious as soon as he ended his sentence. As for Ankh, he struggled, but he managed to carry the two guys, Natsu helping by using his flaming feet as thrusters to help the flying cat/Greed. However, Shinnosuke felt like they missed something and Natsu noticed it.

\- "Is there something wrong ?"

\- "If Jellal call this a game, flying straight to the top is clearly cheating. Why isn't there anything to prevent that ?"

\- "Hey, what's that ?"

Both Rider and mage turned their, looking at where Ankh was looking, only to find something in the sky, getting closer and closer, like some sort of meteor. But instead of a meteor, it was a tall man, flying thanks to two rockets on his back and with an owl head.

\- "WHO-WHOO !" Hooted Fukurou, knocking the trio with his rocket, putting an end to their ascension by sending them back inside the tower, crashing into a wall, right under another man nose who was surprised to see them appearing like that.

\- "Salamander ?! And the Rider ! Are you alright ?!" Said Simon, running to help them to their feet, not noticing the owl man.

\- "You really should learn to keep your mouth closed, sometimes, Shinnosuke." Said Belt-san, referring to Shinnosuke's last comment about the cheating.

\- "Yeah, I know."

\- "What the hell ?! Who are you !?" Said Natsu, looking straight at the birdman who pointed at them, a hand on his right hip.

\- "Breaking the rules will not be permitted." Said Fukurou, his voice sounding all high and mighty. "I am the warrior of justice, Fukurou ! Who-Whoo !"

\- "Oh, great. There's nothing worse than an enemy who think he's doing good things." Muttered Shinnosuke while getting up, Natsu gawking at the bird man, Ankh feeling insulted while Simon, finally noticing him, got struck by fear.

\- "He… He's… This is bad ! Quickly, this way !" He shouted, taking Natsu and Shinnosuke with him, much to their shock and confusion.

\- "Hey, what the hell are you doing ?!" shouted Natsu. "Who are you ?!"

\- "Hey, I recognize him ! He was at the hotel, he was with the group who came for the redhead !" Said Ankh, poiting at the large guy.

\- "I'm on your side now ! And you mustn't fight against this guy !" he said, turning around while putting his hands in front of him.

 _ **LINEAGE OF DARKNESS MAGIC : INSTANT DARKNESS !**_

Using his magic, Simon plunged the hallway in the dark, grabbing the Rider and mage to flee once again.

\- "That's our chance ! Let's go !"

\- "I don't want to be pessimistic, but trying to run away from an owl in the dark isn't a good idea !"

Ankh statement was proven right as barely a few seconds later, Fukurou was standing next to Simon, his head tilted to the side, looking at Simon who just realized that he may have forgotten that owls are nyctalopic.

\- "Who-Whoo. The owl of justice strikes through the blackest night !" he said, grabbing Simon's head as he cocked his other fist back, ready to strike.

 _ **JUSTICE HO-HO-HOU !**_

Fukurou then struck the Dark Mage with a powerful fist which send him flying backward, taking the mage down with a single blow, light coming back as soon as Simon was struck.

\- "Wow. That guy is strong." Stated Shinnosuke, looking between Simon and the owl, the tall Dark Mage, now on the ground, gasped in fear, eyes wide.

\- "It's the assassins guild. The Skull Order !"

\- "A guild of assassin ?!" repeated Belt-san, shocked by the revelation.

\- "They're one of the dark guilds." Continued Simon. "The most evil of guilds, who ended up specializing on assassination missions rather than honest work." This made Natsu's eyes widen and Shinnosuke frown in anger. "And the most legendary among them are the team of three known as 'Trinity Raven'… In the Capria War, they assassinated all the officers of the western army."

\- "A trinity ? And Jellal said he had three warriors on his side." Said Shinnosuke, deducing the truth. "He recruited them. Those Trinity Raven are fighting for Jellal."

\- "Those guys are professional killers ! You mustn't try to fight them !" Warned Simon, but Shinnosuke barely scoffed.

\- "Sorry, but no can do." Said Shinnosuke, surprising Simon. "Whether I'm a Rider or not, I'm still a policeman. And it's my job to stop killers and criminals like him. I'm sorry, but I won't run. And I have a feeling that Natsu, for his own reasons, won't back down either." While Shinnosuke explain his position to Simon, Fukurou was facing Natsu.

\- "Salamander… Your infamy has reached even the ears of our guild !" declared Fukurou, his voice as strong and mighty as ever. "It is time for the warrior of justice to strike down evil !"

\- "A guild is a place filled with dreams and aspirations." Said Natsu, his whole body covering in flames as his anger flared up at the thought of a guild who accept assassination jobs. "It's not a place to take on screwed-up jobs. It pisses me off enough just that a job like that even exists… And it pisses me off that there are people that give 'em work. Not to mention that they have the gall to call it a guild. You really piss me off ! I'm gonna beat you up !"

\- "Who-Whoo… Young Salamander, there are some evils that cannot be allowed to live in this world." Declared the owl man, taking a runner starting position as his rocket began to roar to life. "And you are one of those evils. Time to die."

 _ **JET HO-HO-HOU !**_

 _ **TIRE KOUKAN : JUSTICE HUNTER !**_

If Fukurou was fast thanks to his rockets, Shinnosuke Speed Type was faster, allowing him to stand in front of Natsu, intercepting the owl with the Justice Cage.

\- "From where I'm standing, if you kill people, you're the evil one." Stated Shinnosuke, glaring at the assassin. "And personally, the kind of criminal with a twisted sense of justice who act like they are heroes is the kind I hate the most."

\- "Who-Whoo. I won't back down in the face of evil. I will bring justice upon this world."

\- "I don't care about justice or anything, I just want to beat you down !" Roared Natsu as he swung at Fukurou who, despite his sized, proved to be quite agile as he dodged both the Rider and the mage. But he also grabbed their feet and he flew away, dragging both guys to a larger room, flying up before throwing them down to the ground, both men crashing to the ground.

\- "Urg… This is gonna be a pain…" Muttered Shinnosuke as he got up, pulling out his Door-Ju, knowing he would need it against a flying enemy.

\- "Oww… That hurt…" Said Natsu as he got up too, glaring at the flying owl above them.

\- "Who-Whoo… You're a tough one. Both of you. This may actually be a worthwhile job for once. Who-Whoo."

\- "Trinity Raven…" muttered Simon, glancing at the flying Raven with fear. "They're beyond what the rumors say… And there are three mages like this… !?"

/- Meanwhile, with Jellal -/

On his chessboard, Jellal had put three new pieces, one shaped like a guitar, one like a woman wearing a yukata and a third one shaped like an owl that he had just moved to knock down another piece, shaped like a castle gate.

\- "How very disappointing you are, Simon… Right at the very beginning of the game." Said Jellal to himself before putting the owl down in front of two pieces, one being a dragon and the other being some kind of tire. "And next up, Fukurou vs Natsu Dragneel and Kamen Rider Drive." At this, he rubbed his chin with a smile. "To be honest, I'd like the chance to go up against Natsu myself… But he may not make it now… Well, with this rider, he might have a chance, but with what I gave to Fukurou, I fear neither of them will make it… But in the meantime…" He then grabbed another piece, the guitar, holding it above the board. "It's time to take a look at another game."

/- Meanwhile -/

\- "NATSU !"

\- "Natsu-san !"

\- "Natsu, Shinnosuke, where are you !?" While Natsu and Shinnosuke fought against Fukurou, Lucy and Haruto, joined by Juvia, were looking for the Salamander and Drive, not knowing that they were currently in the middle of a fight. "Are you sure shouting for him will work ?" Asked Haruto, turning to the two women.

\- "Well, he's got a pretty good hearing, so there's a good chance he might hear us from pretty far away…" explained Lucy, turning to the other two, Juvia nodding at her explanation.

\- "Just like Gajeel-kun. Then his nose must be good as well ?" Said the water mage, her eyes then loosing themselves into a void of some sort. "Why on earth if Juvia searching for Natsu-san together with Lucy-san ?"

\- "I'm here too you know." Said Haruto, looking at Juvia with a smirk. "As for the reason, I'm pretty sure that's because Gray asked you too."

Indeed, a little before, when they split to either look for Natsu or stop Jellal, Gray asked Juvia to go with Lucy, and incidentally with Haruto, while he was going after Shô.

\- "Well, Juvia couldn't disrespect Gray-sama's wishes…" explained the blue haired girl with a slight blush on her face as she though about her love. "But putting me together with my rival in love… Is he trying to cause a fight ?"

\- "I'm really trying not to get involved in this whole thing, you know…" said Lucy, shaking and smiling awkwardly at the idea of her fighting with Juvia.

\- "Please, let's not forget why we are here." Haruto came in between the two, just in case, hands up in a soothing gesture, a small smirk on his face "You'll have all the time to have a little cat fight once we'll be done here."

\- "You're right. Looks like our fight will have to wait, Lucy-san."

\- "I said I didn't wanted to get involved in that kind of thing !" shouted Lucy, eyes wide at Juvia who didn't seemed to see a problem with that situation. "We better start looking for…"

*WAAWAWAWAAAW* Before Lucy could finish her sentence, a weird screeching noise began to fill the hallway they were in, becoming increasingly stronger and, apparently, closer.

\- "What is that noise ? Is that… A guitar ?" wondered Haruto, the noise bothering him, but not as much as Lucy who had her hands clamped on her ears.

\- "Argh, it's so loud !"

\- "Juvia thinks it's rather good, actually."

\- "There is really something wrong with you…" added Lucy, sweat dropping at her comment.

\- "Well, everyone's taste is different." Said Haruto, turning around to see something getting close to them. "And it would seem his are oriented toward rock and death metal."

The two girls turned around to see what, or rather who, he was talking about. A man was walking toward them, the music coming from the guitar he carried with him, while head banging madly, his long hair waving as madly as his head.

\- "HELL ! YEAH ! Fuckin' giiirls !" shouted Vidaldus, his head stopping as he looked at the three allies, his tongue hanging from his open mouth.

\- "Who the hell is that guy ?!" wondered Lucy, probably more shocked by his attire and hair than anything else.

\- "Is this one of Jellal's three warriors ?"

\- "Well, with hos things are, I think it's safe to assume he is." Said Haruto, eyes squinting at him from under his helmet. "But something feel strange with him. It's something I've already felt before. But when ?"

\- "Assassin's guild, the Skull Order ! Hey, we're the Skulls ! Cool name, ain't it !" said Vidaldus, introducing himself without losing his rocker demeanor. "Member of Trinity Raven… They call me Vidaldus Taka ! ROCK YOU !"

As he shouted the last part, his hair extended and came at the three fighters, his hair acting like whips to try and struck the girls and boy. Lucy dodged the blows, not having the time to grab one of her keys, the attacks missing her by a hair (A.N. : pun intended) and ending up destroying the stone walls and ground. As for Haruto…

 _ **CONNECT, PLEASE !**_

He put a hand through his magic circle, grabbing and pulling his sword out of it, slashing the hair to protect himself. If it did protected him, it didn't cut the hair who was way sturdier than he first though, simply batting them away. As for Juvia, she didn't even move, letting the hair slash through her water-made body without batting an eye, Vidaldus stopping his assault after that. Apparently, this wasn't something he expected.

\- "Hey, that's a sweet little body you've got yourself there, Guahahahah !"

\- "Juvia's body is formed of water, drip, drip , drop… No attack can harm Juvia's body."

\- "Good luck, Juvia ! I can't handle him !" Cheered Lucy, hiding behind a pillar, much to Haruto slight disappointment.

\- "You can't or you think that you can't ?" he asked, Lucy's eyes widening before looking to the ground to hide her ashamed blush. Looks like she has some problem in trusting herself. They may have to work on something for that, in the future. She had potential and she was dragging herself down by acting like that.

 _ **WATER LOCK !**_

\- "Rock !? Did you say rock !?" smiled Vidaldus, either playing dumb or being genuine due to a misunderstanding. Misunderstanding that quickly solved itself when his whole body ended up being locked in a large water sphere the same one she used to capture Lucy during the Phantom Incident.

\- "His bark was worse than his bite." Said Juvia, looking satisfied with the outcome, just like Lucy who had a big smile on her face.

\- "Wow, that's an Element 4 for you !"

\- "I don't know." Added Haruto, not as enthusiastic as the girls. "I feel like there is more to this man than meet the eye."

And indeed, much to everyone shock, Haruto's words got proven true as the Water Lock fell down, all the water disappearing into… Vidaldus hair, much to the whole troop shock, and mainly Juvia.

\- "Wha… Juvia's Water Lock disappeared !?" she said, taken aback by something that, apparently, never happened to her, or at least, not that way.

\- "A bit of water's just the thing when your hair's messed up. You shouldn't shampoo in the morning, the hair won't like it."

\- "The hair care lesson is not necessary." Haruto cut Vidaldus explanation short, taking a few steps forward. "How did you make the water disappear ?"

\- "Well, if you must know, my hair has the power to absorb any liquid." He revealed, a smirk on his face as Juvia and Lucy's eyes widen in shock, realizing what that meant. "Though I'm not wiping up any oil or alcohol, okay ? It's be bad for the hair."

\- "Water… won't affect him ?" this was a shock for the two girls and Haruto understood why. Juvia's whole magic was centered around water and one of Lucy's strongest spirit was a water themed one. This meant that Haruto was more or less alone.

\- "Well, if water doesn't work, I'll just have to change a few thing." He said, grabbing his Hurricane Ring.

 _ **HURRICANE : PLEASE ! FU-FU, FU-FU-FU !**_

Now in his wind themed Style, Haruto jumped at Vidaldus, dodging the hair whip with ease, thanks to this style which was the most agile of the one he had. He hoped that, if he used his hair to attack, it meant that he wasn't as strong when it came to hand to hand combat. And it seemed to be true, the rocker not really attacking, only defending himself from the Rider. Haruto also noticed that he wasn't hesitating in letting his body got hurt if it meant he could protect his guitar. Which led Haruto to think that if he was doing this, it was because this guitar either was important to him as a person or, and that's what was probably the case, this was not only a guitar, but a magic item too. Lost in his contemplation, he didn't saw a whip coming at him from behind, wrapping around one of his ankle to send him into a wall, then the roof, then the other wall before being slammed hard onto the ground. Stunned by the sudden shock, Haruto could only lay there, Vidaldus wrapping him in his hair like a mummy of some sort, preventing him from doing any kind of movement.

\- "I have something with me to take care of you in particular, Rider. So I'm going to let you off the hook for now." Said Vidaldus as he looked up to glance at the girls who knew that since water was unusable, they depended greatly on Haruto to get out of this mess and now, they felt like they were in one hell of a pinch. "We do have a couple of fine ladies here."

\- "Wh-What do you mean ?" Asked Juvia, still shocked by the fact that she was now basically useless.

\- "For real, being cute only ever attracts trouble !" pouted Lucy, Haruto rolling his eyes at her behavior. Now wasn't the time to be vain.

\- "Now-which-one-should-I-choose ?" Sang Vidaldus, pointing at Juvia then Lucy, alternating between the girls with each word. "Let's-leave-it-up-to-the-de-vil-in… HELL !" He finished, his finger pointing at Juvia whose eyes widen, taken aback and worried about what he might do now. "Well, that's that ! You're gonna be my Succubus for today !"

\- "Succubus ?" repeated Haruto from his position on the ground, not liking where this was headed as Vidaldus began to play his guitar.

 _ **ROCK OF SUCCUBUS !**_

\- "AAAAAHH ! What is this !? This noise ?!" As soon as Vidaldus began to play, Juvia began to convulse in pain, shouting about a noise that neither Lucy nor Haruto could hear. It was as if the noise was send directly into her ears.

\- "Juvia !" shouted the Rider.

\- "What's wrong ?!" Lucy shouted too, looking at her teammate fearfully.

\- "AAAAAH !" With one last shout, Juvia got covered in smoke and light, a devious smile appearing on Vidaldus's face as Lucy and Haruto were looking at where the water mage stood, fearing for her well-being.

\- "Got me a love-slave !" sneered the rocker as the smoke around Juvia disappeared, the water mage once again visible, allowing the two partners to see that she had undergone a slight change in wardrobe.

\- "Hell, hell, heeeell ! I'm gonna show you the deepest glorious depths of hell, ya little bitch !" Scratch that, she was a completely different person. Her hair had been let down, flowing to her lower back. Her lips were a deep dark red color, the same color of her top. And speaking about clothes, she was now wearing a necklace made of spiked sphere, a spiked bracelet, a crimson corset like top, the straps wrapped around her neck and with an impressive cleavage, short enough to let her belly visible, as well as the red tattoo on it. She also wore black pants with white markings with a white belt and white heels with leopard pattern. She looked like the kind of girl you could find at a death metal concert, and if this was already surprising to see Juvia like that, the sadistic smile on her face, with her tongue hanging down, was really disturbing. With Haruto stuck in a big mass of hair and Juvia now on the other side, things weren't looking good for the heroes.

/- With Jellal -/

And Jellal knew that, knocking down the water urn representing Juvia down with the guitar chess piece, a smile on his face that was as pervert as it was sadistic.

\- "That's it for the water-woman." He said, before knocking down another one, shaped like a dragon sculpted on a ring. "And I can also consider it's over for their wizard since with how things are, their hopes are all lying on the stellar mage, but let's be honest." He said to himself, also knocking down the key chess piece. "What can she do ? 3 on 1 and yet they stood no chance. What a shame."

\- "Wh-What is this … ?" Lucy said, her voice shaking along with her body, fear and despair washing over her. "Juvia… Get a hold of yourself…"

\- "She's my Succubus now… She'll only take orders from me !" explained Vidaldus, a delighted expression on his face.

\- "I'm ready to bet it's not just coming from the guitar." Said Haruto, wriggling in the hair. "If that was the case, we would have been transformed too."

\- "Maybe it is, maybe it's not. But this wouldn't be as fun if you were all under my spell !" said Vidaldus who was having the time of his life. "What I wanna see is you two having a little catfight ! A tearful battle, scraps of clothing flying everywhere !"

\- "…You're the worst." Was all Lucy could say at that, her body still shaking.

\- "That's the greatest compliment I've ever heard ! WHOOOO !" Shouted Vidaldus, playing his guitar once again as Juvia began to move, her body slowly turning into water.

\- "If you're not ready to rock, then just go and die !" Liquifying herself completely, Juvia threw herself at Lucy who got doused but not harmed, blinding her and allowing the water mage to get close to her, jumping at the blonde. "Now, where should I start this little feast ?! Gotta start with those stupidly huge boobs, huh !" She said, gripping Lucy's robe and tearing it apart, letting Lucy's breasts out in the open. Lucy managed to quickly grab the bandana on her head, untying it to wrap it around her chest hastily, just before Juvia attacked once again, headbutting her hard, sending her stumbling backward.

\- "What's wrong with you, Juvia ?!" she asked, nursing her wounded forehead. "Didn't you say you wanted to join Fairy Tail ?! Then stop attacking your own…"

*SPLASH* Before she could finish, Juvia had lunged at her, in water form, reforming as she grabbed her by her hair and throwing her down on the ground, dropping a whole handful of hair she had teared off Lucy's head.

 _ **WATER CANE !**_

Forming a large flexible rod of water, like some sort of horsewhip, Juvia then began to beat Lucy down with it, or should I say that she beat Lucy's ass with it, like some kind of sadistic dominatrix. Lucy managed to crawl away from Juvia who was laughing like a maniac.

\- "This isn't rock, this is sadism !" she cried, tears in her eyes, her thoughts darkening with how things were going. _"what can I do ? She's so strong, I can't beat her and even if I could, I just can't hurt Juvia. I don't know what to do ? I'm out of ideas !"_

\- "YEAH ! This is just as hell as it can be ! I love it !" Cheered Vidaldus, completely entranced by what her Succubus was doing. As for Haruto, he was still struggling, strangely not as bored by her bounds as before, but when he looked closely at Lucy, he saw something that made him worry greatly. He could see a small purple crack on Lucy's chest that was slowly growing. Looking up at Vidaldus, he saw a ring, just like his, but pitch black, realizing what was happening. And he had to do something.

\- "DON'T LOSE HOPE, LUCY !" His shout grabbed the three mages attention, turning to their Rider counterpart whose attention was solely on Lucy. "You can't give up ! As long as you believe, there will always be hope ! Keep on fighting !"

\- "You aren't the best placed to talk about hope and keeping up the fight." Mocked the dark mage, looking down at Haruto who looked back at him, a smile on his face under his helmet.

\- "I wouldn't be so sure. After all, I'm the ultimate hope."

 _ **SMALL, PLEASE !**_

In a flash of light, Haruto suddenly disappeared, much to Vidaldus surprise who, instinctively, put his hair out of the way to see if the Rider was still here, and not only did he found him, but he also found 3 small creature, a red bird, a blue horse and a yellow octopus, the shrunk Haruto riding on the bird as they flew away, easily dodging the hair Vidaldus used to try to catch them. While Unicorn and Kraken where harassing the dark mage, Haruto and Garuda were closing on Juvia who was still attacking Lucy, whose cracks had began to close, apparently her will to fight back on track, even if she was having a hard time dealing with the water mage.

\- "Alright, you little maso bitch !" shouted Juvia, as crazy as before, who turned her whole body into water again. "It's time to get smashed to bit inside me !"

In one swift movement, Juvia engulfed Lucy in her water, the strength of the current so strong Lucy could barely moved and simply got carried away.

 _"It's no good… She's being controlled completely !"_ she thought to herself, grinding her teeth as she tried to fought against the stream. _"If she's taking this seriously, I won't be able to win on my own. If only I…"_

 _"Lucy-san… This isn't Juvia, not any of it !"_ Much to Lucy's surprise, she could hear Juvia talking to her through the water. It was the real Juvia. _"I'm still here, inside Juvia… Juvia doesn't want to hurt her nakama.. although, it's a little presumptuous of me to call you that… You're my rival in love after all…"_ This comment made Lucy sweat drop. Juvia really was stubborn. _"Juvia has truly come to love Fairy Tail…"_ This however was something Lucy wasn't expecting, even more when she said it with so much emotion in her voice. _"It seems so friendly… So fun… So warm… As though even if it's raining outside, in the guild, the sun is always shining… Just when Juvia thought she was finally starting to get along with everyone… But it looks like… Juvia can only bring sadness…"_ She might not have been able to see her, but Lucy could feel it. Juvia's tears. Meanwhile, outside, Vidaldus was still trying to catch Haruto, but not only Garuda was too small and fast to get caught, but he was also disturbed by Unicorn and Kraken who hovered near his face.

\- "It's starting to get annoying. Juvia-chan ! It's time to finish her off !"

Still airborne, Haruto saw that the water was starting to sizzle and smoke, a sigh that it was starting to boil, with Lucy still inside. Not wanting for her to get boiled to death, he knew he had to do something, even if this meant attacking Juvia. But he had a plan. He then jumped off Garuda, growing back to his normal size and grabbing a new ring, sliding the driver to the Right Hand side.

 _ **LUPACHI MAGIC TOUCH GO ! CHOINE, KICK STRIKE ! SAIKO !**_

Green winds gathered around Haruto, creating a small tornado around him as he dived toward the mass of water. Just like he expected it, he didn't hurt Juvia, since she was in water form, but the storm around him blew the water away, which allowed him to save Lucy, who landed on the ground, coughing some water out of her lungs, but otherwise, she was okay. As soon as Haruto landed, the PlaMonsters came back to him, disappearing inside a magic circle as Lucy got to her feet.

\- "Are you alright, Lucy ?" asked the Rider, the blonde ignoring him for now, addressing Juvia who was back in human form.

\- "Someone who would shed tears for the sake of her friends… Could never be rejected by fairy Tail !" she declared proudly, tearing open what was left of her dress to allow her to move more freely. As Haruto looked at the one she talked too, he saw tears in the water mage eyes and understood that the real Juvia was still down there, somewhere. "You should be proud of yourself ! You've just given me a great idea !"

\- "I hope you know what you're doing, Lucy." Said Haruto, sword in hand, as he looked at their opponents.

\- "It's useless ! Juvia-chan, finish them off already !" shouted Vidaldus as Juvia turned her body into water once again.

\- "I'll tear you both to pieces !"

 _ **WATER JIGSAW !**_

Transforming into a large spinning mass of water that shredded the stone of the ground as it rushed at Lucy. But surprisingly, Lucy didn't tried to dodge the attack. Instead, she plunged her left hand inside, the water slicing her hands as she used her left foot to try and stop the mass of water. This seemed really stupid, and it was, but what followed justified everything.

 _ **OPEN THE GATE TO THE WATER BEARER : AQUARIUS !**_

In a flash of light and an explosion of water, the water Stellar Spirit emerged from inside Juvia, much to her and Vidaldus shock.

\- "You used Juvia's body to summon a Spirit ?!" shouted Juvia in shock, eyes wide.

\- "As long as I have water, I can summon my strongest spirit, Aquarius ! It's all thanks to you, Juvia !"

\- "Oh, shut up already, you stupid little girls !" As usual, Aquarius summoning came with the fury of the later, who unleashed her water in the whole hallway, taking the two girls and Vidaldus with it, sweeping them off of their feet and into a huge whirlpool, one Vidaldus didn't feared at all.

\- "AHAHAHAH ! Not a chance ! I told you already, my hair absorbs all water !"

\- "But can it absorb a hurricane ?"

 _ **COME ON A SLASH, SHAKE HANDS ! FU-FU-FU ! FU-FU-FU !**_

Haruto, who had been hovering over the water attack, had just triggered his Hurricane Sword finish, unleashing a tornado that absorbed some of the water in it, surrounding the mage and as he was swept up in the air, a sword beam came, cutting him in half and if he survived the explosion, he was shaken by it and his guitar got cut in half by the attack.

\- "Noooo ! My guitar !" If Vidaldus had lost his weapon, this was however not enough to beat him, but the girls were on it.

\- "Juvia !"

\- "Lucy !"

Both girls reached for one another, grabbing each other hands and when the grabbed their hands, something happened that even Jellal never foreseen which, up in his room, the guitar chess piece cracked.

\- "What ?!" Jellal's eyes got wide, genuinely shocked by what was happening. "This power… These little brats are achieving… magical fusion ?! Is this …"

 _ **UNISON RAID !**_

Hand in hand, Lucy and Juvia managed to do something some mages spend their whole life training without succeeding. Their magic fused, taking the shape of a huge typhoon made of water that struck Vidaldus full on, the strength of the attack sending him flying, his hair literally dissolving because of the overdose of water, leaving him hairless as he stumble on the ground. Haruto landed next to the girls who had landed quite hard on the ground, but otherwise they were both okay, Juvia back in to normal.

\- "All right ! We beat him !" cheered Lucy as she hugged Juvia, a wide smile on her face. "Juvia, you're back to normal, too !"

\- "Thanks to you, Lucy !" thanked the water mage, the same kind of smile on her face. Alas, the happy atmosphere was about to get cut short by dark presence that towered over the girls.

\- "Don't you EVER summon me from a place like that again !" This was Aquarius, seething as she got into Lucy's face, her eyes sparkling madly. "What are you going to summon me from next, huh ?! A toilet bowl ?! I'll fucking kill you."

\- "I- I'm very sorry…" Muttered Lucy, intimidated as she cowered in front of her spirit, all under Juvia's and Haruto's eyes.

\- "How very frightening…" said Juvia, looking at the spirit as it disappeared after making sure Lucy understood that she had another date with her boyfriend and that she won't accept being summoned for a while before disappearing.

\- "Well, I guess that does it." Said Haruto, who was about to undo his transformation when a sinister laugh reached them.

\- "Kukuku… You think that this is the end ? That I'm really out of the fight ? But I'm ready for an encore." Said Vidaldus, holding one of his hand up, Haruto seeing the same dark Ring from before, realizing where and when he saw one like this before. "It's time to rock your world !"

His ring shone and purple crack began to cover his body as a bright light came out of it, a light that engulfed him for a moment, blinding the mages and Rider who, after a few seconds, could finally see what happened to the rocker. Where he once stood was now a large monster with an impressive mass of dark hair, floating around his head like they were in Zero-G, his teeth were pointy and sharp, like a shark mouth. His skin was a sickly pale grey, his purple eyes shining from behind his thick bangs. His skin was smooth and covered in a black skeletal armor, fins on his arms and clams on his hands. Speaking of hands, he was holding onto a new guitar, one that looked like a human skeleton with 4 glowing red eyes on the head.

\- "This doesn't look good."

As soon as he said that, Vidaldus began playing on his guitar, the sound it produces so powerful it shattered the stone like glass and it literally hurt the mages and Rider whose ears were on the verge of exploding from the sheer strength of the sound that reached them, the vibration shaking their whole being, the bones clattering, which was clearly not a good sign.

 _ **WATER DOME !**_

In a desperate try to protect her and her friends from that unbearable cacophony, Juvia summoned a large dome of water that surrounded them. The guitar was so powerful that they could still ear it through the water, but it did what she aimed for, namely greatly reducing the vibration and making them suffer way less than before.

\- "Wow, thanks Juvia. You really saved us, here." Said Haruto, slightly louder than usual since his ears were still ringing.

\- "I agree. But this won't change the fact that we'll need a way to attack. We can't just hide forever." Said Lucy, worried by the few drop of blood that she saw on her hand after putting it to her ears.

\- "Hiding won't help you escape hell !" shouted Vidaldus from outside, the sound of his guitar weakening, sign that he had almost stopped playing. "If you think water is gonna help you, think again ! I'll give you heeeeellll !"

Juvia's eyes widen as she realized that she forgot his most problematic ability, the fact that his hair could absorb liquids. Long tendrils of hairs then flew toward the dome, aiming to suck their defenses dry, but this was without taking Haruto into account.

\- "Sorry, but you won't get us yet. We still have a few things to discuss." He said, putting a hand to his Driver.

 _ **DEFEND, PLEASE !**_

A large column of green wind suddenly rose from the ground, surrounding the Rider and the mages, while absorbing the water from the dome, creating a large typhoon that repelled the hair, making them unable to approach or do anything to their defense.

\- "What do you mean by things we need to discuss ?" asked Juvia as Haruto turned to the girls who looked at him curiously.

\- "We need to take thing to another level." He said, looking at the tornado, hoping it would hold on long enough. "He used a Dark Ring that came from my world. This makes him an Hybrid and to fight him effectively, we'll need one on our side. Or in this case, two of them." As he said that, he handed Juvia one of his Ring, the Water Wizard Ring, much to her surprise.

\- "I see, just like Erza at Galuna or Kouta against Gajeel." Reminded Lucy, having witnessed two of those Hybrids before. She then got closer to Wizard, a large excited grin on her face. "Is there a Ring for me, too ?"

\- "No, there's not." Lucy's smile dropped, disappointed, that feeling of uselessness coming back at her as Haruto continued. "There's no Ring for you, but there's something else."

At that, Lucy looked up to see that Haruto was handing her something she had seen before, with another color. It was a small golden bottle with a gold and navy cap and a padlock on it. This was one of Sento's Fullbottle. But next to it was a grey square device, without any kind of design, as if it wasn't finished yet.

\- "This should work with you. Well, Sento's calculations are saying so."

\- "Wait, what do you mean by 'should' ?" she asked, intrigued as Juvia looked at the two. "How can he be so sure this will work with me ?"

\- "Well, as he said, it's a matter of…"

/- Flashback, the Riders HQ, the day after Takeru's arrival -/

\- "Affinity ? Are you sure, Sento ?"

The Riders had spent the last few hours explaining to their newly arrived friend how things were working in this world and what they had discovered until now, including the Hybrid when Sento decided to add something about them, something he had worked on for a few days now.

\- "Indeed." Sento said, confirming what he just said to his friends. "According to my researches and calculations, even despite the difference in world, elements and concepts stay the same. Fire if fire, armor is armor, death is death, etc… I had the suspicion that a mage has a better chance of becoming an Hybrid when he's using a trinket that is reminiscing of the magic he use."

\- "That seems to hold water." Agreed Shinnosuke. "I mean, this would explain why the mage and the Rider power they used were so in synch. Like Erza with her own version of the Ichigo Arms : it's an armor that grant ability with a special weapon, just like the one she usually use."

\- "Or why Gray managed to use North Blizzard in a standalone configuration without needing the Blizzard Knuckle." Added Sento. "He know ice and cold better than anyone else being an ice mage."

\- "Then this can make us foresee who could use which trinket." Deduced Kouta. "Based on the element, Natsu could have a great synch with Haruto's Fire Styles or the Dragon FullBottle and its variant."

\- "Or Alzack and Bisca with some like the Billy the Kid Eyecon or Bang Bang Shooting Gashat." Added Emu, nodding as he realized that Sento's theory indeed hold water.

\- "Yeah but, what about Lucy ?" asked Gentaro. "I can't think of anything that could fit her magic. Well, there may be some of mine, like the Cosmic Switch since we are both space themed in a way. But I really don't see what else."

\- "Well, if my theory and calculations are right, and they always are, here's one who could work." He said as he put the Lock FullBottle on the table, the others looking at him curiously, Emu in particular.

\- "You have something up your sleeve, right ?"

\- "I began working on the Lock FullBottle a few weeks before being called to work on the portal that send us here." He revealed, looking at the bottle with a scowl. "You already know that this bottle Best Match, KeyDragon, always took it's toll on me. I know that it's because of the Dragon, but I couldn't shake away a question : Why was a bottle like Lock associated with Dragon ? I always thought that maybe, since they work in pair and that Dragon can be used on its own, why couldn't Lock be the same ?"

\- "And let me guess ? They can ?" tried Takeru, receiving a nod from Sento.

\- "That's what I think, yes." He said, sitting down on his chair. "That's why I build this." He then put on the table the same grey block that Haruto gave to Lucy. "It's an adapter for Lock, just like I did with the Cross-Z Dragon. This should unleash the full potential of Lock. I have yet to activate it, but I know someone who might, someone who, just like Lock keep Dragon under control, is one of the only one who can calm a dragon, a person who got keys and unlock gates. That's a lot of coincidences, don't you think ?" Sento grinned as realization struck his friends. "If one day, the situation call for it, give those two to her."

/- End of flashback -/

\- "Sento is sure you can help him see what the full potential of Lock can look like." Said Haruto as Lucy grabbed the two objects. "You think you can do it ?"

\- "You kidding right ? Of course I am !" she declared proudly, grinning like a certain Dragon slayer would in her place.

\- "Well then ladies, let your magic do the work. We don't have much more time." Said Haruto, looking at the tornado which was weakening with each passing seconds. The girls did as they were told and let their magic do the work. For Juvia, her magic changed the Ring into another one, still blue, but the head was now more feminine, with some hair carved on the top and side. The 'glasses' were also replaced, now shaped like a mermaid tail and the gray part was now dark blue, in contrast with the sky-blue of the stone. As for Lucy, her magic changed the Lock FullBottle colors, the black part now a dark blue and the lock design, slightly smaller, surrounded by stars. End the grey and dull block became a golden color and took the shape of a door with two column on each side, a hole on the arch above the door. As Lucy looked at the device, she noticed a hole big enough for a FullBottle, and just behind it was a keyhole, which made Lucy frown when she started to realize what this could mean. Looking at the hole, the design of the device and the overall theme of the two trinkets, she realized what that meant. As Haruto was looking at the girls who also got copy of either the WizarDriver or the Build Driver on their waist, he also prepared himself, grabbing the Hurricane Dragon Ring, putting it on his finger.

\- "Okay, it's time. Lucy, I'm sure you know what to do, right ?" The blonde nodded, the Rider then turning to the blue haired mage who was looking at her Driver curiously. "Don't worry Juvia, just do the same thing as me." Juvia nodded too and they all got into position. Imitating Haruto, Juvia began by switching her Driver to the Left Hand side.

 _ **SHABADOOBI, TOUCH HENSHIN ! SHABADOOBI, TOUCH HENSHIN !**_

While the stand by announcement began, Juvia, still following Haruto, put her Ring on her hand, holding it at the ready. At the same time, Lucy had done her own preparation. Shaking the bottle like she saw Sento do it many times before and inserting it in the adapter.

 _ **OPEN UP !**_

She then inserted the adapter in the Driver but, unlike the others Rider, she felt like she needed to do something else, like putting one of her key in the adapter. At first, she thought about using Aquarius, but a simple though about what she would do to her if she decided to call her while on a date made her decide against it, ending up choosing another one she was sure would be efficient against this enemy : Cancer.

 _ **STELLAR-Z GATE !**_

Then, she used the lever, the same pipe and Snap Ride Builder appearing but in addition appeared a gate, similar to a Stellar Spirit one, this one adorned with the symbol of Cancer on it, appearing above the ground and behind her.

 _ **ARE YOU READY ?**_

\- "HENSHIN !"

 _ **HURRICANE, DRAGON : BYU-BYU, BYU-BYU-BYU-BYU !**_

 _ **WATER, SIREN : DRIP-DROP, DRIP-DRIP-DROP !**_

 _ **OPEN UP SHINING ! STELLAR-Z GATE CANCER ! YEAH !**_

From outside the tornado, Vidaldus was still trying to get through the fusion of water and hurricane, little by little getting closer and closer to defeat the defensive whirlwind and when he was finally about to defeat it, the whole thing exploded in a burst of water, wind and light, a green dragon and two mermaid looking form made of energy flying around. Under them, the three comrades were in the middle of their transformation sequence. The green dragon began flying around Haruto, forming a small tornado in which he began to hover above the ground before it finally all disappeared, leaving the Rider in his Hurricane Dragon Style, waiting for the girls to finish their transformation.

The one Juvia was undergoing was similar to Water Dragon Style, which means that she was also in a water column created by the siren movement. When the water disappeared, she was wearing an armor reminiscing of the Water Dragon. She had the same blue mantle which was way shorter, reaching her waist and a darker shade of blue while her legs were clad in a skinny pants covered in fish-scales designs. She also had the same shoulder armor, but instead of looking like a dragon head, the part on her chest looked like a woman face with her hair splattered on her shoulders. The shoulder pads were shaped like mermaid tail, just like the blue crystal on her face which took the form of glasses, her hair cascading down her back. On her waist, she had the same chain as Haruto with some copy of his rings, all in blue instead of orange.

As for Lucy, the Snap Ride Builder closed on her when she turned the key she had put in the adapter. Two halves of the golden Lock Halfbody on her creating a full armor, the keys and locks usually placed on the shoulders and forearms now gone, just like the helmet, replaced by two metallic earpiece that were shaped like keys and who were pointing up like some sort of antennas with her hair tied in a ponytail. Since she used the Cancer key in her adapter, the door on the Stellar-Z adapter opened, just like the hovering one, a reddish crab shaped form flying out of it and describing circles above her until the armor was in place and once that was done, it flew down, wrapping around her. The black part of the armor became a dark blue with white stars linked together to draw the Cancer constellation, red and slightly spiky armor appearing on her shoulder and around her neck with the symbol of the constellation on her torso and the earpieces as two long and thin crab claw shaped scissors formed on her forearms.

\- "Wow ! Those things are great !" Lucy could feel the power that came from the armor she was now wearing, Juvia feeling the same. However, their opponent wasn't that impressed.

\- "Oh ? It looks like you also got some secrets on your own." Said Vidaldus, looking at the three fighters in front of him, smirking like a bloodthirsty demon. "This won't change anything for you. I'll still send you all to hell !"

Once again, he threw his hair at them, a tsunami of hair coming at them but this time, the three partners weren't worried. Lucy jumped in front of it and, in a matter of seconds, cut down all the hair which felt to the ground in a drizzle around the smirking blonde girl. While she was busy cutting down the hair, Juvia ran at the guy, trying one of her rings.

 _ **CONNECT, PLEASE !**_

She pulled her own sword out of the magic circle in gun mode, shooting at the dark monster who countered with his music, stopping the bullets but it didn't stopped Juvia from getting close to him, making the gun into a sword as she began to engage the monster, sword clashing against guitar and claws. The exchange was more or less balanced, but this was without taking the other two into consideration. Lucy jumped in the middle of the fight, cutting down the hair that was about to get around her friend before going to help her, Vidaldus now overpowered by the two girls whose attacks was starting to take its toll on his guitar.

 _ **COPY, PLEASE !**_

Coming down from above, Haruto came and sliced at the beast, Lucy jumping out of the way to let him come down, sending the creature back a few steps, allowing Juvia and the Rider to get their hands on another Rings.

 _ **THUNDER, PLEASE !**_

 _ **SURGE, PLEASE !**_

Haruto summoned a dragon head made of lightning that fuse with the water cannon summoned by Juvia, the strength of the attack sending their opponent flying across the hallway they were in, the mix of thunder and water stunning him. While he struggle to get back on his, his opponents were preparing their finish, Lucy turning the lever of her Driver while Juvia and Haruto prepared their last Rings.

 _ **READY, GO ! STELLAR FINISH !**_

 _ **CHOINE, KICK STRIKE ! SAIKO ! (x2)**_

The two Wizards began to hover in mid-air, Haruto wrapped in a green tornado while Juvia was in the middle of a bubble whose water was spinning around dangerously. As for Lucy, she jumped in the air, the gate reappearing behind her as the cancer symbol, now visible on her sole, shone, sucking golden energy from the gate to her foot. They all attacked at the same time, the large monster back on his feet just in time to receive three powerful kick to his chest, the mix of wind, water and stellar energy piercing him effortlessly, the three warriors landing on their knees behind him as his body got covered in electric arcs before exploding with a last roar, the Dark Ring sent flying as the now human Vidaldus fell to the ground, his guitar now nothing more then a pile of broken metal and wood. The three companion cheered for their victory, undoing their transformations, both girls falling on the ground, exhausted by the fight and new transformation.

\- "Looks like we've taken out one of those bad guys." Said Lucy as she laid on the ground, a contented smile on her face. "Jellal's not going to get his way that easily !"

\- "No… You were the one who defeated him, Lucy-san. I did nothing at first." Said Juvia, a small smile on her face as she thought about what she did when she was a succubus.

\- "No, we did it together." Said Lucy, taking the water mage by surprise. "You cried 'Lucy' back there, right ? It made me really happy, realizing that we were finally getting along. Don't use the '-san' with me, okay ? We're friends, aren't we ?"

This was too much emotion for Juvia who fell to her knees, crying slightly at Lucy's kindness, Lucy's laughing slightly at her reaction, all under the eyes of Haruto who smiled at them before looking up at the roof, a scowl on his face. If one chess piece had been knocked down on Jellal's side, there were two left and he felt like this was only the beginning of a fight they weren't going to like one bit.

 **Alright ! It's done ! I hope you liked it because I really worked on some things here, mainly the two new 'Hybrid' for Lucy and Juvia. And I think I need to explain a few things about Lucy's. I always though that, if Dragon could be used alone, his Best Match Lock could also get some spotlights. Beside, among all of the trinkets used by the Riders, this was one of the only one that could match Lucy's magic. That's also why I made it use the keys, since this way, she may use this form with her others spirits to counter-balance the fact that she doesn't have many options in term of usable trinkets. As for the name Stellar-Z Gate, I took the same pattern as Cross-Z Dragon, who is shaped like a dragon, thus the Stellar-Z is shaped like a gate, I called him like that because I liked it that way. I hope you can see the logic behind how I created it because I'm actually pretty proud of it.**

 **Also, you have to know that I'm going to move out of my current apartment soon and repairs are needed in the new one, which means that I'm going to be busy with the repairs on the week-end and I won't be able to write a lot during them. This means that the update are going to take longer to come. I hope you can understand. Anyway, thanks for reading. Don't forget to review and comment. See ya !**

 **Next time : Etherion is coming ! Cold feathers and Dragon Rider. The legendary swordsman meet the Titania.**


	29. Chap 29 : Dragon Rider, Legend swordsman

**Writing while preparing to change apartment sure ain't easy. I have to find the time needed to write and while I have the same time as before during the week, it's a lot more complicated during the week-end. It might happen again in the future until I'm finally settle in the new apartment so I'm sorry if I have some delay on my future updates, I hope you can understand that.**

 **Anyway, let's go !**

 **Chapter 29 : Dragon Rider and the legendary swordsman**

/- Era, magic council -/

Last time we checked on them, the council was close to implode. After Sieglein had suggested to use the Satellite Square Etherion to take care of the last of the R System, an uproar had followed, his fellow council members not liking the idea of using such a weapon. But as time passed, minds changed and now, calm had settle down once again as the vote for the firing had finally ended.

\- "On the matter of the firing upon the Tower of Paradise with Etherion… There are four vote for, versus five against. The result of the voting : Etherion will not be fired."

\- "Wait ! Do you all truly understand the situation in which we currently stand ?!" Sieglein, the one who first proposed the use of Etherion, introducing the idea as the only way to take care of the situation, was of course not pleased with the result but his colleagues weren't listening.

\- "Stop this now, Sieg… The debate has gone on long enough." Said his main opponent on the Etherion matter. "There are peaceful ways to approach this matter, as well."

\- "Peace ?!" shouted Sieg, outraged by the word. "While we're standing here wasting time debating petty moral victories… History is about to be altered forever ! Jellal is trying to resurrect the dead, for crying out loud !"

\- "You say that, but we still have no way of knowing whether the R-System is even functional at the present time." Said another councilman. "It is too early to resort to offense."

\- "… Can't any of you feel it …?" Sieglein said, teeth grinding at his colleagues blindness. "The dark magic welling up as we speak… the sheer horror of the man he's trying to resurrect…" Those words apparently worked on the other mages who frown and began to sweat, fearing that he was thinking about the man they were thinking of. And alas, he confirmed it. "Black Mage Zeref."

Everyone around the table, with the exception of Ultear who, as Sieglein friend, already knew about the danger, get struck by fear, eyes wide and jaws dropping. If what he said was the truth, the threat was indeed far greater than they originally though.

\- "Y…You… What did you just… ?!" Stuttered one of them, the shock too much to talk normally.

\- "Sieg, how could you possibly know a thing like that ?!" asked another one, curious to know how their young colleague could know of such a thing. The youth the hung his head, slightly in shame as he proceed to explain.

\- "I didn't want to cast any unnecessary suspicions upon myself, so I didn't mention it before, but…" He stop a little, to make sure everyone was listening. "I know that man; the one known as Jellal. And I know what he means to do."

This shocked the council men to know that one of them knew about such a thing but decided to cast their doubt aside, instead asking for something more important for now.

\- "Sieg… Tell us everything."

/- Back at the tower -/

 _ **TIRE KOUKAN : MIDNIGHT SHADOW !**_

While the council listened to Sieglein's story, the fight continued in the tower. Natsu and Shinnosuke were currently facing Fukurou whose ability to fly was more problematic than they first though. The owl man just dived at Natsu, throwing a kick the Dragon Slayer who blocked it with his forearm, being sent stumbling despite that, Natsu putting a hand on the ground, turning toward the owl.

 _ **FIRE DRAGON'S CLAW !**_

Natsu's kick landed, hitting the man in the face, stunning him slightly. However, he wasn't stunned enough, his reflexes and senses allowing him to dodge the purple shuriken thrown by Drive, the owl jumping away from the two Fairies. The Rider was starting to get annoyed by that bird man, his ability to fly clearly annoying. And that when an idea came to him.

 _ **DRIVE : TYPE WILD ! TIRE KOUKAN : HOOKING WRECKER !**_

\- "Who-Whoo… A change of color and a hook won't help you escape the hero of Justice." Said Fukurou, igniting his rockets as he began to flew around but, much to his surprise, he got caught by something that wrapped around his foot. Looking down, he saw a brownish hook connected by a metal wire to the green tire on the black clad Rider shoulder.

\- "It can't help to escape justice, but it does help to catch it. Natsu !" As soon as he shouted his friend name, Shinnosuke began to drag the owl to him, the Capture Hook reeling stronger than his rockets as he got closer and closer to the rider who brandished his Handle-Ken, steering then pressing the horn, triggering the sword Finisher as Natsu, getting the message, ran to him, a smirk on his face as his fist got covered in flame.

 _ **DRIFT KAITEN !**_

 _ **FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FIST !**_

Both attack struck the owl man who let out a pained cry as he was sent stumbling to the ground behind his opponents due to the pull from Hooking Wrecker. However, he quickly got to his feet, pissed but otherwise pretty much okay. As for Natsu and Shinnosuke, they were now feeling a bit more confident.

\- "I don't think you can be much of a threat if you're stuck to the ground." Said the Rider.

\- "Yeah, I'm gonna roast that chicken !" said Nastu, grinning like a child as he turned to look at Shinnosuke. "We work well together, Shinnosu…Urg…"

\- "I AIN'T A VEHICLE, FOR FUCK SAKE !" Snapped Shinnosuke, who was getting really annoyed by Natsu's motion sickness who was way out of control.

\- "Well, you do look like one in a way." Admitted Belt-san, earning a glare from his Rider. "But this doesn't justify the fact that just seeing something that even resemble a car can make him sick."

On the side of the battlefield, Simon and Ankh were looking at the scene, Simon feeling weirded out and even a tad bit worried by their behavior while Ankh rolled his eyes.

\- "This world is just too much. I hope the guild will be finished when we're done here because if I stay any longer I'll become crazy." He said, rubbing his temple before looking back at the fight, Natsu and Fukurou exchanging blows while Shinnosuke, Rumble Dump drill in hand, tried to skewer the owl who managed to dodge all the blows. "On a side note, that owl guy is really good to hold his own against a Rider and a mage."

\- "I think it's time I brought the hammer of justice swinging square down upon the both of you." Said Fukurou, crouching slightly as his rockets turned on once again.

 _ **MISSILE HO-HO-HOU !**_

This time, the rockets flew toward the mages but without Fukurou, the two missiles flying alone to the two partners who either crouch or dive to the side to avoid the two rockets. But this wasn't as easy as it sounded. The two rockets, apparently obeying Fukurou's command, turned and flew around Natsu, harassing the pinkette who kept dodging when two metallic claws appeared from inside the rocket, grabbing Natsu by his shoulder and taking him with them as they began to fly around in circle at high speed. Shinnosuke didn't exactly knew what Fukurou wanted to do but he knew he had to get Natsu out of it.

 _ **DRIVE : TYPE TECHNIC !**_

Grabbing the Door-Ju, he aimed and shot at the rocket but alas, they moved so fast and swiftly that not a single shot landed. On the side, Simon and Anhk were looking, the mage not understanding what was currently going on.

\- "It's a crazy sort of technique, but certainly nasty…" said Simon, looking at Natsu who was turning greened by the minute, much to Ankh annoyance.

\- "Shit. Natsu's metabolism consider that thing like a vehicle. Which means…"

\- "Natsu won't be able to get out of it by himself because of his nausea." Finished Shinnosuke, gritting his teeth as Simon gasped at what that implied.

\- "I am well aware of your weakness, Salamander." Said Fukurou, confirming their fear as Natsu was now limp in the claw of the rockets. "And now that my prey is weak, I can move in for the kill ! This is the essence of hunting !"

\- "As if !" shouted Shinnosuke, instantly aiming at the owl without even turning thanks to Technic ability and opened fire, the owl jumping out of the way and straight at Natsu who was falling to the ground after being dropped by the rocket.

 _ **CAPTURE HO-HO-HOU !**_

Much to everyone surprise, Fukurou opened his mouth wide, in fact wide enough to fit a human body, and caught Natsu inside it before swallowing the fire mage who, still dazed due to his nausea, couldn't do anything to defend himself.

\- "WHAT THE HELL !?" Was everyone's reaction at that, no one expecting such a turn of event. Shinnosuke however was the first to move, not thinking too much as he switched from gun to sword and rushed at the owl. "You better spat him out immediately !"

 _ **FIRE HO-HO-HOU !**_

As Fukurou turned to look at the incoming Rider, something else unexpected happened. Fukurou's fist got covered in flames and struck Shinnosuke with it, sending him back, the flames engulfing him but luckily not dealing that much damages.

\- "Don't be too sure of yourself. I can digest the magic of those I've eaten." Explained Fukurou, fire seeping out of his body, a tuft of pink hair on his head as he glared at his opponent.

\- "Digest the magic ? Does that mean…"

\- "He actually absorbed Salamander's abilities ?!" finished Simon, looking wide eyed at the owl, fear washing over him as he realized what that implied. "This is the sheer level of an assassin's guild…"

\- "In a way, I could be proud of the fact that an owl is so powerful." Began Ankh, looking slightly uneasy. "But I feel that if that guy keep on going, there won't be much left to praise." His comment was barely heard,

/- At Era -/

\- "Eight in favor, one against. That will be all. The firing of Etherion upon the Tower of Paradise is hereby approved."

As the fights kept on in the Tower, no one among those current occupants knew that the council just did what Jellal was suspecting. After listening to Sieglein who told them about how he knew that Jellal and what he was planning to do, every single council member had finally agreed on using the Etherion in the Tower of Paradise to get rid of it for good. Only one man had voted against it and it was Yajima, a small old man who was also a great old friend of Makarov and the only one beside Ultear who said almost nothing during the whole meeting. As the council men exited the room to go prepare the Satellite Square, Yajima stood behind, looking at them go while shaking his head in disappointment, thing Sieglein didn't failed to notice.

\- "Yajima-san… You may find this difficult to accept…" said Sieglein, staring down at the old man. "But you can at least see that we must not allow Zeref's revival, tight ?"

\- "It is no longer my place to resist…" said Yajima, turning away from Jellal and taking a few step. "But I hope you are ready to take responsibility for the consequences, yes ?"

\- "Of course… I will take full responsibility…" If Sieg was expecting a reaction, this wasn't the one he got from Yajima who turned toward him, his face painted by fury.

\- "I am talking about people's lives here, Sieg !" He said through clenched teeth. "All the lives that are about to be lost will be upon your hands !"

\- "You'll have your answer soon enough…" Said Sieg, his stone cold demeanor a little too much for someone who was about to kill dozen of people. But what was to be remembered was that the council was ready to activate Etherion and everyone in that tower had now one hour to finish their mission and get out.

And with how things were, this was almost mission impossible. With Natsu in Fukurou's stomach being digested, the dragon chess piece had fallen down, leaving a tire alone to fight a owl. But luckily for him, the ice was on its way.

\- "Shit ! Where the hell did he go !?" Gray was running in a hallway, looking for Shô and Erza. He had ran after them but couldn't reached them and was now alone, wandering in the tower. "When I found that Shô, I'm gonna smash his face in !"

He kept running until he finally reached a huge room that looked like a cathedral in term of form and size where shouts and cries could be heard. He entered the room, only to stand awestruck at what he had in front of him. Simon and Happy/Ankh were looking at a man with an owl head with familiar looking pink hair on it, facing Kamen Rider Drive in his Speed Type, Massive Monster and his jaws in hands as he stood at the ready. After some moments, Simon finally noticed Gray, just like the others persons already in the room.

\- "Gray ?!"

\- "The hell are you doing ?!" shouted the ice mage, looking at the turban wearing mage, clearly pissed off. "Weren't you meant to be going after Shô !? And you !" he then pointed at the Rider. "I thought you were with ash for brain ?!"

\- "Well, as you can see, we got a little held up…" answered the Rider, feeling slightly annoyed by Gray's anger he felt was unjustified.

\- "We need to find Erza as soon as possible, don't we !?" reminded Gray, not caring if he was getting on peoples nerves. "Jellal said something about wanting to use her as a sacrifice ! I can't imagine her loosing if she goes all-out… But stuck in that card, she's practically defenseless !"

\- "And you think we don't know that ?!" shouted Ankh who had enough of this stupid rant, Gray taken aback at seeing Happy shout at him like that. This wasn't really the Exceed, but Ankh was inside him so... "You think we are here because we want to ?! We'd like to go after that reckless idiot of a card mage, but we have another problem on our hands right now !"

\- "What kind of problem ?! And where is that stupid fire freak ?!"

\- "That's precisely the problem." Revealed Belt-san. "He got eaten by that bird man and he's now using his magic." Eyes wide as saucers, Gray looked at the owl, now realizing why those pink hair looked familiar.

\- "What the hell foes he think he's playing at ?! Stupid flaming idiot !" Gray growled, punching the wall in frustration.

\- "Will you calm down ?! We are all worried for Erza, why are you reacting like that ?!" asked Shinnosuke, Gray's fury way too much to be simple worry.

\- "Erza… When she first came to the guild, she was always alone in a corner of the building, talking to no one. She was a cold hearted girl who never let anyone near her." Revealed Gray through clenched teeth, the others listening to his story. "Wearing an armor in a mage guild, I thought she didn't had her place among us at first. But the truth is that when she was alone, she spent her time crying. She's wearing those armor to protect herself from the outside world and from being hurt. Now that I know what she really is about, I'm going to bring her back."

\- "You sure love to talk." Said Fukurou in half-mockery, rubbing his belly. "The digestion process has begun. In approximatively 10 minutes, Salamander's body will be reduced to nothing. And when that happens, his magic will truly belong to me."

\- "We have no time for that ! I'll sort out this punk !" shouted Gray, magic gathering around him as he got into position.

 _ **ICE MAKE : LANCE !**_

 _ **FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR !**_

As the ice arrows flew toward the owl, the latter opened his mouth to launch his own version of the infamous roar, the fire melting the ice spikes effortlessly as it kept going, engulfing Gray in the flames, much to everyone's shock, the ice mage disappearing in the fire.

\- "Who-Whoo… Ice is useless in front of fire !" stated Fukurou, fire still coming out of his mouth. "Useless ! If you are one of Salamander's nakama, you should know the sheer potency of these flames !"

*KRINK* In an instant, Gray reappeared as the flames around literally froze, now transformed in an ice sculpture, shocking Simon and Fukurou. But not the others who smirked at the show.

\- "Hah, you call these Natsu's flames ? Don't make me laugh." Said Gray, his body covered in slight burns, a grin on his face as he stood in the middle of the frozen fire.

\- "A copy will never be as good as the original, no matter how much they look alike." Said Shinnosuke, remembering the time he fought a fake Drive with his High Speed Type.

\- "Who-Whoo ! Such splendid magical ability ! I think I shall capture you, as well !" Stated Fukurou as he ran at Gray who seemed surprise and failed to move as Fukurou opened his mouth wide.

 _ **CAPTURE HO-HO-HOU !**_

\- "Not on my watch !"

 _ **MON-MON-MONSTER ! HISSATSU ! FULL THROTTLE : MASSIVE MONSTER !**_

The purple tongue came out of the tire around Drive and wrapped around the owl head, obstructing his mouth and stopping him as he was slowly dragged to the back, straight into Shinnosuke monstrous embrace, the Rider slamming the two Monster Jaws together, energy construction of said jaws slamming 3 times in a row on the owl guy, the last creating an explosion that made him fall to the ground. He was getting up quite quickly, but the attack had taken its toll on him. Shinnosuke used the time to join Gray who was starting to feel like they had already lost too much time.

\- "We don't have time to be messing around here !" he said, his magic gathering once again as Shinnosuke grabbed another Shift Car.

\- "I have to agree. Let's get this done." He said, inserting the Shift Car, which was Burning Solar, in his Handle-Ken, looking at the owl who was rushing at them. Gray also ran at him, blades of ice on his left elbow and right hand

 _ **HISSATSU : SOLAR ! FULL THROTTLE !**_

 _ **HYOJIN NANARENBU !**_

Shinnosuke began to move toward the owl while drifting on the ground, sending many blades made of solar energy at the owl, continuing as he kept got closer to the dark mage who gray was already attacking, delivering a flurry of blows with his ice blades, pummeling his opponent at the same time as Shinnosuke's light blade, the Rider delivering one last strike directly with his sword as he skidded and stopped in front of him, using the momentum from the drift for added power as Gray delivered his last blow. The combination was so powerful it knocked their opponent out, the owl send flying as he spat Natsu out, the Slayer still in one piece.

\- "Erza has to be with us… With Fairy Tail. So she doesn't have to cry." Said Gray as Simon looked, awestruck while Ankh smirked, Natsu already getting back to his senses. Everything seemed fine when Gray noticed something coming out of Fukurou's pocket. "What the hell is that ? It looks like a Shift Car…"

Shinnosuke, who was about to undo his transformation, froze like the fire from before turning his head so fast to the knocked down mage that it almost gave him whiplash. Just like Gray said, a small grey Shift Car was on the mage torso, headlight pointing at them and shining dangerously, Belt-san frowning in his screen as he instantly recognized it.

\- "A Roidmude Viral Core !" Shouted the belt, he and his Rider on their guards, until they saw the Core dive into the mage, something they hadn't expected to happen. They could only look as Fukurou got transformed into a larger and Roidmude version of himself. The feathers on his head and arms were now made of metal, looking like some sort of brown armor that also covered his upper body, his skin now black under the armor. Out were the rockets, now replaced by jet wings with a reactor on each one of them. His eyes were bigger and red, his beak shaped like a pyramid, his feet changed into talons. Those changes raised the prospect that things were about to take a turn for the worst and what followed proved it.

*Dooooow* In an instant, the newly formed Roidmude unleashed the Donyori, which made everyone except Shinnosuke go heavy, their movement slowed down by the sudden heaviness they were all experimenting. Natsu had an idea of what was happening since he had already fallen victim of it when they fought Phantom Lord. The newly improved Fukurou then ran, or rather flew, at the Rider, his rocket much more powerful than before as he reached the Rider in a blink of an eye, taking the Rider by surprise, not expecting such speed on his behalf. But that only meant that he had to be faster.

 _ **DRIVE : TYPE DEAD HEAT !**_

Fukurou had to take a few step back, interrupting his assault as Dead Heat appeared, the heat around it taking him by surprise. Soon, both fighters began to assault each other, the mechanical owl armor proving to be sturdier than Drive expected but he was at least faster than the monster. However, before he could find a way to compensate this lack of strength, something else happened. As he fought Fukurou, the owl suddenly ignited one of his rocket, allowing him to deliver a quick and powerful low kick that send the Rider to the ground, the monster lifting his talon immediately after, aiming to crush the Rider under it when…

 _ **FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FIST !**_

Out of nowhere, Natsu had came and struck the owl square in the jaw with a powerful flaming fist that sent the owl man flying away, his rockets allowing him to recover pretty quickly as he landed on the ground, looking in surprise at the Dragon Slayer who was standing, and moving, normally despite the Donyori.

\- "I'll teach you to swallow me, you overgrown bird brain !" Seethed Natsu, cracking his knuckles.

\- "Natsu ?! But how can you move ? I thought the Donyori was still active." Asked Shinnosuke, standing beside the dragon who looked at him with a slightly annoyed look in his eyes.

\- "I think it's thanks to that thing." He said, motioning to his scarf where they could see the characteristic fiery orange of Max Flare. "He's starting to get annoying to follow me everywhere like that, for real."

Shinnosuke had opened his mouth to say something when he spotted a light coming from the owl. Looking at him, he saw that he had opened his beak and that the light came from inside it.

\- "Watch out !" He dived at Natsu, pushing him away as a beam shot out of the beak, missing the Rider and mage, but the beam kept going until it came in contact with Gray who was still locked by the slowness and coincidently couldn't move out of the way, his eyes slowly widening as he still realized what was happening. However, the beam didn't hurt him like they first thought. It was worse. Gray's body began to dissolve into some sort of shining dust which was then sucked inside the beak like it was some sort of vacuum cleaner who just ate their friend. As soon as Gray had disappeared, a crystal like sphere in the middle of his torso lit up in whitish blue.

\- "Did that thing just ate Ice Prick ?!" Wondered Natsu, eyes wide as he looked at the owl whose brown part were slowly becoming a blueish white.

\- "Assimilation complete. Beginning absorption." Said Fukurou, his robotic voice adding to his already mechanical look.

\- "I'm afraid that it might happened the same thing to him than what almost happened to you." Said Shinnosuke, looking at the owl who got slowly covered in mist. "We have to defeat that guy, and quickly."

As soon as he said that, a new wave of Donyori got emitted by the owl, but this time, it also came with a wave of cold air due to the ice magic he got from Gray and this newly added cold had a pretty nasty effect on Shinnosuke. The cold air had began to freeze his equipment and even his armor, thus affecting his ability to move. And Fukurou used this to attack once again, his ice covered fist striking the Rider hard, Shinnosuke unable to move correctly because of his this cold aura who was slowly freezing his joints, the Rider suffering a lot from the blows. But luckily, Natsu was still here, not bothered by this cold aura as he moved freely, managing to grab Fukurou's attention, the owl now aiming for the Slayer who was using his instinct to fight the owl, but the lack of speed was too much. Shinnosuke knew that he couldn't win as things were right now.

 _"Natsu's fire is protecting him from the cold wave and with Max Flare in his scarf, he's protected from the Donyori."_ Listed Shinnosuke, looking at the Slayer who was gritting his teeth, annoyed by his opponent speed. _"If only he could be faster, he… Wait… Faster ? I know !"_

\- "NATSU ! You have to use Max Flare !" Natsu glanced at Shinnosuke in confusion, not understanding what he meant. "Put your magic in him and transform, just like Kouta did when Phantom attacked !"

\- "What ?! You want to … With…" Natsu stuttered, holding the Shift Car in a hand, looking at it a few seconds before turning his head to the side, holding back a barf. "I… I can't… do that…"

\- "For fuck's sake, Natsu !" This time, Shinnosuke had enough ! It was time for Natsu to learn how to control himself. "I can't fight that guy alone, we need a Hybrid and you're the only one here who can become one ! If you can't overcome your stupid nausea, at least just this one time, we'll die here and Erza will be sacrificed by Jellal ! Is that what you want ?!" Shinnosuke could see that he was starting to reach Natsu as his face looked slightly less green. "Prove to me and to everyone you can beat your sickness, phobia, I don't care how you call it, when your friends are in need of help ! Stop thinking about it, Natsu ! It's time to shift into Top Gear !"

Natsu now looked at the Shift Car in his hands with a newfound determination. His nausea was still there, but it was becoming less intense as he let his magic run through the car who, after a little bit of relooking, now looked more like a dragon than a car. A dragon head on the hood, the claws surrounding the wheels, wings on either side acting like doors and the tail trailing behind it. Natsu was amazed, but more by the kind of dragon it was as it looked a lot like Igneel, with the red scales and a whitish underbelly. As his own red and black version of the Shift Brace, Natsu knew what he had to do, even if he had a slight fear about what that implied. He placed the dragonified car in the brace and pulled it.

 _ **SALAMANDER : TYPE DRAGON FLARE !**_

Just like Drive, the armor appeared around him and build itself on him. It was almost the exact same one as Shinnosuke, minus the helmet, but when the tire came and placed itself around the Slayer, things began to look different. Max Flare, now Dragon Flare, looked like a dragon that was now wrapped around Natsu, head resting on his torso. The tire also emitted fire that slowly covered and changed the armor, going from a car theme to a dragon one, still conserving the mechanic aspect, a darker shade of red with a whitish color on the front. On his head, Natsu was wearing a helmet with 4 reddish horns that had black squares on it.

\- "That does feel nice." Admitted Natsu, looking at his armor before reporting his attention on the owl man. "Now, let's roast that chicken."

Fukurou had enough waiting and dived right after Natsu but this time, speed wasn't on his side anymore as Natsu now matched his. Not bothered by the icy air that came from the owl man, he was starting to get the upper hand on his opponent who kept fighting, holding his own against the armored fire mage even though he was starting to get dominated. Feeling that he was about to lose, the owl man used the one thing he knew his opponent couldn't stop, and that was flying. As he took off, he immediately ended up in a place where Natsu couldn't follow him and even if Natsu's flames were faster thanks to his armor, it wasn't enough to make it unavoidable for someone who flew as easily as Fukurou. This was starting to get annoying for Natsu as he jumped around, dodging the ice attacks send by the robotic owl, either huge block of ice or a flurry of spears, either dodged or destroyed by the Dragon Slayer, but it was getting annoying for the mage who knew he had a limited time before Gray was completely assimilated.

\- "You can't save your friend." Said Fukurou, looking down at the Dragon Rider. "I can't be matched when I'm in the air."

\- "This just mean we'll have to bring you back down to earth."

 _ **DRIVE : TYPE FORMULA !**_

As soon as Shinnosuke, that both fighters had forgotten, said that, wind began to blow, forming some kind of tornado that swept the owl monster away as the Formula Rider stood at the ready, joining Natsu.

\- "I guess if you said that, that you have a plan to take care of his flying."

\- "I do. Just be ready and don't forget…" he said, pointing at his brace after grabbing Mantarn. "Three times."

 _ **TIRE KOUKAN : FORMULA 01 !**_

Using the boost provided by Mantarn, Shinnosuke began to run along the wall, circling the owl as his speed began to build a column of air, creating a tornado of some sort that made the owl lose all control over his own flight. Back on the ground, Natsu decided to add his own touch to the attack, sending flames at the tornado creating a column of fire that weakened the ice of the already tormented owl. As for Shinnosuke, he finally got his opponent where he wanted him and decided that it was time to finish him off.

\- "Natsu ! Get ready !"

\- "Always am !"

 _ **TIRE KOUKAN : FORMULA 02 ! ZE-ZE-ZERO TWO ! HISSATSU ! FULL THROTTLE !**_

Jumping so he was just above Fukurou, Shinnosuke attacked with the extending floor jack to attack, the owl struck on his back as he was then sent to the ground by the tire attack, heading straight at Natsu who was slightly on the side, ready to attack.

 _ **DRA-DRA-DRAGON FLARE ! HISSATSU ! FULL THROTTLE !**_

Wide wings appeared on Natsu's back as he used them to flew toward the point where the Roidmude was about to land, one of his feet aflame.

 _ **MECHA FIRE DRAGON'S OVERDIVE KICK !**_

Flipping so his feet were pointed forward, he welcomed the plummeting Roidmude with a powerful flaming kick to the ribcage, shattering the sphere on it, which made Gray reappeared as he rolled on the ground while Natsu's attack kept going, piercing the owl as he exploded, stuck in between the kick and Jacky. Once the explosion subsided, Natsu and Shinnosuke were side by side, helping Gray as he was laying on the ground in pain, forgetting Fukurou, back to its former shape, out cold on the ground. And with the Roidmude gone, so was the Donyori, meaning Simon and Ankh were back to normal.

\- "Wow, that was weird." Was all Ankh, not commenting what the fight he had just witnessed, fight that seemed unreal to Simon who was looking at the Fairies awestruck but also smiling. The extends they were ready to achieve just for a friend was overwhelming and he couldn't help but feel happy for Erza to have found such great friends.

\- "He's badly hurt." Shinnosuke said, looking at Gray as Natsu stood by his side, back to normal. "He need attention."

\- "I guess, but we can't just let Erza alone with that asshole looking for her." Said Natsu, who wasn't bothered by the car like appearance Shinnosuke had when transformed, or at least, not as much annoyed as before.

\- "I'm gonna stay here to take care of him. You go with Simon. We have to stop Shô before he does something really stupid. If it's not already the case."

/- Era -/

While Natsu and his group was deciding on what to do and how, The council was currently preparing to shoot with Etherion. In a heavily protected room, a huge gathering of magic, either in pure form or as magic circles in many layers was currently being operated by many mages, the councilmen all overlooking at the preparation and needless to say, they weren't really happy about that.

\- "To think that we would be driven to a decision of this nature at a time like this, with the council president in such bad health…." Said Org, one of the councilman, the one who at first was completely opposed to the use of Etherion.

\- "There was no choice." Confirmed Michello who stood next to him. "Whilst the resident is absent, full responsibility for maintaining order in the magical world falls to the remaining nine councilors. You shouldn't worry so, Org. This may be an unannounced attack upon a foreign nation, but situations such as this are provided for in article 27, clause 4 of the national security act."

\- "This is not about the petty legal implications…" Countered Org, shaking and sweating bullets. "We're talking about deploying Etherion !"

\- "That Zeref is the devil incarnate." Added Michello. "We can but pray that this Etherion is enough to destroy him."

Meanwhile, in another side of the room, Sieglein stood, hands behind his back, looking at Etherion without a word, Ultear standing behind him, a small smile on her face.

\- "The time is almost upon us… Sieg-sama." She began, looking pretty satisfied with the situation. "The feelings you have concealed for these eight years are finally going to be realized."

\- "Are you not afraid, Ultear ?" asked Sieg without turning, eyes glued to the preparation.

\- "Not even a little." She said confidently. "After all, I always trust in you completely, Sieg-sama."

\- "Yes, I see… It's not your life that's in danger here." Confirmed Sieg, earning a small giggle from Ultear. "Personally, I find myself trembling a little. If this fails… Then I die."

He aimed those words at Ultear, but she wasn't the only one who heard him. Yajima, the only councilors who voted against Etherion was using magic to hide himself in a column near them, listening to their conversation.

 _"If we fail… He dies ? What is he talking about ?"_

\- "But this is worth putting my life on the line for." He said, a sinister smile making its way on his face. "After all… This is my dream."

Yajima took all of his words in, wondering what he meant by that while, back at the tower, Jellal knocked down the owl chess piece, a small smile on his face.

\- "Twenty-five minutes left… I guess I'll be saying goodbye to you, too… Sieglein."

/- With Shô -/

\- "Jellal… Shit… How dare he deceive us like this ?! Even hurting nee-san…"

The young card mage was still running along the hallway, heading straight to the top floor since he knew this place perfectly. He was out for blood, his mind set on making Jellal pay for everything he did, and even Erza's words, coming from the card he trapped her in to protect her wasn't enough to make him stop.

\- "Shô ! Shô, you have to calm down ! Let me out of here !" Begged Erza, hoping that she could make the young mage stop whatever he was trying to do, but to no avail.

\- "Don't worry, nee-san… I'll protect you, no matter what."

Despite Erza's pleas, he kept running until he reached a large hallway where he came to a stop, taken aback by cherry petals falling down around them as a pink haired girl with a long sword on her back appeared in the middle of it, her platforms sandals clapping on the ground with each steps she took until she stopped in the middle of the hall, a good 6 meters away from Shô.

\- "I am called Ikaruga." She said, introducing herself. "Greetings."

\- "Move it." Shô said, having no time to fool around. "Who the hell are you, anyway ?"

\- "Oh, my… such a boorish young man." Snickered the girl behind her hand, amused by his behavior and that clearly didn't please Shô.

\- "I ain't wasting my time on trash like you !" roared the young man as he threw cards at her like shuriken. However, Ikaruga wasn't fazed, her eyes squinting slightly as she unsheathed her katana, repelling every single card. Not only that, but the cards also got cut in half, back and front now separated from each other, much to Shô's shock. "No way…"

\- "There exists nothing under the sun that I cannot slice." Said Ikaruga as two cross shaped cuts appeared on Shô, opening his vest in four as he stumbled to the ground while spatting blood. In his fall, the card containing Erza flew out, Ikaruga noticing her. "Oh, my… You were hiding in a place like that ?"

\- "Shô ! You have to let me out of here right away ! She's not an opponent you can beat !" shouted Erza, slamming her fist on the card from the inside, but Shô wasn't having any of it.

\- "Don't worry… That card has protection on it…" he explained, Erza's safety being the only thing that mattered to him. "Nobody on the outside should be able to hurt you at all…"

\- "Let me out, Shô ! That woman's sword… It isn't normal !"

As soon as she said that, Ikaruga swung her blade at the card, trying to slice it, but as Shô said, nothing happened to the card. However, inside the card, it was another story. Shô's eyes widened as he realized that Erza had pulled one of her sword out to deflect a cut that managed to entered the card.

\- "WHAT !? She cut inside the card !? But it's a completely separate dimension !" he shouted in disbelief, looking as Ikaruga kept attacking inside the card, Erza deflecting all the blows until she, shockingly, managed to exit the card by herself, reappearing by Shô's side, looking straight at her opponent.

\- "Thanks to you, there was a distortion in the fabric of space." She said, explaining how she managed to exit. "I sliced through that to make my escape." As she said that, Shô looked at her with tears I hs eyes, at a loss for words at what she managed to do. "I have no business with you. Leave."

\- "Hoho…" was all Ikaruga said as crack began to appear on Erza's armor and sword who then shattered like glass out of nowhere, much to the redhead and her old friend shock who had seen nothing else happened. "That was by way of a greeting. Oh ? Don't tell me… You didn't see me move ?"

Indeed, Erza didn't saw her move at all and that was the problem. She had absolutely no idea how that Ikaruga managed to cut her and that made her turn really serious as she frowned at the pink haired woman, Shô cowering on the floor, now realizing that they were both on a whole different level than him.

\- "As I stood and stared, through the shadows of the mist, stood a specter there…" sand Ikaruga, looking at Erza with a smile. "While you were busy worrying about finding Jellal-han… You failed to notice the flurry of slices surrounding you where you stood. I am by no mean a mere passerby on the road." By the time she finished, Erza's glare had set on her, her seriousness back on business as she could only agree to her statement.

\- "So it would seem."

 _ **REQUIP : HEAVEN WHEEL ARMOR !**_

\- "You're an enemy." She concluded, now clad in one of her more iconic armor, swords in hands, ready for the fight. And so was Ikaruga who, with a simple 'Here I come', rushed at Erza who met her halfway, both swordswoman slashing at each other, the flurry of cut flying around as they both parry every single blow their opponent was sending at them. After a counter, Erza jumped above Ikaruga, her swords gathering in a circle.

 _ **CIRCLE SWORD !**_

The spinning blades came at the pink woman, a deadly sawblade that didn't made her flinch at all as she merely smirked, brandishing her sword.

 _ **MUGETSU-RYU : YASHA SENKUU !**_

In an instant, Ikaruga had swung her blade around her, attacking the sword so quickly that it looked like she didn't even touched them but despite that, all the swords shattered in an instant, taking Erza and Shô aback, shock that got even greater when she slashed at Erza from her spot a few meters away, yet destroying the Heaven Wheel Armor who shattered like glass, a cut also appearing on Erza's shoulder. But even after that, Ikaruga wasn't done.

 _ **MUGETSU-RYU : KAKURA-EN !**_

This time', she swung her sword once, a large fire slash coming out of the blade and going straight at Erza who acted immediately after that.

 _ **REQUIP : FLAME EMPEROR ARMOR !**_

She got once again covered in armor as the flame magic came in contact with her and if the flame didn't seemed to destroy the armor at first, the blast was still strong enough to send her flying backward, straight into a wall who got crushed under the strength of the blow.

\- "A form of flame-resistant armor ? Impressive that you managed to requip it quickly enough to defend yourself." Praised Ikaruga as Erza walked out the rubbles, panting slightly just before her armor shattered too, leaving her in nothing but the clothes she had under it. "But don't you think it is a little unseemly to expose yourself so in male company ?" The mockery was too much for Erza who was starting to feel her anger boil inside her soul. "Come, now. I suggest you use the strongest armor you have."

 _ **REQUIP : PURGATORY ARMOR !**_

Answering Ikaruga's provocation, Erza was now wearing an impressive black armor, adorned with demon looking spikes on the whole armor, giving her a demonic look that got accentuated with her hair who now looked like a lion mane, waving dangerously around her head, her only visible eye shining red. Her power was heavy, suffocating Shô while Ikaruga seemed pretty much amused.

\- "None have seen this armor and lived to tell the tale." She said, her voice as heavy and threatening as her armor. "Witness it and despair !"

*CRACK* As soon as she ended her sentence, Erza saw a few cherry blossom petals falling in front of her eyes as Ikaruga passed by her in a blink of an eye, delivering one strike to her armor who shattered just as easily as the others, another cut adding to the one Erza already had as she could only look wide eyes as her body fell backward, her unprotected body laying on the ground as Shô look at the scene, despair showing on his face as he saw her nee-san be defeated so easily.

\- "So that was your strongest armor ?" Mocked Ikaruga as Erza panted on the ground, the pink haired woman sheathing her sword. "You understand now, yes ? No matter what armor you might wear, it cannot stand up to my blade. Surrender."

Erza gritted her teeth. She was not the kind to go and give up but at the same time, she had a hard time finding a solution to her problem. She was in a pinch and one she had never been in before. She needed help, or at least some time.

\- "This would be much more simple if you'd just give up. That way, I'll happily bring you to Jellal. After all, it's not like you can count on anyone here. Now, as I said, surren…"

 _ **DAI KAIGAN ! ROBIN OMEGA STRIKE !**_

\- "GAAAH !" Before she could end her sentence, Ikaruga got struck by a green energy made arrow that exploded upon contact, sending her a few steps back. "Who is it ? Who are you ?"

\- "Me ?" Said the shooter as he came into light, walking slowly toward them. A green hooded parka with yellow outline and a sort of feather on the hood, covering a black face with a green bow and arrow pointing down on it. A large bow in his hands still pointed at the swordswoman as he came to a stop next to Erza. "Someone she can count on."

\- "Takeru !" shouted the red haired mage as she looked up to the Rider. "Why are you here ?"

\- "I ran after Shô to stop him before he did something stupid. But this place is pretty huge and I got lost. Sorry." Explained Ghost as he kept his eyes on his opponent who, her confusion passed, was back to grinning like she did before.

\- "Oh, so you're one of those Kamen Rider I've heard about ? I must say, I'm a little disappointed. I was expecting a great fighter, not some kid wearing costume."

\- "Those aren't costumes. They are Damashii." Said Takeru as he grabbed another Eyecon. "Let me show you the difference."

 _ **KAIGAN : NEWTON ! RINGO GA RAKKA, HIKIYOSE MAKKA !**_

\- "I'm going to buy you some time, Erza. Don't worry." He said as he ran toward Ikaruga who had drawn her sword, lifting it to go for the kill but Takeru stopped her. Using his repelling power on the sword, he pushed it away and prevented Ikaruga from slashing him, much to her shock as she could only look at him coming for her, punching her in the stomach with his other glove. Taken aback, Ikaruga quickly got over it and slashed at Takeru who jumped out of the way. But Ikaruga was fats and she followed his movement, attempting to get the ghost, which she did, Takeru finding himself falling to the ground as she landed many slashes on him. But he wasn't done as he pointed his left hand at Ikaruga, a hand that shone with a blue aura that did nothing to Ikaruga.

\- "Well ? Is your toy broken ?" She mocked, seeing that his power did nothing. But Takeru wasn't annoyed by that.

\- "You sure ?"

Erza, who was slowly getting to her feet, noticed that the rubbles from the wall she broke before were now floating above the ground, surrounded by the same blue aura than the one on Takeru's hand. When Ikaruga felt that something was happening, she turned around, only to see a wave of stone rushing at her, stone she destroyed easily but by turning her back to Takeru, she made a mistake, one the Rider used immediately.

 _ **DAI KAIGAN ! NEWTON OMEGA DRIVE !**_

Takeru diverted the attraction power from the stone to Ikaruga who got immobilized by the power of the gravity and, unable to move, she couldn't escape the next attack, coming from Takeru's right fist who gathered as much power as it could and unleashing it one the swordswoman in one powerful punch that send her flying through the room and away from the group. Takeru got back to his feet as Ikaruga was already getting back up, her yukata out of place, blood coming out of her nose who probably got broken from the blow.

\- "Hum, you're not half bad, kid." Said Ikaruga, a smirk on her lips as she looked at the Rider who stood a few feet away.

\- "Thanks. I have to say you're more resistant than I first though." Admitted Takeru, grabbing another Eyecon. "I think I'll have to be going at you harder then."

\- "Don't Takeru." Erza's voice grabbed the two fighters attention as Ikaruga looked above her shoulder and Takeru past her to see the redhead on her feet, though shaking due to the damages she received before. She was bleeding from the cuts on her body, had scratches everywhere, but her determination hadn't wavered.

 _ **REQUIP : CLEAR HEART CLOTHING !**_

Erza requipped once again, but this time, she had no armor, much to everyone surprise. Her new attire consisted in a red pant with flames on the bottom, bandages wrapped around her chest, her hair in a high ponytail and a katana in each hand. Also, she had no shoes as she stood barefoot, glaring at Ikaruga who, just like the two men presents, was staring disbelievingly at her.

\- "What is the meaning of this ?" asked Ikaruga, intrigued by Erza's clothes. "I feel no magic whatsoever from that outfit. It's just plain fabric, that's all." A tick mark appeared on her face as she half-grinned, annoyance filling her face. "And after I went to such pains to show you the extent of my skill… It seems I am being underestimated."

\- "Nee-san ! What's wrong with you ?!" Cried Shô, not liking seeing Erza like this at all. "You have tons of strong armor left, don't you !? You're stronger than this, aren't you ?!"

\- "I don't think this had anything to do with her being strong." Muttered Takeru, looking straight at Erza's eyes, seeing them filled with a newfound calmness that seemed rather out of place. "Not wearing any armor… This has another deeper meaning…"

\- "I am not strong." Began Erza, taking Shô aback and grabbing Ikaruga and Takeru's attention as in her head, images from the past came back. A young Gray asking her why she cried alone, the old man who saved her life, younger version of her friends from her time as slave. "I'm not… So many of my nakama died right before my eyes… I failed to protect the people I cared about… And… I was always crying. I locked my own heart up in a suit of armor…" As she talked, she had taken a stance, both sword held on each side of her. "It is because I am weak that I always hide behind a suit of armor. I could never take that armor off."

\- "Even if my opponent is naked… I will still slice her." Said Ikaruga as Erza paused in her monologue, not impressed as she put a hand on her sword scabbard and pommel.

\- "I always believed that the armor would keep me safe…" continued the redhead. "But that wasn't right. That chink between people's hearts that allow them to connect… I was just blocking that up. But Fairy Tail taught me the truth. That it's so much better to be close to people, to feel their warmth. I no longer have doubts ! I will change my very being to strength… And defeat you !" She had claimed that with an absolute conviction, also triggering Ikaruga in going forth.

\- "Prepare yourself !" shouted the pink haired swordswoman as she rushed at Erza, sword drawn and ready to attack. "This is the end !"

Both women rushed at each other and delivered one blow as they passed by each other, the contact creating a shockwave that made the wall shake slightly as they both came to a stop. For a few seconds, nothing happened, the two spectators holding their breath, wondering who won and who lost. Suddenly, a deep cut appeared on Erza's shoulder, blood spurting out of it, Ikaruga smirking as she looked at the mage.

\- "And thus, you lose." Or so she thought. Because as soon as she said that, blood exploded out of her by a deep cut that covered her whole torso, blood also coming out of her mouth as she fell backward, genuinely shocked by what was happening. "Im…Impossible…"

\- "All right ! Nee-san, you're incredible !" Cheered Shô, relieved that her 'sister' managed to beat that powerful assassin as Takeru walked up to them.

\- "That was impressive for sure." He said, smiling under his helmet while Ikaruga, despite being defeated, still had things to say.

\- "I have… Never once…. Been defeated… Not once…Until this day…" she said between breath, her life slowly seeping out of her. "However… Both you and Jellal are destined for defeat…" This sentence grabbed the onlookers attention. "Fifteen minutes… See it plummet down… Shining light of justice bright… Bringing death to all… A beastly poem…" With those last poetic words, Ikaruga closed her eyes and as Takeru could feel, for the last time. He did a quiet prayer for her, honoring the dead. However, as he got closer to the mage who laid on the ground, he felt something weird and saw something that made him gasped. An eye just appeared on her chest.

\- "What the…"

An explosion coming out of the corpse send him flying back, landing next to Erza and Shô as dark energy enveloped Ikaruga like a cocoon. A few seconds later, the darkness disappeared and instead of Ikaruga, they found a black monster with blue eyes who was wearing a worn out version of Ikaruga's yukata. It also had a large mane of pink hair and was carrying a long katana with a blood red jagged blade. Without any warning, the newly formed Gamma swung its blade at the three mages and Rider, sending a large slash of red energy at them, slash that exploded on contact, sending the three of them flying and rolling on the ground.

\- "This body is a little weak since it's dead, but it still hold a great amount of power." Said the Gamma, looking at his own body. "I might have hit the jackpot."

\- "Taking over a dead person ? How dare you !?" shouted Takeru, feeling his anger boiling at what he had done. "I won't let you get away with this !"

 _ **KAIGAN : BENKEI ! ANIKI ! MUKIMUKI ! NIODACHI !**_

Grabbing his Gan Gan Saber who was now in Hammer Mode, Takeru ran at the Gamma, the two opponents exchanging blows and parries at a quick pace, but while the Gamma dealt full damages,, which were quite high by the way, Takeru was doing much less due to the difference in nature between the Hybrid and the Rider. With a elbow to the head, the Gamma threw Takeru off balance and, spinning on his heels, he used the momentum to deal a powerful slash at the rider, the red blade cutting the Rider hard as he was sent flying backward, toward Erza and Shô who were still on the side, the first still hurt by her previous fight and the latter already knowing he wouldn't be of much help. Takeru stumbled on the ground a little bit more until he stopped, right beside his two comrades who rushed by his sides as the Gamma was slowly walking toward them, the long katana racking on the ground.

\- "Takeru ! Are you alright ?" asked Erza, wincing slightly as her movement hurt because of her wounds.

\- "Yeah. But that creature is strong." Admitted Takeru as Shô began panicking.

\- "She was already strong before, but now she looks even stronger." He said, looking warily at the monster who was slowly approaching them.

\- "We need to make one of us into a Hybrid." Said Erza, knowing what to do since she already did it before. "Do you have anything we can use ?"

\- "I'm not sure." Grimaced Takeru, not feeling sure about that idea. "I know about the Hybrid, but the Eyecon contains Damashii, the soul of living being. I don't know if…"

Before he could explain why this might not work, a light, coming from his device box on his belt, began to glow stronger and stronger as it slowly engulfed Takeru and Erza who had no choice but to cover their eyes. When they opened them again, they were no longer in the hallway with the Gamma and Shô, but in a completely different place, one Takeru knew fairly well. An old Japanese styled room with a man sitting cross-legged on a small pillow, clad in a red vest with red eyes, only feature on his otherwise blank face.

\- "Who's that ?" Asked Erza, impressed by the cheer strength that this man gave off as he looked up to them.

\- "I am Miyamoto Musashi. Legendary swordsman, founder of the Niten Ichi-ryu." Said the Parka Ghost, his deep voice echoing in the small room. "It is a pleasure to meet such a skilled young swordswoman."

\- "Musashi, why are we here ?" Asked Takeru, grabbing the swordsman attention.

\- "I brought you there to have a small talk about those Hybrids." Explained the ghost. "It is true that as Damashii, you can't use us like you use others trinkets to create Hybrids. But it is still possible. For that, you'll need the Parka Ghost you want to use to agree in sharing his power. You need to make sure a ghost want to help you to succeed, to make sure that you are, for him, worthy of being granted a power similar to his own. For example…" Musashi got up, standing arms crossed in front of Erza who felt almost intimidated. Knowing that Eyecon contains soul of great historical figures from the Rider world, she felt some sort of pressure. It was like she was standing in front of a legend from her own world. "… After witnessing such skill and determination, adding with your story, I can't help but be impressed. I'm find you to be worthy of borrowing my strength and as such, I'll offer you my Eyecon to give your power the boost it need to slay evil down." He then hold a hand toward Erza in a welcoming gesture. "Will you accept my help, Miss Scarlett ?"

Erza stood there, looking alternatively between the hand and the Parka Ghost, giving her some time to think about it before smirking, shaking hands with the legend.

\- "It would be my pleasure."

Musashi nodded and the same light came back, engulfing the two humans as they got back in the tower, in the exact same situation as before, as if time had stopped while they were with Musashi. Seeing that the Gamma was about to reach them, Takeru reacted on instinct, putting the eye on his weapon in front of the one on his Driver.

 _ **DAI KAIGAN ! GAN GAN MINNA ! OMEGA BOMBER !**_

A wall of energy made weapon appeared in front of the group, stopping the Gamma as the weapon, one by one, flew out of the ground and toward the monster, bombarding it and forcing him backward. While this happened, Takeru, Erza and Shô could focus on something that appeared in Erza's hand. It was an Eyecon, the red part now silver and the white part red. The face on top showed a fairy with a sword behind, the number being quite strange : M-01. If they had some doubt about what it meant, it quickly disappeared as a red and silver Ghost Driver appeared around Erza's waist.

\- "Seems like Musashi will help you." Said Takeru, looking up to met Erza's determined eyes. "You ready for this ?"

\- "More than ready." She said, getting up with Takeru who had another Eyecon in his hand. They both pressed the button on their Eyecon and inserted them inside the Driver, a Silver and scarlet version of Musashi flying out of Erza's, next to a purple one and gold one.

 _ **EYE ! BATCHIRIMINA ! BATCHIRIMINA ! (x2)**_

\- "HENSHIN !"

 _ **KAIGAN : NOBUNAGA ! WARE NO IKIZAMA ! OKEHAZAMA !**_

 _ **KAIGAN : SCARLETT ! YOSEI NO SENSHI ! YOROI NO KENSHI !**_

As Takeru was now wearing the Nobunaga Parka with the Gan Gun Hand in Gun Mode In hand, Erza was standing by his side, wearing her own new set of armor and parka. She had no helmet, only the hood with her hair flowing out in a ponytail out of hole in the top of it. The parka was mainly scarlet red with silver lining, color that were also present on the two swords she had in her hands. The clothes she wore from her Clear Heart Clothing were also present but in an armor fashion. The bandages on her chest had become some kind of chest plate while her pants were now some sort of armor, red in color with black flames and yellow lining.

\- "So what if you got a new set of clothes ? Those won't help you. You both shall get destroyed !" roared the Gamma as he ran at the both of them, Takeru holding his gun as he opened fire on him, most of his bullets ending up being deflected by the Gamma's sword as Erza ran at the creature, both of them soon beginning their duel, swords clashing against one another, metal clanging and sparks flying. However, though Erza's swordsmanship was better, the Gamma had a sword whose blade emitted an energy that kept sending energy cuts at Erza even when his swords was blocked, which was putting Erza in a tight spot, even if she also did landed a few hits on her own, each one of them dealing a fair amount of damages. However, the Fairy got the fight back in control when Takeru jumped in, slamming his weapon down on the Gamma's arm, preventing him from slashing once again at Erza and allowing the red hair to deal a powerful strike to the Gamma and thus beginning the Fairies counter-attack. Both fighters began to advance, forcing their enemy back, enemy who had a hard time dodging and blocking the onslaught, thus suffering heavy damages. After some blows, Takeru ceased his assault, leaving Erza alone as he took a few step back, putting the Gan Gun Hand in front of his Driver.

 _ **DAI KAIGAN ! GAN GAN MIRO ! GAN GAN MIRO !**_

\- "Erza ! Move !" Shouted Takeru over the driver stand by announcement as two rows of copy of his gun appeared behind him, all pointed at the Gamma Erza was fighting. As soon as Erza dived aside after seeing what he was aiming for, Ghost pressed the trigger.

 _ **NOBUNAGA ! OMEGA SPARK !**_

Each one of the gun around him fired one shot, the barrage of shots raining on the Gamma who couldn't blocked them all, suffering heavy damages followed by an explosion that sent him rolling on the ground and as he struggled to get up, Erza had prepared her own finisher.

 _ **DAI KAIGAN ! GAN GAN MINA ! SCARLETT ! OMEGA ASSAULT !**_

Erza's swords got covered in a red aura as the same energy seeped out of her body, creating copy of the many weapons she had, from the Heaven's Wheel swords to the De-Malevo-Lance, spears, swords, hammer, mace, etc. and even the one without weapon like the Adamantine Armor, all materialized and wielded or wore by ghostly version of herself. The army of ghosts then rushed at the Gamma who was struggling to stay standing, each ghost dealing one blow with their weapon or armor as the aura around the real Erza's swords kept growing. As the last ghost attacked, she followed suite, swinging her swords sideways at the Gamma in one deadly slash that dealt a lot of damages to the Gamma as well as exorcise him from Ikaruga's body, the Gamma and his Eyecon exploding as Ikaruga's body fell to the ground. Soon after, Erza powered down, the Eyecon in her hand back to its original shape of Musashi, Takeru walking up to her.

\- "That was awesome !" he said, showing her his hand in which she put the Eyecon. "And now, I know what to do to have some Eyecon Hybrids."

\- "Yes, but we have more pressing matters." Said Erza, her face serious as she looked at Ikaruga. "She said fifteen minutes, she probably was talking about Etherion… Shô, are you alright ?" Asked Erza suddenly, turning to look at the card mage who was standing close by.

\- "Yeah… Somehow…"

\- "You have to take Simon and the rest, as well as my Nakama, and get away from this tower." At that, Takeru was frowning at her as Shô looked ready to object when she looked at him with a gentle smile. "You'll do it for me, won't you. Shô."

\- "…Yeah…" he finally said, looking down, not liking the idea but agreeing nonetheless. "But what about you ?"

\- "I'm going… To finish this… "

She then ran away, heading to where Jellal was ,not noticing that Takeru was following her like a shadow. HE felt that something was off and he won't leave her alone here as long as he won't shed some light on the matter.

/- Meanwhile -/

While Erza and Takeru were closing on Jellal, Natsu and Simon were also running, but to try and find Erza. They had left Shinnosuke who said he would take care of Gray's wounds before heading back to find the rest. As they were running, Natsu was thinking about his transformation thanks to one of Shinnosuke's Shift Car. He didn't know if this was because the car looked like a dragon after being infused with his magic or something else, but he couldn't forget that, despite it being themed after a car, his new transformation hadn't made him sick. His thought were soon put to a stop when he felt Simon, who was running by his side, stopped and clench his head, a knee on the ground.

\- "Oi ! What's happening to you ?" he asked, slightly worried about his 'comrade'.

\- "It's nothing… Don't worry. I just received a transmission from Wally and Millianna. They've found Lucy and Juvia collapsed on the ground along with one of the Trinity Raven. Thay don't what's going on so they weren't sure about what to do, so I asked them to get them both out of the tower. And according from a transmission from Shô, all of the Trinity Raven got defeated."

\- "That's good then." Said Natsu, smirking. "This means that there's only that Jellal guy left."

\- "Yeah, and Erza, followed by Takeru, are heading his way as we speak. She intends to deal with him alone." Simon then looked down slightly as Natsu glared at him. "The two of them shared a bond of resentment for eight years now. It may well be that their clash is a fated inevitability. But Jellal is just too powerful." He then look up, fixing his eyes on Natsu's. "Please, you must save Erza."

\- "Don't wanna." Was not the answer Simon was hoping and it shocked him greatly as his mouth hung open in disbelief. "He's Erza enemy, so I say Erza should defeat him. This isn't something I should go barging in on."

\- "Erza has no hope of defeating Jellal !" shouted Simon, which unnerved Natsu.

\- "Don't you dare insult her like that, you ass !"

\- "It's not a matter of strength, here !" Shouted Simon as he got up and grabbed Natsu by his scarf, successfully shutting him up. "Erza…. She's still hoping that she can save Jellal, somehow ! I know it, she just doesn't have it in her to actually hate Jellal !" This took Natsu by surprise, who could see the information fall together to form a coherent image, one he feared. "Jellal is cunning. He will make use of Erza's lingering feelings for him. But it gets even worse than that." Added Simon who finally let go of Natsu who was standing here, not moving an inch. "You know that the council is planning on firing the Etherion down upon this place, yes ? And of course, if that does happen, then everyone inside this tower will die for certain. And we only have, like, ten minutes left, now."

\- "WHAT !?" Natsu knew for Etherion, but he had no idea it would come that fast.

\- "Erza went off while telling Shô to get everyone out of the tower." Continued Simon. "You know Erza well enough do you not ? Though it pains me to say it… She may well be planning on using the Etherion to die, taking Jellal along with her."

\- "Why didn't you say that in the first place … ?" Growled Natsu, grinding his teeth as realization dawned upon him. "WHERE THE HELL DID ERZA GO !?"

 **And that's it. I hope you liked this chapter. I'm pretty proud of it and I'd like to know what you thought of it. As I said at the beginning of this chapter, due to me moving out, I'll probably have a little delay on my updates, I hope you won't be bothered by them. I'll still try to update this story at least once a week.**

 **Don't forget to review and comment, I'll read them all to upgrade my story and make it as great as possible. See ya !**

 **Next time : A fated showdown. The true shape of the R-System. A boost in death. Shattered tower and sacrifice.**


	30. Chapter 30 : Final Showdown

**Hey, everyone ! I'm sorry for the delay, I know it's been longer than usual but as I said in the previous chapter, I'm in the middle of a moving so I can't write as much as I want for now and it will probably be the same for the 31** **st** **chapter. Speaking of chapter, this chapter is the 30** **th** **, a milestone in a way and I'd like to thank you all for the support and ideas up to now and I invite all of you to continue with the ideas.**

 **Also, i'd like to explain something regarding a comment a guest made (thanks by the way) about Erza and the Musashi Eyecon. I wanted to, just like the others trinkets, to allow the Eyecon to be used to create hybrid. However, Eyecon are special, they contain real soul in a way so that's why i made this little dialogue with Musashi : an Etecon can be use to make an Hybrid if the Damashii consider the user to be worthy of him. As for the change in the design on the Eyecon, it's mainly to show the difference with the normal version, like i did for the Ichigo Lockseed. I hope i could shed some light on that matters, now, let's rock it !**

 **Remember : I own neither Fairy Tail nor Kamen Rider.**

 **Chapter 30 : Final showdown**

In his room, Jellal stood in front of his chess board, looking at the pieces on it. He just knocked down a piece shaped like a yukata wearing woman with two others, one looking like a knight and the other like a ghost with a big eye. Out of the pieces still on the board, the one representing himself was the only one on his side.

\- "Dear me… It seems the game is over already." He said to himself, smirking as he knew someone heard him, someone who walked barefoot into the room.

\- "Is it really so entertaining, playing games with people's lives ?" asked Erza, walking toward Jellal, sword in hands.

\- "Oh, but of course." Answered Jellal, not ashamed at all by what he was saying. "Life and death are the very basis of all things ; they intensify every emotion. Or to put it a rather different way, there is nothing quite so dull as 'life'. It has been a while. Erza." He finally turned his head to look at his old friend, who glared at him in return.

\- "Jellal."

\- "You could have simply fled this place at any time. Why did you choose not to do so ?" asked Jellal.

\- "I mean to free all of my former nakama." Answered Erza.

\- "Not that I care. I no longer have any use for them. Not with the Tower of Paradise complete."

\- "Even if it were to be destroyed only ten minutes from now ?" added Erza, her grip on her sword tightening. "You seem unconcerned…. So you were bluffing."

\- "Oh no…" Corrected Jellal, pulling his hood down. "The Etherion will fall…"

\- "That is what I wanted to hear !" Said Erza, now raising her sword above her head. "Ten minutes ! If I can simply keep you here for that long… I will be able to bring an end to all this !"

\- "Oh, no… You are going to die, sacrificed to Zeref." Countered Jellal, pointing at Erza. "That much is pure fact. It is your destiny !" he marked a pause, both opponent gauging each other. "Seven minutes left. In seven minutes, Etherion will strike. Let us enjoy those seven minutes, Erza."

\- "Right now, there is nothing that I fear. Even if Etherion does fall upon me, I will be satisfied as long as I take you with me."

And the next second, the fight began. Both opponent exchanged blows, Jellal being slightly more dominant since he, as opposed as Erza, had yet to fight and was in a better shape than her. However, what both failed to notice was that they weren't alone. Out in the shadow stood Takeru in his Ore form, looking at the fight while processing what he heard and thought. He was truly pissed about the view Jellal had on life but this wasn't the only thing that bothered him. Apparently, Jellal had spent many years to build this tower and yet, the prospect of it being destroyed in a few minutes didn't seemed to bother him. And while he was thinking, the fight kept on.

\- "You've just built this huge tower and now you're smashing it up ? I just don't know what to say." Said Erza, slashing down at Jellal who jumped away, the red head talking about the fact that he broke a part of the tower to throw her out.

\- "It's just a pillar or two… nothing more than decorations." Commented Jellal, a smirk still present on his face.

\- "Shô and the others worked eight hard long years, believing in you, to make those 'decorations' !" This time, Erza's shout came with a upward slash that cut the stone chess board in half.

\- "Oh, don't play your little word games with me." Jellal hold a hand up, magic gathering in his palm. "What's important is the R-System. That's what those eight years were for. And now, it's finally complete !" As Jellal threw his magic at Erza, who got wrapped up by many ghost like magic tendrils, Takeru ticked at the mention of the R-System. He tried to think about what he was missing when Erza effortlessly escaped the cocoon of darkness, taking Jellal by surprise as she dived and slashed at him, sending him to the ground. A second latter, Jellal was on the ground with Erza sitting on him, holding one of his arm in a hand, the other arm blocked by her leg and her sword held against his throat. Takeru was wide eyed at that, shocked to see Jellal going down so easily. In fact, he founded that too easy to be true. And apparently, Erza also had some doubts.

\- "What are you really after here ? You haven't really completed the R-System at all, have you ?" She asked, Takeru listening attentively as Erza kept going. "Don't think I've been doing nothing for those eight years. I've done my research on R-System. Sure, you've constructed the building perfectly, using the blueprints from back then. But you're missing one basic thing to actually complete R-System."

\- "I already told you… The sacrifice will be you…" answered Jellal, still smirking, but this wasn't the answer Erza was hoping for.

\- "I mean something much more basic than that. The thing you're lacking here is… Magic." At that, Takeru's eyes widen slightly. He should have guessed, this was like a big machine and it probably needed a power source. "To activate a magical spell of this scale… It requires a total of ideas of sheer magical power. Even by gathering all the mages on the continent, you wouldn't have enough. It is utterly impossible to gather up that magic for a human. And that not the only thing. Even if you were perfectly aware that the council wanted to destroy that place, you did nothing to stop it or even run away. What exactly are you planning ?"

\- "…Three minutes until Etherion falls…" was all Jellal answered, and it didn't pleased Erza at all.

\- "Jellal ! Your dream is over ! It was over a long time ago !" she shouted, her anger boiling, her hold on his hand almost crushing his bones. "Do you really just want to die, right here, right now ?! If so, then die here with me ! I'll hold you down right here until that final moment arrives !"

\- "Y…Yeah… That doesn't sound too bad…" Takeru was about to grab Erza and force her away from the tower when Jellal voice stopped him. He almost sounded relieved. "My body was possessed by the ghost of Zeref. There was nothing that I could do… I was nothing more than a doll, working to bring about Zeref's resurrection."

\- "Possessed ?" repeated Erza and Takeru, taken aback by such a flow of revelation.

\- "In the end, I couldn't save myself…. My nakama couldn't either… There was nobody who could save me.. Paradise…. Freedom…. In the end, they were nowhere to be found… It was all over before it had even begun…" All around them, a bright light, added to a rumble began to manifest itself, sign that Etherion was coming. "I knew I could never really complete the R-System… But… Zeref's ghost just wouldn't allow me to stop. I can't stop this anymore. I'm just a broken-down engine. Erza…" The girl in question looked at him, locking her eyes with his. "You win this fight… So please, kill me. That's what you came here for, right ?"

A memory of a young Jellal, slave by her side in that same tower came back as she closed her eyes.

\- "There's no need for me to even lift a finger… This rumbling… The Satellite Square must already be expanding in the sky above the tower. It's over. For you… And for me." As she said that, she let go of Jellal and her sword, pushing herself off him as he sat back up, the two of them smiling despite the situation. "You were just another sacrifice for Zeref too, weren't you ?"

\- "This is my sin, for giving in to my own weakness. My heart just couldn't keep up with the gigantic gad between dreams and reality."

\- "But don't you think that burying your weaknesses, the things that lack, deep away… Is what nakama are there for ?" Erza, eyes half-lidded, looked at Jellal with a gentle smile as they got closer. "I have to atone as well… For the sin of being unable to save you…"

\- "Oh no… You saved me."

 _"Did she, though ?"_ As they both hugged each other, the light and rumbling growing with each passing seconds, Takeru couldn't help but feel like something was off. Jellal got back to his senses way too fast for his taste. Furthermore, he couldn't accept the idea of a tower being built for nothing. If this Zeref was such a strong mages, he must have known how much magic the tower needed to work. So why would he build it ? As pieces began to fall into places in his head, Takeru realized he missed one and by glancing at Jellal's face who was resting on Erza's shoulder, he got it.

The demonic smile on his face.

Takeru gasped as he realized. But it was too late.

As soon as Takeru got up, Etherion fell down upon the tower. An unfathomable explosion of pure magic that crushed the tower whose stones walls were starting to melt due to the powerful magic burst. The explosion shook the sea surrounding the tower, creating gigantic waves that easily destroyed the small boat the other mages and Rider had used to leave the tower but thankfully, no one was hurt and they all got saved by Juvia who, despite her shock, managed to create a bubble around everyone as she and the others stared at where the tower once stood. They weren't the only one staring though as the people at Era had their eyes locked on the screen who were for now showing nothing else but snow as the feed was interrupted by the explosion. As some mages were trying to get the image back, Org looked down, rubbing his eyes.

\- "Just how many people were inside that tower … ?"

\- "We have prevented the resurrection of Zeref." Added Michello. "If a few were sacrificed, then it was with good cause."

Org was more worried for the family of the dead ones, without knowing yet that no one will be mourned yet. As the screen began to work again, they could only see a large cloud of smoke surrounding the place where the tower once stood but as the smoke cleared, they all were at a loss for words at what they saw, just like the mages and Riders floating in their bubble. The tower was not made of stone, but simply covered in it. The R-System was instead a gigantic lachryma, its blue crystal-like structure poiting at the sky as the people inside the tower, who were still alive, looked around in shock. The only one who wasn't in shock was Jellal, and that was because he was smiling like a dement.

\- "Hehehe... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA !"

As he laughed, Erza could only stare in disbelief as Takeru glared in frustration. This had taken a turn no one was expecting. Back at Era, the councilmen were frantic, no one understanding what was happening. And in the tower, Jellal looked at Erza with a sneer, a satisfied look on his face.

\- "Surprised, Erza ? This is the true form of the Tower of Paradise." Explained Jellal, opening his arms toward the crystal structure around them. "A gigantic pillar of Lachryma. And through the power of the council's Etherion… I have succeeded in gathering ideas of magical energy ! Finally, the R-System is truly complete !"

The council only realized what had happened at that moment, shock coursing through their veins as Yajima left his hiding spot to face Sieglein, hoping he had a good explanation. But much to his shock, Sieg wasn't here anymore.

\- "You tricked me…" seethed Erza, looking at Jellal with a slight anger in her at the idea that she had been fooled.

\- "Oh, you were very cute, Erza." Much to Erza and Takeru's surprise, a new voice was heard in the 'room', belonging to none other than Sieglein who was walking to stand beside Jellal. What surprised Takeru however was the striking resemblance between the two guys. They were like twins. "Neither I nor Jellal could provide the necessary power. It was a truly troubling situation; I had no other choice but to deceive you."

\- "Sieglein !? What are you doing here ?!" Shouted Erza, feeling like her head was about to explode due to an excessive amount of informations to process.

\- "Think back to the first time we met, Erza. You and Makarov came to present me with a written apology. But you mistook me for Jellal and attacked me. Well, we do look alike so I can't blame you. I managed to calm you by telling you I was his twin brother. But I think you always got this hostility toward me."

\- "And why should I have ?!" asked Erza, still shouting at the oldest of the twins. "You were his brothers and yet you did nothing to stop him ! You even were keeping watch over me for him ! I knew it… The two of you were in on this together…"

\- "'In on this together' ? You're still not getting it, Erza." Said Sieglein as he began to sizzle and disappeared, fusing with Jellal who continued where his 'brother' left off. "The two of us are one and the same. We always were."

As the revelation settled in, Erza and Takeru realized how deep Jellal plan truly was. He used a projection of himself to worm his way into the council so he would have, one day, the opportunity to charge the R-System with Etherion. Erza was petrified, her brains going overdrive due to the amount of information as Jellal looked at her, his magic growing.

\- "I hope you enjoyed your fleeting freedom, Erza. It was all part of my plan, too… A plan to resurrect Zeref. Now, it's time for you to offer your life to Zeref." He said as his magic began to seep out of his body in dark tendrils.

 _ **KAIGAN : BEETHOVEN ! KYOKUMEI ! UNMEI ! JA JA JA JAAAAAN !**_

But as he send a blast at Erza, she was saved by a wall of musical note that countered the attack. Both Jellal and Erza turned their head, surprised to see Takeru standing here with a piano around his shoulder.

\- "Takeru ?! Why are you still here ?"

\- "I couldn't help but feel like something was off with the tower so I followed you. And it looks like I was right to doubt." He said, standing by her side, taking another Eyecon. "This guy had no consideration for life and that's something I cannot ignore."

\- "It doesn't matter if you have help or not Erza. This won't change your fate." Said Jellal, not impressed by the apparition of the Kamen Rider.

\- "We'll see."

 _ **KAIGAN : TUTANKHAMUN ! PYRAMID WA SANKAKU ! OKE NO SHIKAKU !**_

Grabbing a Gan Gun Hand in Scythe mode, Takeru then ran at un unmoving Jellal with Erza who had summoned a large sword. Both of them tried to land a hit on Jellal but he was now in possession of all of his magic and it clearly showed as he danced around their attacks while casually talking about something else.

\- "It seems the council is completely paralyzed. I'll have to thank Ultear. She did well." Indeed, while they were fighting, Ultear, who was Sieglein's assistant and knew about his plan, had used her magic to destroy Era, forcing the council and the staff out and giving Jellal the time to do what he had to do. "If everyone in Paradise is of one mind, I will no longer fear death. Really, I have to thank your stupidity as well, Erza."

\- "You'll get what's coming to you, by all those you have manipulated !" As soon as she said that, Erza stopped moving, Takeru wondering what she was doing when he saw a black snake coming from her back and wrapping around her arm. "What ?!"

\- "What is that thing, now ?" Asked Takeru, Jellal using this distraction to struck him hard, sending him crashing into a pillar, which made Jellal mouth twitch ever so slightly before turning to Erza.

\- "A binding serpent spell. I set it on you when you hugged me." The snake then slithered his way all around her body, paralyzing her completely, forcing her to drop her weapon. "Now that I have the magic, all I need is a sacrifice to revive Zeref. I will take those 2700 million ideas of magic and fuse it with your body. You will be broken down and used to reconstitute Zeref's body. I love you, Erza." As Jellal said that, Erza got sucked and stuck to a crystal which was slowly starting to absorb her, the red head fighting against it as Jellal began to activate the tower. Jellal though he had won when a hand grabbed a hold of Erza and pulled her out of the lachryma, a hand that didn't belonged to Takeru, but to another member of Fairy Tail, one wearing an unmistakable scaly scarf.

\- "Erza belongs to Fairy Tail. I won't hand her over to you !"

\- "Natsu ?" wondered Erza, as if she was dreaming, tears forming in her eyes as the snakes on her body disappeared.

\- "What are you doing ?" he asked her, making her sit on the ground. "We got to get back and take some missions. Otherwise, we won't make the rent !"

\- "Natsu… You and Takeru have to leave this place now." Said Erza, wincing in pain as Natsu raised an eyebrow, as surprised by the fact that Takeru was here than he was by what she was asking. And he was having none of it. "You can't beat him. He's too dangerous. You don't understand him at all."

\- "I can't win if I don't understand ?" Said Natsu, not really understanding what she was saying.

\- "Please… do as I say." She finally pleaded, tears pouring out of her left eye, Natsu looking at her for a few seconds before helping her up.

\- "All right. Erza. I don't get you at all." He began, Erza not seeing what he was getting at. "But I can win !"

And without further notice, he punched her hard in her stomach, knocking her out, much to her and Jellal's shock, both of them not expecting such a move by the Dragon Slayer.

\- "You're even more irrational than I've heard." Said Jellal as Natsu laid Erza down, the fire mage showing him his back for now. "Did you enjoy striking one of your nakama, who couldn't even move ?"

\- "Erza, she was crying." Slowly said Natsu, fist clenching as heat began to build up in his body. "And saying those depressing things with a shaky voice. I've never seen Erza like that. Erza should be strong, mean and scary." He finally turned around, fangs bared as he glared at Jellal, steam coming out of his body. "When she wakes up, I hope she'll be the Erza I knew. That's what I'll fight for !"

\- "Interesting. Then let me see the power of a dragon mage." As soon as Jellal said that, Natsu ran at him with a battle cry, fists aflame that he swung hard at Jellal who simply side-stepped with a smirk, smirk that disappeared as he saw Natsu spinning on himself while using his flame like booster and landing a strong explosive kick to the blue haired mage face, which was only the beginning as he used that opening to pummel Jellal, striking in the stomach, the face, the torso, repeatedly as he forced the guy back until he managed to send him to the ground, allowing him to deal one last blow at him.

 _ **FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR !**_

A torrent of flames exploded toward the evil mage, engulfing him in an explosion of fire and heat that blocked the sight for the onlookers. However, despite the strength of the attack, Jellal reappeared barely scratched, casting his robe aside, now wearing some sort of fighting suit.

\- "Is that the limit of your ability ?" He taunted, Natsu glaring at him, annoyed that he didn't dealt as much damages as he wanted to. "To think, before I destroyed you, I had wanted to see the destructive power of a Dragon Slayer. But this level of magic and strength was nothing really special."

\- "Hey, you overconfident jerk." Jellal frowned, turning his head to the voice, only for his eyes to widen as he saw it belonged to a small white and one-eyed orange ghost. "If this is not enough, maybe you'd like to taste some Rider power ?"

 _ **DAI KAIGAN ! TUTANKHAMUN ! OMEGA FANG !**_

A sudden slash came at him, not able to dodge it after he was kept busy by Yurusen, the slash exploding on him and sending him stumbling on the ground for a few meters. Looking in front of him, he saw Takeru, scythe in hand, standing next to Natsu, with Yurusen by his side.

\- "I'd say, it hurt to see someone think he can get rid of a Rider simply by throwing him into some kind of pillar." Said Takeru, glaring at Jellal through his helmet. "Would you mind some help, Natsu ?"

\- "Eh, as long as I can beat the shit out of that guy. Let's go !" they both ran forward, straight at Jellal who wasn't that fazed, his body slightly grazed by the attack.

\- "You both had the nerves to try and interrupt the ceremony. I'm going to crush you with my Heavenly Magic."

METEOR !

Jellal got surrounded by an golden aura and in a flash, he was behind Natsu and Takeru, hitting them from behind. The two turned around, but he was already gone, coming back to hit them once again, from the front this time. The two partners really tried to stop him, or at least land some blows, but they couldn't reach him, Jellal being way too fast for them to follow. Natsu, realizing that their eyes were useless for now, closed them, Takeru keeping guard as he put his trust in the Slayer who was focusing on his others senses such as smell, touch and sound. After a few seconds, he finally opened his eyes, swinging his fist to his left, knowing that he would be here, and he did, but Jellal suddenly got even faster, much to Natsu and Takeru's shock who could do nothing to stop the incoming onslaught, Jellal striking them at the speed of light, incapacitating long enough for him to prepare something more powerful.

\- "It's over. Time for you to have a glimpse of real destructive power."

 _ **GRAND CHARIOT !**_

Seven rays of light suddenly fell from the sky, raining down on Takeru and Natsu, crushing them both in the resulting explosion which destroyed some of the tower as well, both rider and mage bodies coming to a stop after being sent flying around by the strength of the explosion, Takeru having gone back to his civilian form.

\- "This magic is comparable to the power of an actual meteor. I'm impressed that you're both still in one piece." Admitted Jellal as he looked around at the damages he had done. "On the other hand, I may have gone a bit too far. Further damages to the R-System would be troublesome. Magic is already leaking out of the crack. Guess I'll have to hurry, then."

As he began to walk toward Erza, he was stopped by some ticking noises. Looking down, he saw that a pebble had came to a stop next to him, pebble coming from Natsu who was already moving, just like Takeru, the Slayer grabbing another pebbles, throwing it toward Jellal who simply looked at him, wondering what was wrong with him. When one of those pebbles finally hit Jellal, Natsu began to laugh a little.

\- "Hehe… I hit you… With my attack."

\- "You are strong, Jellal. There's no point…. Denying that." Said Takeru as he got up, a smirk on his face. "But you just gave us… A way to reach you…" As soon as he said that, Natsu punched a new hole in the tower, making Jellal eyes widen while the Rider grabbed another Eyecon. "It looks like you hate seeing this tower taking damages. Then I guess it's bad luck for you."

\- "Mages of Fairy Tail specialize in property damage !" Revealed Natsu, grinning proudly regarding what was usually their guild biggest flaw. "I'm still in the mood for fighting. Never felt better in my life."

\- "We Riders aren't usually the kind to destroy things for fun, but I guess this is one of those time when you'll have to get wild."

 _ **TOUCON KAIGAN : BOOST ! ORE GA BOOST ! FURUITATSU GHOST ! (FIGHT !) GO ! (FIGHT !) GO !**_

 _ **(FIGHT !) GO ! GO ! (FIGHT !)**_

Garbed in his red armor with black flame-like design, Takeru stood beside a burning Natsu, both looking at Jellal who looked truly pissed, veins popping on his face.

\- "You little punk ! I'm going to finish you in an instant !" he said, rage seeping out of his voice. "You're going to both regret getting up again. I'll send you both to Hell."

\- "I wouldn't be so sure if I were you." Declared Takeru.

\- "I've got confidence in my… no, our stubbornness. Come at us if you can."

Jellal didn't waited any longer, summoning another set of light bullets that rained down on the two friends who easily dodged. Takeru immediately ran at Jellal, taking the Sunglasseslasher, in sword mode and swinging it down at the mage who dodged, only for the blade to came in contact with the ground, creating a large crack in it, magic seeping out of it, much to Jellal's anger. He threw a roundhouse kick at the Rider who dived to the side, leaving the spot opened for Natsu who came running at him, Jellal welcoming by throwing a powerful attack, a magic sphere of crackling energy that took Natsu with it, the Slayer fighting against it as the ball kept going, digging a furrow as it goes, only for Natsu to overcome it, much to Jellal's shock. However, Natsu wasn't short of taunt.

\- "What's the matter, Jellal ? Holding back cause you're afraid of damaging your precious tower ?" he said, panting but still ready to fight. "This had no effect on me at all." He said, even thought his body bore the marks from the attack.

\- "Don't get to cocky, you little punk !" Shouted Jellal, sending a blast of magic at Natsu that made him stumbled toward the edge under the eyes of Erza who had finally woken up. But Natsu managed to save himself AND piss Jellal even more at the same time.

 _ **FIRE DRAGON'S BRILLIANT FLAME !**_

Joining his hands, he combined his flames and slammed them on the ground, the explosion stopping him in his track while digging a large hole in the tower. And that was starting to be too much for Jellal whose neck looked ready to blow up, his veins bulging dangerously.

\- "My… tower that I spent 8 years building… You little…"

Not giving Jellal the time to continue his rant, Takeru came from above, slashing down at Jellal forcing him to jump back to avoid the slash while Natsu, behind Takeru, was panting heavily, something neither Erza nor Takeru.

 _"Natsu can barely stand up…"_ They though at the same time, looking at the Slayer as Takeru thought further. _"We have to make this end now or it will soon be complicated."_

\- "Unforgivable !"

Putting both of his hands above his head, Jellal called upon a magic so strong wind began to blow toward him, but this weren't just winds that gathered. The magic was also extending the shadows toward the light above Jellal. Takeru and Natsu had no idea what was happening, but Erza did, gathering the strength to come and stand in front of the two, arms stretched.

\- "Are you going to kill me ?!" She shouted, Jellal looking quite surprised by her gesture. "Zeref's revival requires a sacrificial body, right ?"

\- "That's true… The conditions roughly require a mage whose on par with the Ten Wizard Saints." He admitted, not cancelling his spell. "But at this point, it makes no difference with or without you." This took Erza by surprise who looked in shock as the black sphere above Jellal kept growing. "The three of you are going to be smashed to bits !"

\- "Erza ! Get away !" Shouted Natsu, fear painted on his face, but Erza stood her ground, a small smile on her face.

\- "Don't you worry… I'll protect you."

\- "NOOOOOO !"

Takeru gritted his teeth. He didn't know what he could do. He had stronger form, but what if they weren't strong enough to stop what was coming to them ? There were a lot of unknown, but despite that, he grabbed his strongest Eyecon, Mugen, ready to trigger it as Jellal finally attacked.

 _ **HEAVENLY MAGIC : ALTAIRIS !**_

The large black sphere, that now looked like a chunk of a starry night sky, was coming at them like a cannonball, Erza standing in front of it, ready to take it all with Natsu begging her to move and Takeru who was about to activate Mugen when he felt something that made him stop. Altairis finally reached its target, creating a humongous explosion of darkness and stars like light but as the smoke it had lifted fell down, they all realized that it exploded before reaching Erza because something else had taken the blow for her. Or rather someone else, namely Simon, who stood in front of the three, arms stretched to the side, his body smoking and covered in bruises. To say the onlookers were shocked would have been one hell of a euphemism.

\- "Simon…" was all Erza could mutter, shocked but also worried for her friend. Altairis wasn't your usual spell.

\- "Er…za…" As Simon said his friend name, he also collapsed on the ground, Erza and Takeru running to be by his side, Jellal now over his shock, simply sighing in mild annoyance, a smirk on his face.

\- "Simon ! What are you doing here ? Why didn't you escape ?" Asked Erza, taking Simon by his shoulder, holding him up slightly with Takeru on the other side of the guy.

\- "Oh good…" he began, his voice shaky and weak. "I was wondering when I would… Be some… help… cough, cough…"

\- "I got it ! Don't speak anymore !" begged Erza whose left eye was slowly filling with tears, the same tears also falling freely from Simon's eyes as Takeru could feel his strength leaving his body.

\- "You… were always… so gentle. So… gentle" He said, crying and smiling. "I… love you…"

And with one last breath, his head fell back, his eyes closed as Erza looked in shock, tilting her head up to Takeru who shook his head weakly, confirming what she was fearing. That just witnessed Simon's last breath in this world. A world he left with a smile on his face. And while Erza began to cry, the two boys looking down at Simon, someone else decided to ruin the moment by laughing out loud.

\- "HAHAHAHAHA ! Pathetic ! How utterly foolish !" mocked Jellal, reminding Natsu and Takeru of his presence. "Now that's called dying in vain ! The situation hasn't changed one bit ! No one can leave this tower alive !"

\- "SHUT UP !" Out of nowhere, moving so fast even Jellal didn't saw him coming, Natsu had closed the distance between him and the blue haired mage, striking him hard in the face, sending him rolling on the ground on a good 20 meters, giving Natsu the time to eat something, something Erza and Jellal quickly identified as a blue stone, the same kind as the one around them.

He was eating the Etherion.

The power coming from Natsu exploded literally, the Slayer slamming his fists on the ground, making it explode all around him, the shockwave reaching Jellal who could only stare, awestruck, as Natsu kept eating the magic straight out of the cracks. However, things were staring to turn bad for Natsu who began to shake, vomiting the liquid magic, crying in pain as the Etherion, who was a composition of many type of magic, and not just fire, was taking its toll on him. And this amused Jellal greatly.

\- "HA ! What were you thinking, you idiot ?! Did you think eating an immense magical power instead of flames would give you some sort of boost ?! You just got destroyed by your own simplicity ! But don't worry ! I'll soon send all of your friend to you in the afterlife."

*BANG* A single shot hitting him in the torso stopped Jellal, who turned to look at Takeru who was slowly approaching, Sunglasseslasher in gun mode pointed at his opponent.

\- "You are the worst man I've ever met in my life." Began Takeru, his voice way too calm and low considering what was happening. "You want to overthrow the way of nature by bringing back the dead, you keep saying you'll kill people easily… You even dared and mocked someone who just died in front of his mourning friends. You have no regard for life and that is something I cannot forgive." As he talked, Jellal noticed that he was clutching an Eyecon in his other hand, Eyecon who was seeping with black tendrils he identified as Simon's magic. "Simon's sacrifice will be vain if we can't escape this place, but only one won't leave this place, and I'll allow Simon one last fight to make sure that it will be you."

 _ **KAIGAN : SIMON ! SHINRAIDEKIRU ! EIEN NO AI ! HOGO NO GISEI !**_

Takeru now sported a black long vest on his red and black armor, a white turban on his hood, covering his head whose face was painted whitish, representing the iron jaw Simon wore on the bottom of his face and a defensive wall like the chess piece that represented him on top. Nothing that much impressive, but the strength that came out of him was clearly something else. While Natsu was busy eating Etherion, Takeru was going to keep Jellal busy. Sunglasseslasher back in sword mode, he ran at Jellal so fast that Jellal didn't saw the first blow came. A simple punch who, thanks to the magic now fused with him, made him more effective against mages and Jellal was soon in a pinch. Takeru was letting his anger command his body for him, slashing Jellal again and again, not giving him the time to breathe. And after a good minutes of beating, he decided to finish it before tagging Natsu in.

 _ **TOUCON DAI KAIGAN ! MEGA MABUSHI ! MEGA MABUSHI ! SIMON MEGA OMEGA SHADOW !**_

As Jellal got back up, darkness began to fall on the both of them, just like Simon could do with his magic, but Takeru wasn't just going to blind Jellal, his Sunglasseslasher's blade began to shine a deep red as he moved in the dark like a shadow, slashing Jellal repeatedly from all sides. When the last one came, it was way bigger than the others and sliced open the darkness as the last slash exploded and Jellal was sent flying and crashing into a Lachryma wall who shattered upon impact. Jellal though it was over, but it only was for Takeru. A sudden spike of magic came from behind Takeru, getting both opponents attention, as they turned to see Natsu, in a far better shape than before, no more suffering from the melted crystal he tried to eat, an aura of flame shaped like a dragon around him as he roared like said creature. Takeru smiled, feeling that Natsu was about to unleash himself on his blue haired opponent who was shocked as he saw the scales that started to cover his face.

 _"He… actually absorbed the Etherion…!"_

Natsu literally jumped over the distance between him and Jellal and struck him with a knee to the face of Jellal, sending the man off his feet and falling backward.

\- "It's all because of you !" Roared Natsu as he punched hovered above Jellal, punching him hard in the guts from above, smashing him on the ground. "You're the one that made Erza cry !" he added as he kept going, sending Jellal crashing through all the tower, surprising Takeru who didn't expected such a strength coming from the Slayer. "I made a promise… I made a promise !" Natsu thought about Simon, who he swore to that he would take care of Erza, but Jellal had enough and used Meteor to evade Natsu's onslaught and climb back to the top.

\- "Give up ! You'll never match my speed !"

Or could he ? Natsu turned around and, using a large piece of rubbles, jumped and, like a torpedo, caught up with Jellal striking him hard in his guts and sending him flying as he broke through the top of the tower, much to Erza's shock, Takeru nowhere to be found.

\- "Im… Impossible !" Cried Jellal as he floated in the air, going higher and higher, followed by Natsu. "I cannot be defeated ! I will create a land of freedom ! Zeref called to me softly, through the pain and the fear ! He asked me if I wanted true freedom !" At this point, he was starting to lose it, the madness coming back. "That's right… I am the only one who can sense Zeref's presence ! I am the chosen one ! Together with Zeref, I will create a nation of true freedom !"

\- "Like heel you can do that by stealing people's freedom !" roared Natsu as he climbed on the spikes of the tower, trying to reach Jellal.

\- "The will to change the world – that alone is enough to turn the wheels of history !" Said Jellal as he began to draw a magic circle with his fingers. "Why can you fools not understand that ?!"

Once the circle was done, Erza's eyes widen in shock.

\- "Abyss Break ?! Are you trying to take down the whole tower ?!"

\- "Just give me another eight years… No, this time, I'll build it in five years…" he said with a smirk, looking pretty sure of himself. "Zeref… just wait a little longer."

However, a sudden sharp pain coming from his ribs came and disrupted his concentration, breaking the seal as Jellal remembered the attack from Erza that wounded him during their fight.

\- "Well, too painful to concentrate, is it ?" Jellal looked up, shocked to find Takeru, hovering above him, arms crossed, in the usual red vest from Boost. "You keep talking about freedom, but you can't build freedom by taking it from anyone else. The only one here who need to be freed of something is you, Jellal !"

 _ **TOUCON DAI KAIGAN ! BOOST OMEGA DRIVE !**_

As Takeru began to come down on Jellal, someone else was coming to Jellal but from below.

\- "You're never gonna find freedom !" roared Natsu, covered in dragon shaped flame. "There's no freedom for a guy tied down by some stupid ghost !" Forgetting Takeru who was approaching him from above, Jellal glanced at Natsu, who looked like a real dragon in his eyes. "Release yourself from this ! JELLAL !"

At the exact same time, Natsu and Takeru's attack reached their target, an explosion of red spectral energy and flames sending Jellal crashing through he whole tower, the latter breaking down in the process, the mages and Riders on the sea looking at the crumbling tower in shock, wondering what was happening. As Jellal came to a stop, Takeru and Natsu landed on the ground next to Erza who was amazed by what she saw, mainly by the power Natsu had displayed. She had witnessed Natsu's true strength. The strength of Dragon Slayer. She also couldn't believe what was happening : after eight years, her nightmare was finally over. Or not completely. All around them, the tower was starting to tremble and shine. The magic power inside the tower was going wild and soon, it will be destroyed and everyone near the tower will be killed. Erza soon realized that even if they escaped the tower, they would be killed by the explosion of the tower. After thinking about it, Erza had an idea, one she knew was the only one that could work. When Natsu, who had lost consciousness after beating Jellal, awoke just in time to see Erza whose arm was inside a Lachryma wall.

\- "Erza… What are you doing ?"

\- "Wait… Don't tell me you're going to fuse with the Lachryma to stop the explosion ?!" said Takeru, Natsu's eyes widening by what it implied.

\- "The Etherion energy within the tower has gone wild… It's about to cause a gigantic explosion. But if I can fuse with it, and seize control of that power… AAAGH !"

Erza was starting to get sucked inside the crystal, Natsu and Takeru jumping into action to try to save her, but she stopped them, a gentle smile on her face.

\- "Please stop… I cannot live without Fairy Tail." She said, her voice slow and ushered. "I can't even imagine a world without my nakama. That's just how much… All of you mean to me." Takeru and Natsu could only look, not liking what they were witnessing but unable to do anything to stop her. "If doing this can save all of you… Then I have no regrets. This one measly body… Take it !"

With that said, her whole body got sucked inside the crystal, much to the two guys fear, the both of them trying to save her punching the crystal.

\- "Erza !" they both shouted, tears welling in their eyes while she simply smiled, tears in her left eye too.

\- "Takeru… Good luck with your mission… Natsu… I leave the others to you. I'll always be there, right beside you all."

\- "ERZAAAAAAAAA !"

Soon after that, the whole tower released its power but, surprisingly, it didn't exploded like everyone expected it. Instead, it released a vortex of magic that shot toward the sky, taking everyone aback. After a few seconds, the tower had completely disappeared, leaving a gaping hole in the sea and a bunch of tearful mages and Riders. With the tower gone, it was also probably the case for Takeru, Erza, Natsu and Simon who were still inside when it happened. They could guess that Jellal had been defeated if the tower was gone like that but they had no idea what happened to their friends.

\- "Where are they ? What happened ?" asked Gray, eyes wide in fear as he stood beside his friends, standing in the water, looking at the hole where the tower once stood.

\- "I have no idea." Answered Shinnosuke, feeling uneasy.

\- "To be truly honest, I don't think anyone could have survived such a cataclysm." Added Belt-san, his little digital face showing a worried expression. Around him, Lucy was starting to tear up at the idea of losing Natsu and Erza, Ankh, still in Happy's body, also feeling bad for what happened. Juvia was tearing up, standing close to Gray as Shô, Millianna and Wally were feeling down. The only one who wasn't tearing up was Haruto who looked at the sea with a small smile, seeing a small red bird-like creature flying in circle above the water nearby.

\- "Don't you all worry about them." He began, grabbing their attention. "As long as you believe, there is always hope." As he said that, he pointed at said spot, people looking toward it and, soon after, two figures emerged from the water. A powered down Takeru and Natsu were standing in the middle of the water, beaten up but alive, just like the red head the Slayer was carrying in his arms, red head who had a hard time believing she was seeing the starry night sky when she opened her eyes or when she heard voices calling out to her coming from her friends who were running toward her. She was sure she died by fusing with the Lachryma but she was well and alive and that could only mean one thing : Somehow, Natsu, helped by Takeru, managed to bring her out of that magical vortex before she could be lost for good.

\- "We're the same… " he began as he fell to his knees, shaking. "It's the same for us all… Don't you ever do something like that again… Never !"

\- "He's talking about what you said." Explained Takeru who was looking down at her, a smile on his face. "You are one of most important component of the guild and they couldn't live without you. You're like a big family and losing one of you is not something they could live with… Just like us…"

Erza couldn't hold back after that. With her friends surrounding her, happy to see her back in one piece, she realized that she didn't have to die for her friends, but to live for their sake… Because that is the only way to bring about a happy future… As she realized that, for the first time in years, tears of joy fell down as she cried, free from her torment.

/- Some days later -/

After they got back to the hotel, the mages and Rider immediately fell asleep, too tired by what transpired today and a few days later, Natsu was still sleeping, in need of a good rest after almost dying when he ate the Etherion. Nothing much happened after that besides Juvia who headed back to Fairy Tail, saying she wanted to join the guild as soon as possible. As for the Rider, they were pretty much the same as usual, even if they also were kinda happy by what they learned in this adventure. If Shocker was helping Jellal to try and revive Zeref, it confirmed that they were interested in that man and his work, which could give them some lead on where to look in the future. But it was also worrying. They looked ready to do anything to succeed and it my lead to some nasty things in the future, things they would have to be ready to face. Concerning Erza, she had one last business to settle, and for that, she met on the beach with Shô, Wally and Millianna, the latter two looking down in embarrassment.

\- "So, uh… Yeah… I'm really sorry, Erza." Said Wally, rubbing his head in embarrassment followed by Millianna who looked as apologetic as the cubic man. But Erza wasn't mad.

\- "Don't worry… I'm the one who couldn't manage to do anything in eight years… I'm the one who should apologize to you."

\- "Yeah, but you were the one threatened by Jellal…" Reminded Shô. "You had to stay away from us to protect us from him !"

\- "I can't just fall back on excuses like that at this point…" Added Erza, looking at her feet as the memories of the tower came back. "If I had managed to do something sooner, then Simon…" She looked to the side, to a small cliff above the sea where, the night before, they had put a small grave for Simon and all of those who died because of that tower. They even had a small ceremony led by Takeru, being the one with the most knowledge about that.

\- "Simon was a true man !" Wally kept on, not wanting Erza to dwell too much on those memories. "I mean… I mean come on…. He always wanted to protect you… That guy, he…" He had a hard time finishing his sentence, fearing how Erza might react to the news but the knight beat him to the point.

\- "I know exactly how he felt… I understand how all of you who I left behind must have felt, now… But we have no choice but to keep on moving forward. Into the future that Simon left for us." At those words, the three friends all smile slightly, tears coming to their eyes but without shedding them. "We must turn the past into the future and walk onwards. And the step we take today will be the step that takes us on to tomorrow." The mention of tomorrow made the three realize that, now that they were free, they had one thing left to clear.

\- "What are we all going to do from now on … ?" Asked Millianna, ears dropping slightly as she and her friends realized they knew nothing of the outside world since they spent their whole lives in the tower. And to that question, Erza had a possible answer.

\- "If you have nowhere to go, you can all just come to Fairy Tail. I'm sure everyone will welcome you with open arms." The proposition came as a shock to the three who almost couldn't believe it. "It may not be the same as the freedom that you guys were searching for all this time… But freedom is one thing you can definitely find at Fairy Tail. I think you'd like it there. Besides, I'd love to be able to stay with you guys forever."

Wally and Millianna looked thrilled by the idea, Shô simply smiling as Erza looked at them before bringing them back to the hotel, as they had yet to be introduced properly to Natsu, not noticing Takeru who was standing next to the grave they made last night, a smile on his face, his Eyecon in one hand.

\- "I don't know if they'll join the guild or not. But one thing is sure : they'll make their life shine and will find the freedom they seek and deserve. That's what you wanted, isn't it ?" He turned his head to the side, looking at a ghost version of Simon, who was looking at his friends with a smile then turning to Takeru to nod at him. Takeru nodded back and looked at his Eyecon, a sadder smile appearing on his face. "Alas, you can't stay forever in this Eyecon, so I'll have to free your soul to allow you to finally be free. Thank again for your help. You won't ever be forgotten."

Simon simply nodded as he began to disappear completely, leaving Takeru alone as he smiled, knowing Simon left this world in peace, knowing his friends would keep him alive in their heart as they seek what they were promised : freedom.

After that, Erza and her friends got back to the hotel where they stayed all day, talking and spending time together, bonding like real friends, also learning about the Riders mission and their powers. As the hours got by, they were all eating and drinking and having the time of their life, forgetting that they once were enemies. After they finished eating, they all got back to their room to get some sleep, at least for most of them. In her room, Lucy was sitting at a desk, writing in her diary as usual, retelling the event that transpired today, with Plue sitting next to her on the desk when someone knocked on the door.

\- "Come in."

\- "Sorry to disturb you this late, Lucy." Said Haruto as he closed the door behind him, walking up to the desk with a slightly uneasy expression. "I won't be long but I have to tell you something."

\- "Yeah, no problem. What's up ?"

\- "Well, it's about Stellar-Z, the armor you had when we fought that musician." Lucy nod, knowing perfectly what he was talking about. Even now she had a hard time believing what happened to her back there. "We, the Riders, knew that you and the Lock FullBottle would work together, and the same can be said for the Stellar-Z Gate, the adapter that Sento built to go with Lock. However, the fact that it needed a key to work wasn't something we planned. There were no problem, of course, but this is still a mystery on how it really works."

\- "Okay, but why do I feel like you are still hiding the most important thing ?" Asked Lucy, Haruto's concerned look showing that there was still things to be said.

\- "To be honest, I came here with a warning." He admitted, Lucy tilting her head in confusion. "The fact that Sento didn't predicted your keys could work like this will mean that he'll need to do some experimentation on it, and by extension, on you." Lucy gasped and blanched at the news, imagining herself strapped to a table with Sento next to her, holding scalpels and syringes with a mad smile on his face. Haruto noticed that and immediately corrected. "No, I didn't meant it like that ! I meant that he'll need you to transform again and again until he finally understand how it works. It won't be painful or anything, but I felt like you needed to be aware of that instead of finding out with Sento dragging you to his lab without explaining anything."

Lucy slowly nodded with a tired sigh, already feeling like her return were going to be quite rowdy. And as Haruto was walking back to the door while wishing Lucy a good night, the door swung opened in a flash, slamming into Haruto's face as a worried Erza walked in.

\- "Lucy ! Have you seen Shô and the others ?"

\- "No I haven't…" Answered Lucy, sweat dropping as she looked at the wizard who was nursing his probably broken nose.

\- "And I neither." Added Haruto, his voice muffled by his hand, catching Erza's attention who turned to him, quite surprised to see him here.

\- "Haruto, what happened to your nose ?" she asked and, as Haruto opened his mouth to answer, she cut him and turned back to Lucy. "Doesn't matter for now… They were supposed to be staying at the hotel but I can't found them anywhere…"

\- "That's strange… Didn't we agreed that we would check out together and head to the guild together ?" asked Haruto whose nose was bleeding a bit less, joining the conversation, Lucy getting up suddenly as she realized something.

\- "Don't tell me they all just ran off without saying anything ?!" she then closed her diary, a determined expression on her face. "We've got to go after them ! What could have happened ?!" Before Lucy could do anything however, Erza had turned back and walked out of the room, looking decided while giving the blonde and the Rider one order.

\- "Tell Natsu and Gray to get some 'fireworks' ready. And get Takeru and Shinnosuke too."

\- "Wait ! Fireworks ?" repeated Lucy, as Haruto looked at Erza while putting a hand on Lucy's shoulder.

\- "Let's just do as she say. Come on."

/- At the beach -/

Shô, Wally and Millianna were all on the beach, all gathered around a small boat that was ready to go. They had taken a decision, but they didn't know how to really feel about it.

\- "Do you think we'll be able to handle living in the outside world ?" asked Wally, sitting on the boat as Millianna sat inside the boat, hugging her knees to her chest with a sad 'Nyaaa'.

\- "It's not a question of whether we can or not ! We have to !" Answered Shô who looked far more determined than his friends as he began to untie the boat. "We can't go causing more trouble to Nee-san. Now let's go !" he said, pushing the boat with Wally as Millianna cheered for them. "We've gotta get out of here before Nee-san and the others realize we've gone !"

\- "You guys !" But it was too late. And if the voice behind them wasn't enough to stop them, a small grey barrier appearing around them thanks to a small white police car who was circling them wouldn't allow them to escape. They had no other choice but to look back to see Erza who was walking toward them with a slight glare.

\- "If… If you're going to try and stop us, don't bother !" Said Wally, though his voice was shaky. "We've made this decision and we're not turning back…"

\- "We lived our whole lives inside that tower…" Continued Shô, clenching his fists. "Now we're trying to take our first steps into the outside world. Sure, there are tons of things we don't know, things we're worried about… but we want to see the outside world with our own eyes. We don't want to keep on relying on others all our lives… And we don't want to live for anybody else's sake, either. We want to live out our lives for ourselves… To seek out the things that we really want to do ! That's the freedom we've been looking for !" As he finished his monologue with a smile, Shô looked as Erza also smiled, apparently quite proud of them, but she still had things to say.

\- "With a powerful will like that, you should be able to accomplish anything. I'm relieved." She said as her magic began to manifest once again, much to her friends surprise. "However, I have three rules that I am obliged to tell anybody leaving Fairy Tail. So you'd better listen up." Ignoring Wally who shouted in disbelief that they weren't even part of the guild to begin with, Erza, now wearing some sort of ceremonial armor with a long cape and, in her hand, a flag pole with Fairy Tail insignia on it, began to list her rules.

\- "ONE ! You must never reveal any sensitive information about Fairy Tail to outsiders, as long as you live ! TWO ! You must never use the clients you met through the guild to achieve personal gain !" While the three friends were wondering about the 'sensitive information' or what a 'client' was, Erza continue as she hold her voice who was starting to break, tears filling her eyes. "THREE ! Though our path may differ… You must always live out your lives with all your might ! Never must you consider your own life to be insignificant !" As she said the third rule, her tears finally slid down her face, just like her friends who were bawling their eyes off. "Never in your lives must you forget the friends you held dear ! Let the Fairy Tail send-off party … begin !"

As tears were running down like waterfall on the face of the 4 friends, Natsu, Lucy, Gray and the Riders finally walked in the party. Soon enough, the night sky was filled with flower shaped flames, ice sculptures, stars, thanks to Natsu, Gray and Lucy respectively. As for the Riders, they also added their own fireworks, using the Edison Eyecon, a Burning Solar powered Door-Ju, and Thunder powered WizarSwordGun. This show was subjugating the three departing mages as well as the several onlookers while Erza kept on with her speech.

\- "To tell you the truth, I would honestly like to stay with you guys forever." She admitted, tears falling down freely. "However… If that would mean I was holding you back… Then I just want yo wish you well on your journey."

\- "That's not it at all, Er-chan ! " Wailed Millianna, wanting to correct Erza, which Wally did, openly crying as well.

\- "If we were around, we'd just bring back all those horrible memories back for you !" Erza smiled as she lifted the flag as high as she could.

\- "No matter where you may be… I will never forget any of you. And besides… Those painful memories are what can help us make it to tomorrow, and become stronger. That goes for everyone, every single human being that has that power within them." At this point, the boat began to sail away, taking the three mages with it, but the monologue kept going. "Walk tall ! And I, too, will keep walking tall, ever onwards. As long as you do not forget this day, we will meet again. Farewell."

\- "You too, nee-san…"

\- "Bye-bye, Er-chan !"

\- "We'll definitely meet again ! It's a promise !"

\- "Yeah." Answered Erza after listening to her friends last words. "It's a promise."

As the boat sailed away, the 4 mages and 3 Riders stayed on the beach, filling the sky with colors and lights for as long as they could in an ultimate goodbye to friends that they will surely be reunited with someday, as this friendship won't wither, cemented by a promise that won't ever be forgotten.

 **Okay, and that's another arc down. Next up, the Fairy Tail Battle. I hope you liked this chapter, if so, let me know by a review or a fav, and even more if you disliked it or have a remark of any kind. That's when you have to review, to make me know that something could be upgraded. Thank you for reading this chapter ! See ya !**

 **Next time : A new guild and unexpected guildmate. Weekly Madness. Laxus and his followers take the stage.**


	31. Chapter 31 : Harvest festival

**Hello everyone ! I'm sorry for the delay, once again, but I had to move out and settle down, but now that it's done, I'll soon be back on my usual rhythm. As for now, I don't have much to except for the usual thanks for the reviewers and followers, so let's get down to it.**

 **Chapter 31 : Aftermath, new things and Festival**

/- In an unknown place -/

The sky was dark and covered in a thick blanket of equally dark clouds. The ground was red, dry, unwelcoming landscapes of stone, mountains and cracks that were filled with the lava the nearby volcanoes were spitting angrily all around them. This place was surely one of the most dangerous in all the continent, the heated air in itself being unbearable for a regular person or mage. Nothing could be seen here besides what could be described as Hell. And it's in this chaotic place that a small orb of sparkling light could be seen, making its way through the unwelcoming landscape, heading toward a cave inside a mountain where something was living, hidden in the shadow, and feeling this light coming.

\- "What is your business here ?" Came a deep growling voice from the inside of the cave, talking to the light as if he knew who it was, and that was exactly the case. "Grandine."

\- "It has been a while." Simply answered the light, named Grandine, whose voice was higher pitched and smoother, a voice which was unmistakably feminine, the voice echoing as if he was talking though an illusion.

\- "Indeed, but for you to be here… I have forbidden all interference." Said the voice of the cave. "Leave this place immediately, Grandine."

\- "Well, I just happened to sense you nearby." Explained Grandine, not intimidated at all by the growler. "That child… he truly does take everything to excess. Like someone else, perhaps ?" Grandine's comment was greeted by a low growl from the creature in the cave, knowing perfectly that she was talking about him. "It looks like he managed to ger lucky this time… But that won't keep happening forever. He may die you know."

\- "Leave. NOW." Growled the beast whose yellow eyes shone in the darkness, showing that Grandine was starting to cross the line.

\- "I daresay that child too will meet Wendy someday…. Perhaps a more friendly relationship could be established this time."

\- "LEAVE THIS PLACE !" Roared the beast as he finally exited the cave. "Do not interfere with the humans ! DO YOU MEAN TO ANGER THE ONE AND ONLY IGNEEL !?"

Because yes, the beast was none other than Igneel, the dragon that raised Natsu and taught him Dragon slayer Magic, the one Salamander was looking for. He was a he dragon for sure, with a gigantic body covered in dark red scales, the inner portion being a beige color. Large bat-like wings with rippled tips on his back, large claws on each paws and a face covered in scars. His sheer magic power was making the ground all around him explode as he glared down at Grandine who didn't even tried to move, not impressed by the dragon one bit.

\- "You're right, of course… Worry as we might, there is nothing that we can do." Admitted Grandine as she began to flew away, Igneel still growling at her. "All that is left for us is to believe in the humans own power… Whether from this world or not." As she said that, she came to a halt, Igneel stopped his growling as he calm down slightly. "I think you know who I'm talking about. We never thought that people from a different world would came here. Besides, with their ability to lend their power to mages, aren't you afraid this might become an hindrance."

\- "… I do am worried but as you said, we can't do nothing but believe in humans." Said Igneel who had calmed down. "For now, those Riders proved to be useful and powerful allies with their own objectives. We can let them be for now but let's keep an eye on them. I have a feeling they'll play a major role when the time will come."

\- "You're probably right." Admitted Grandine, staying silent for a moment. "As for Zeref… Well, let us leave that for the moment. I look forward to the day we meet at the Dragon King Feast, Igneel." And with that, Grandine finally left, leaving Igneel alone to think about what they said, his son and what the future will have in store for him, even if he had a pretty good idea.

/- Later, somewhere else -/

Out in the middle of nowhere, near the ocean, stood a pretty big house, belonging to a single woman who was currently in her bath. The woman was none other than Ultear, the assistant of the late Jellal. After leveling down the council after they had done playing with them, Ultear had left to settle down in this house, but saying she was here alone wouldn't be the exact truth. If no one was in the house, she was still talking to someone through a Lachryma.

\- "…And so… The council will have to take responsibility for their actions ; I doubt they will be able to function normally for a while. Why, they may even be abolished entirely." She said to her Lachryma, explaining without a care in the world, as if she did nothing really wrong.

\- "Excellent, Ultear. And… What became of Jellal ?" said a man on the other side of the Lachryma, listening to Ultear's report.

\- "Who knows… Perhaps he actually died." She said, her lack of interest for her former partner being a clear proof that she had a heart made of ice. As she continued with the revelation, she stepped out of her bath, an unknown guild mark in the middle of her back now visible. "Without ever realizing that he was in fact being used by the very woman he thought he was using to his own ends… Truly a pitiable man. Well, it was enjoyable. He was rather… cute. But to think that for 8 years he never realized that I was simply playing the part of the 'Ghost of Zeref'."

\- "Erven considering the brainwashing, everything went beyond perfectly." Commented the man in the Lachryma, glee showing in his voice. "The conflict engulfing the entire council… The firing of the Etherion… All of it just as planned."

\- "Indeed… For whilst Jellal was going on his rampage, you were able to move as you wished."

\- "And as a result, one of the key to the seal is finally mine…" Added the man before Ultear asked him a question.

\- "By the way, Do you think we should do something about those Kamen Riders ? They proved to be quite the opponent."

\- "I was contacted by their enemy, this Shocker organization." Said the man, suddenly more serious. "They really are a strange bunch. Their intentions aren't clear, but they are strong, they have access to a technology that can be compatible with our magic and they seemed to be interested in Zeref and dark magic in general. I have a feeling we can use them to get what they want. As for the Riders, they may be strong, but they are here for Shocker. They may have joined Fairy Tail, from what I heard, they won't intervene in a place or mission if Shocker isn't part of it. We'll keep an eye on them for now. I have to go now, I'll see you soon." As the man left and cut the transmission, Ultear looked up, thinking back at Jellal, a sinister smile on her face.

\- "So very sorry, Jellal- _sama_ … There was never any chance for you to revive Zeref from the very beginning. No one can bring back Zeref from the dead since he was never dead in the first place but merely sleeping, waiting for the right moment to wake up."

/- Magnolia -/

In the meantime, Team Natsu and the Riders had all got back to Magnolia and were now standing in front of where the guild hall stood once again. And if they had a hunch that the building would be finished, they weren't expecting what they had in front of them and that made them all gawk in amazement.

The new hall was gigantic, compared to the old one. Brazier adorned the walls and roofs of the castle looking building. The insignia of the guild was displayed on large banner hanging from the last row of crenels just above a series of stained-glass windows. The whole building was surrounded by a long stone made fence, a gate with a portcullis raised up to let people enter and that's where the group was standing, in front of said gate.

\- "Hey, welcome back, guys !" Turning their head, they saw Eiji, who was standing there with a smile on his face. "Surprised, huh ?"

\- "Well, to say we are would be an understatement." Admitted Shinnosuke, looking at the building with wide eyes.

\- "It's totally different from the old one !" said Natsu who stood dumbstruck, arms hanging limply by his side.

\- "Well, we did had to build the whole place from scratch." Reminded Eiji who suddenly remembered something important. "Oh yeah ! Ankh, it was time you got back. We should leave soon."

\- "For real ?" Asked Erza, eyes squinted in curiosity. "Why the sudden rush ?"

\- "We've been here for about a week, we are starting to reach the limit we can reach for now. It would be a bad idea to risk staying any longer."

\- "About time !" Ankh said as he split from Happy, giving the cat his body back, much to his joy. "I was starting to feel cramped in this smaller than small body."

\- "Hey !"

\- "Should I remind you that no one forced you to use Happy and not someone else ?" Eiji looked at Ankh with a smirk but the lack of answer from the Greeed was speaking for him. "Anyway, since the building his complete, I repaid my debt, but don't hesitate to call me if you need help." As he said that, his friends nodded and said their goodbye as the Greeed and Rider began to disappear. "Good luck !"

\- "Ahh ! It's nice to be back in control." Sighed Happy, stretching his body with a delighted expression on his face. "And back at the guild, it's amazing what they did !"

\- "I have to say I'm surprised." Said Gray. "We've got an open-air café now ?" He said, looking at several tables and benches places on both side of the entrance.

\- "We even got a souvenir shop !?" Half-shouted Lucy, not knowing why this would be there as Max, who was running the shop smiled at them.

\- "Welcome back, guys ! Want to see what we have in stock ?" he said, smiling broadly as he shown them what he was selling. "We've got T-Shirts, wristbands, mugs, towels, even special Lachryma Crystals ! But our most popular items are those mage figures ! 3000 Jewels apiece !" He then pulled some of the figure, representing different mages from the guild, like Natsu or Makarov. The Riders were pretty much amused by their enthusiasm until they saw that mages weren't the only one who had figures.

\- "Wait… Are those… ?"

\- "Yes, Haruto, you guys too !" said Max proudly as he put 3 more figure on the counter, build after Kamen Rider Wizard, Drive and Ghost. "And just like ours, the clothes, or in your cases, armors are fully removable. And we are selling additional ones here !" Indeed, on the side next to the figure, there was others armors one could put on the figure, like for example Wizard's Styles, Ghost's Parkas or Drive's Tires and Types. The Riders didn't know what to think of it all when their reflections were cut short by Cana who stood by the door and finally noticed the group.

\- "Oh, you guys are back, huh ?" She said, gesturing to the entrance. "C'mon, you've gotta come inside !"

They followed her and discovered that the interior had been greatly improved too. The bar was now on the side, the front of the room occupied by a stage. The room was filled with tables, just like the old one, the whole place filled with chatter and laughter just like before : the building might be new, but the same couldn't be said for the mood who was still as carefree as before.

\- "That's impressive." Said Takeru, letting his eyes wander in the hall as next to him, Natsu seemed to be sulking, head half-buried in his scarf. "What's the matter, Natsu ?"

\- "It's not like before…" He said looking around, feeling slightly uneasy in this new place. "It's all different…"

\- "And that's not all we've got that's new !" said Cana proudly as she began to list all the feature the new building had. "We also have a pool behind the bar. Downstairs, we created an amusement center with pool tables, dartboard and many others games. But the biggest difference of all is that now, anybody can go to the second floor !" she said, pointing at the said floor, Warren waving at them from above. "Although, you of course still have to be a S-Class mage to get on a S-Rank mission."

\- "That's quite nice." Said Shinnosuke, looking around and by hearing the Rider, Cana remembered one last thing.

\- "Oh yeah ! I almost forgot that we also did something for you little secret passage." She said pointing at the Riders who looked at her with curiosity. "It no longer lead to a broom closet, but to the backstage behind the scene. We figured it would be good for you since a closet was a little bit to small."

\- "So you're finally back, are you ?" Turning around, the group ended up facing Makarov, who was walking toward them with a familiar blue haired girl by his side, one Lucy, Haruto and especially Gray had no difficulty recognizing. "This is our newest member, Juvia. Ain't she cute ?" He introduced, whispering the last part as Juvia took a step forward, a slight shy blush on her face. She had changed her style since the Tower of Paradise, her hair shorter and wearing a white and blue dress.

\- "So, you really have joined up, huh ?!" exclaimed Gray with a laugh, his delight evident as Juvia could have died on the spot at seeing her love being happy that she joined.

\- "That is nice !" said Haruto, a smile on his face as he looked at the water mage. "You deserve it after helping us at the tower."

\- "Juvia has all of you to thank !" said Juvia, her third person talking still here. "Juvia will do her best !"

\- "Good luck !" added Lucy as a cheer, Juvia turning to her with the same happy smile plastered on her face.

\- "My rival in love…"

\- "Not at all." Answered Lucy immediately as she heard Juvia, feeling that this won't be enough to make her stop. As for the master, he walked to Erza and motioned her to move closer to him.

\- "You probably already know if you met her before…" he said, whispering at Erza. "But she used to be one of Phantom…"

\- "We already know that, and you don't have to worry. She's a nakama, now."

\- "I see. Very well, then. Please make her feel welcomed." He said, relieved as Kouta walked up to him, arms crossed and a sour expression on his face.

\- "I agree, but her little friend won't be that easy to welcome in the guild." He said, grabbing the curiosity of the returning group, Kouta nodding his head toward a table on the left. "Ladies and gentleman and Exceed, pleas welcome our new comrade."

They all turned their head toward the table and what they saw took them by surprise as incomprehension coursed through their veins, some more than others. Standing up from the table, the man was tall and muscled, with a wild and long mane of black hair. When he turned around, his pierced face and red eyes put an end to the suspense : Gajeel 'Iron Dragon' Redfox had joined the guild, and the group wasn't that happy.

\- "Master ! What kind of joke is that supposed to be !?" Shouted Gray, repulsion building up inside of him as Juvia took Gajeel's side from behind him.

\- "Wait ! Juvia brought him here !"

\- "Allowing Juvia to join, I can understand." Said Shinnosuke whose hand was toying with Wild Type as he gazed at the man. "But this guy is the one who personally wrecked the guild and attacked three of us." As Gajeel couldn't help but feel the glare on him, he simply brushed them aside, knowing perfectly how those guys felt about him, and he clearly didn't care. And strangely, or not depending on who you'll ask, Gentaro came to Gajeel's rescue.

\- "Come on, guys. You can't all stay angry for what he did, can you ? He was simply following the orders he was given and as they say : yesterday's enemies are today's friends." He said as he slid his arm around Gajeel's shoulder, much to the Slayer annoyance as he shook him off, Gentaro not minding it one bit.

\- "Uh-huh… I'm n… not bothered at all..., really…" Came Levy's voice whose gesture and voice betrayed her true feelings, as she was half-hiding behind a whole, her body and voice all shaky. Behind her, the rest of Team Shadow Gear, Jet and Droy, who were glaring at Gajeel. Among the ones who didn't liked that Gajeel was here of course stood Natsu who was almost firing up litteraly.

\- "Stop screwing around ! I can't work with a guy like that !" he shouted, only to be stopped by a hand landing on his shoulder.

\- "Natsu, no one said you'll have to work with him at all." Said Sento, who was holding onto a notepad, soon gazing at Gajeel with fascination as a tuft of his hair rose up, scribbling at lightning speed. "Personally, his presence here is going to be really helpful in my research." As people sweat dropped at this, Gajeel walked up to Natsu, shoving his face into his.

\- "Don't worry, I have no intention on being all buddy-buddy with you." He said, the prospect of teaming up with Natsu being something he clearly didn't liked. "I need work, that's all there is to it. One guild is as good as the next. Not that I ever thought about joining a nasty little guild like this…"

\- "Gajeel-kun always seems so lonely, Juvia couldn't bear to just leave him." Said Juvia, trying to justify her role in this situation when she realized what she said, becoming a stuttering mess as she corrected herself. "I-I mean… Juvia don't like him or anything…"

\- "It is the duty of old men like me to guide young man who have lost their way back on the right path." Wisely said Makarov. "He's not a bad guy at heart, you know."

\- "If this is the master decision, then I will support it." Declared Erza, even if she still had doubts. "But I think we should at least have someone keep an eye on him for the time being."

\- "I don't think it's gonna be necessary." Said Cana, looking at Gentaro who was literally glued to Gajeel, trying to make friend with him, much to the slayer's annoyance. After that, she pushed a grumpy looking Natsu to a table as the light got turned off in the hall. "Anyway, all of you better hurry up and take a seat ! The main event is about to start !"

As everyone was sitting in the dark, two spotlights shed some lights on the stage as a curtain opened, revealing Mirajane, sitting on a stool, legs crossed and wearing a nice dress with a guitar in her hands and a microphone in front of her. Eyes closed, she began to play a nice song and, taking a breath, she opened her mouth and began to sing, her soothing voice making everyone smile. In the audience, this song about mages leaving on their missions felt right to the Riders who, even if they weren't mages, could still appreciate the heartfelt lyrics and nice tune that came with it. However, two people in the room weren't as joyous as the others, and those were Natsu and Gajeel. The first one was still sulking, sprawled out on the table thinking about how much the guild had changed and the second one looked like he wanted to be somewhere else. AS everyone cheered for Mira, Gajeel found a way to make this moment less boring as he moved his feet and began to press it hard on Natsu's who stifled a cry of pain as the Iron Dragon grinned.

\- "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR ?!" Shouted Natsu, turning to Gajeel who looked at him innocently as if he had done nothing. "You did that on purpose ?!"

Before Gajeel could answer or said anything, two mugs flew from across the room and struck both of the Slayers in the head.

\- "SHUT UP ! Stop interrupting Mira-chan's song !" shouted someone from across the room, which only angered Natsu even more.

\- "Okay, who said that !?" he roared again, flipping the table in front of him, table that would have slammed into Lucy, Juvia and Cana if Kouta and Emu didn't stopped him. After that, an all-out brawl began, just like before, showing that even if the guild was as new, it never lost its characteristic madness. Even the Riders and Erza got involved in the fight, much to everyone surprise. Soon, in the middle of the fight, everyone was laughing and having fun, truly feeling like everything was just like before but someone among the crowd wasn't sharing the feeling.

\- "Those damn brats…" muttered Makarov, head hanging low. "Why… Why couldn't they just bottle it for one day…" He then looked up, crying as tears ran down his face. "Tomorrow's the day the reporter comes to collect data on the guild !" At this, one people among the mages reacted, brown eyes wide as saucers, her keys clinging as she turned around in an instant.

\- "WHAT ?!"

/- The next day -/

If someone decided to make a list of the people who didn't gave a damn about the visit of the reporter from Weekly Sorcerer, the Riders would be at the top of that list. Some already had to deal with media before and it don't always left a good impression. Actually, The Riders were busying themselves like they could. Emu was playing some snooker in the basement with some mages among which you could find Elfman, Shinnosuke and Haruto were talking about everything and nothing with Gray and Juvia, Gentaro was walking among the groups, exchanging with all of them, Takeru was learning more about this world with Levy's help, Kouta was checking the requests to see if there wasn't one that could involve Shocker and Sento was at the bar, doing some calculations with the data he recently acquired. Needless to say, they weren't hyped up by the reporter, unlike a certain blonde girl who had spent two hours at home to be as beautiful as she could to catch his attention. Some others were also thrilled by this visit, even Erza who had changes her usual armor for a slightly fancier one. The Riders had rolled their eyes as they saw Lucy doing so much just to be noticed, hoping for her sake that the reporter won't be some sort of pervert who will use any pretext to take unappropriated photos. But for their own sake, a pervert would have been better than what came to the guild.

\- "Oh ! Titania Erza ! Oh my god ! The real person !" A blonde man with a camera around his neck walked through the door, half-shouting as he literally threw himself on the ground, sliding on his knees all the way from the entrance to Erza and Lucy. "Cool ! Cool ! COOL ! The real Erza is cool !"

The Riders all looked as the guy began to talk to Erza, completely ignoring Lucy despite her effort to be noticed, which was kinda funny to be honest, as he began to interview Erza. They didn't really knew what kind of question he was asking her, but seeing that after the second, Erza was showing off without a care in the world in a bunny suit, they decided to forget it and make themselves as small as possible, that Jason seemed to be a little too excited for their own taste. They couldn't help but feel a little bad for Lucy though, as Jason sailed from Erza to Gray, to Elfman, even to Happy, ignoring every single one of her attempt to get noticed, much to her dismay.

\- "Can't someone shut him up ?" Asked Shinnosuke, feeling like his brain was about to explode due to Jason's over the top excitement.

\- "I think someone just might do that." Said Belt-san, making Shinnosuke noticed that Natsu was walking to Jason and the salamander wasn't happy.

\- "Which guy is the reporter !?" he asked, flipping a table as he walked toward the center of the room to be sure he would be seen. And he did as Jason immediately gushed and shouted at how cool Natsu was.

\- "Natsu ! Natsu Dragneel ! The Dragon Slayer Salamander that I wanted to see the most. COOL !" Jason was now acting like some sort of fangirl as Natsu walked to him, looking pissed.

\- "You ! You are always destroying my reputation ! You wrote that I destroyed this and destroyed that !" Accused Natsu, the others now realizing why he hated that guy so much, even if the article explaining about him destroying things weren't exaggerating. And Jason wasn't one to deny the fact that he wrote them.

\- "Yes ! COOL ! COOL ! For real… the real person… ! You have style !" Complimented Jason, apparently missing the point or not caring as he hold a hand to Natsu. "Can you shake hands with me ?!"

\- "GET AWAY FROM ME !" Was Natsu's answer as he punched the reporter who was sent spinning like a top and crashing on the ground, but writing something in his notepad as he did so, a skill that was kinda impressive to say the least. After that, he kept switching mages, from Team Shadow Gear to Elfman, going through Makarov, who seemed really nervous at the idea of being interviewed by the way, Lucy sulking as she gave up hope and walked to the bar were Mirajane was busy washing the dishes, still taking the time to smile at the blonde who slammed her head on the counter, defeated. As for Jason, he took a glance at his notepad, listing the mages he got info on.

\- "Well, I got almost everything." He said, before remembering something, a really important thing judging by his gasp and broad smile. "Oh yeah ! I'd like to get some data's on those Kamen Riders. Where are they ?"

One second, the 6 Riders were in the hall. Peoples blinked, and they were all gone, as if they were never here to begin with, which took their mages friends by surprise. The only one who didn't moved was Sento who, enthralled by his current analysis, didn't noticed Jason who had walked and sat next to him, looking at the scientist who didn't even spared a glance at him.

\- "Are you one of the famous Kamen Rider ?"

\- "Yes, I am." Answered Sento without ever looking at Jason, as if he was answering without even realizing it. And that didn't stopped Jason from asking his questions.

\- "Cool ! And your name is… ?"

\- "Sento Kiryu, or Kamen Rider Build."

\- "How many of you are in this guild ?"

\- "7." At this point, Jason's closeness was starting to be noticed by Sento's whose eyes began to tick slightly.

\- "7 ?! That's so cool ! And what are your powers about ?"

\- "My powers resolve around science, chemistry and pairing up biotic and abiotic objects."

\- "Biotic ? Abiotic ? That is so cool !" Jason's enthusiasm was slowly eating up the scientist's patience whose brain couldn't process how one can find cool something he doesn't even understand. "Your magic is quite unique from what I heard. Where did you learned it ?"

At this point, Sento put his pen down and looked up at Jason who, still as excited as before, didn't noticed that he may have pushed it a bit too far. As for Sento, if he had reacted that way, it was because he didn't 'learned' it, he created it before getting his memory swiped out and given a new identity, and this wasn't something he liked to be remembered off. He was about to retort something when he noticed Lucy, sulking on the counter behind Jason, which gave him an idea that made his hair rise up on his head.

\- "You know what's even cooler than a Kamen Rider ?" Seeing Jason opening wide eyes and shaking his head to say that he didn't, Sento continued. "The Salamander's new partner." He said, pointing at Lucy whose eyes opened wide as she realized he was talking, and pointing at her.

\- "What ?! She's the Salamander partner ?! So cool !" And with that, Jason jumped at Lucy who felt overwhelmed by the sudden attention before she overcame it to answer the question with a big smile on her face. As for Mirajane, who was behind the bar, she smiled down at Sento who sighed in relief.

\- "That was nice of you to do that. The poor girl was so desperate."

\- "Well, she does deserve some spotlights. After all, she proved to be a strong mage worthy of this guild and she had to dealt with Team Natsu's quirks more than anyone else and that's quite the task." He said, shrugging his shoulder as he got back to his analysis, Mirajane looking at the paper filled with equations and others symbols and schema that she couldn't understand.

\- "What are you working on ?"

\- "I'm trying to find a way to use a Best Match in a Hybrid way." He said, not letting his eyes diverge from the papers. "Until now, the only FullBottle that has been used to form a Hybrid were FullBottle that had the potential to be used alone. But what if I could find a way to forge an Hybrid on a Best Match ?"

\- "I have to say that I never truly understood the concept of Best Match." Admitted Mirajane, trying to not get lost in his explanations. "What made two of your FullBottles a Best Match ?"

\- "Put simply, two FullBottles forming a Best Match meant that their powers synergizes well, a perfect pairing in a way." The word pairing made Mirajane react but she said nothing as he kept explaining, a new spark in her eyes as she listened. "I already proved that there is a need for an affinity between the trinkets and the user, so either I found a way for a Best Match to be used by one person, just like me, or I'll need a pair, one by FullBottles according with their affinity."

\- "So we can use those Best Match to create couples ?"

\- "If two persons with an affinity with one of the FullBottle of the Best Match, it could… Wait what ?" Sento came to a stop, pulled out of his reflections when he processed what Mira, whose eyes shone madly, as if she discovered the best thing in the world, just said.

\- "That's sure ! If you need two mages that can use two FullBottles who were, from the beginning, made for each other, then the mages have to be too !"

\- "… I don't think this is how it works." Said Sento who felt at a loss for words in front of her unfounded enthusiasm, but this didn't stopped the barmaid who kept going.

\- "I mean, there's some pretty easy ones, like Elfman being Gorilla or Natsu being the Dragon !"

\- "Gajeel can be the dragon, too."

\- "Nope, he's the Tank." She said, grabbing the Tank FullBottle from Sento's waist, also grabbing the Rabbit. "And his perfect pair would be someone small and cute, like Levy ! And if Elfman is Gorilla, then his future woman will be someone strong and beautiful, like a Diamond ! Ah, but if Natsu id the Dragon… Whose FullBottle is its Best Match !?"

At this question, Sento stayed silent. He already felt like it had gone too far. Levy was more than afraid of Gajeel, so this pair couldn't work and he honestly didn't saw who in this world could support Elfman and his obsession for manliness. But if he told her what FullBottle is Dragon's Best Match, she would immediately see the pair in it and this would be then end. So he stayed silent, trying to resist as she was starting to become more and more violent as she wanted, no NEEDED, answers. But luckily, he was stopped when the light suddenly died out, a curtain appearing on the stage as two spotlights shone upon it. All around them, people were starting to get excited, thinking that they were going to have another song from Mirajane, not noticing that the barmaid was at the bar, as confused as everyone by what was happening. And when came the curtain lift, the world came crashing down, for behind the curtain was Gajeel, sitting in a chair, wearing a white three pieces costume with a matching hat, sunglasses, a rose on it and with zebra-patterned shoes, holding a guitar.

\- "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT !?"

The reactions were numerous. Natsu and Happy did a spit take, Erza looked at him, eyes shadowed but clearly shocked, faces were blank as they looked, and listened, as Gajeel began to sing while playing on his guitar and needless to say, his performance was… unique.

\- "Even though his music is off, his lyrics are actually good." Admitted Gray, looking at Gajeel with a frown, not knowing what to think of it all while next to him, Juvia seemed to be the only one liking it.

\- "Try your best, Gajeel." She cheered, being the one who advised Gajeel to try to get closer to everyone and apparently, he did take her advice seriously. Back at the bar, Mirajane was looking at the scene, smiling but…

\- "Well, looks like he try his best to be accepted by everyone." She said, her smile plastered on her face as small tears forms in her eyes, Sento using that diversion to escape the matchmaker as shit began to got real. People got fed up with Gajeel's performance, throwing everything they could at him, the Slayer keeping it up, not bothered at all by the uproar, much to the guild annoyance…. And Jason's pleasure.

\- "SO COOL ! Fairy Tail is the best !"

If people were as enthusiastic as he was, the magazine that was published a few days later would have improved the guild's reputation. But alas, that wasn't the case and their reputation only got worse. But even If this article wasn't that flattering, it did made Lucy a bit more famous, mainly to a man in ragged clothes, crying as he held the special issue, looking at a picture of the blonde. But there was another man who got a hold of this issue. In a small pub named 'King Bar', somewhere in Fiore, a trio of men was currently looking at the magazine, openly mocking the guild that was displayed in it.

\- "BWAHAHAHA ! Look here ! Fairy Tail is too much !"

\- "How can those guys get so big ?"

\- "Why would you have a pool inside a guild, incomprehensible ! Look at this guy, he's pathetic !"

Their laughter soon died down as a shadow loomed over them, the three looking up to see that the shadow was made by none other than Laxus Dreyar, Makarov's grandson, one the three men immediately recognized, reacting in the most logical way : by running for their lives, leaving their belonging behind, including the magazine that landed next to Laxus's feet, the mage looking down at it with a scowl.

\- "Way to show off embarrassing shenanigans, old man." He muttered to himself before getting interrupted by a man who was sitting on a stool against the wall, some sort of moon on his afro.

\- "Yahahahaha ! A true celebrity, emptied the place with one glance. You've got some presence !" said the man as he looked at Laxus from behind his sunglasses. "You're the grandson of the master, Makarov ? What do you say to this ? Are you proud of your pappy ? Pff, how pathetic." The only reaction he got was a glare from Laxus, one that didn't impressed him at all. "Ooh, how scary !"

\- "Zod, please don't make trouble here…" asked the owner of the bar to the afro-wearing man, fearing what might happen if a fight should began here.

\- "There's no point in picking a fight with a worthless guild like that." Said Zod with disdain, gaining the same kind of comment from Laxus.

\- "Zod ? I've never heard of that name."

\- "Really ? It's probably because we all toil in the background, without making fools of ourselves on magazines." Mocked Zod as Laxus's patience was wearing thin.

\- "Do you really want to die ?" Threaten Laxus as electricity began to crackle around him, the owner sweating in apprehension of what was about to happen. "I'd be glad to give you a hand. Let's go outside."

\- "Yahoo, the one doing outside…. Is just you !"

In a flash, Zod had attacked Laxus, the mage flying out of the building by passing through a wall and landing in a heap of broken wood and stone, making people flee the surrounding and Zod laugh loudly in victory.

\- "HAHAHAHA ! Too weak, Fairy Tail !" laughed Zod, feeling confident, maybe too much. "I should go hunt some of those big chested fairies tomorrow !" As he said that, the air around him began to change, charging with ozone and before he could understand what was happening, lightning struck Zod from the ground, sending the big guy flying before crashing down on the floor, charred up as people turned to look at Laxus who was kneeling on the ground and even if he beat that guy in one blow, he was beyond pissed.

\- "Pathetic…" he muttered as he looked up, eyes flaring in fury as veins bulged on his face. "Since when did people look down on my guild like this… old man !"

Meanwhile, back at the guild, things were pretty much calm. Gray and Juvia had gone on a job just the two of them, something the water mage didn't forget to rub in Lucy's face who, of course, didn't cared, Erza had gone to Heart Kreuz Headquarter to complain about her new armor that was way too tight around the chest, hoping she wouldn't level the building in the process and Lucy was standing in front of the request board with Nab who was still standing here and Gentaro who was the only Rider in the guild for now.

\- "Hmm… Is there a job I can do by myself…"

\- "Why by yourself ? Can't you go with Natsu and the usual team ?" asked Nab, Gentaro answering for her.

\- "Well, Gray and Juvia left on a quest and Erza is probably about to destroy the Heart Kreuz HQ because of an armor being too tight." He said, not looking at Nab, BurgerMeal on his shoulder. "As for Natsu, he… "

Gentaro turned his head to look at the fire mage who was almost literally sleepwalking, not even hungry for the flame Happy was waving in front of him, falling from his chair without a single noise.

\- "Looks like he's finally feeling the side effects of eating the Etherion." Said Lucy, worried for the Slayer as she didn't liked seeing him like that. "He clearly isn't in any shape to take jobs." She looked back at the quests, trying to find one she could do by herself.

\- "You know, if you need help, you just have to ask." Said Gentaro, his usual smile on his face. "That's what friends are for."

\- "Thanks, but I'd like to use this opportunity to prove that I can do jobs by myself too. But I appreciate the proposition." Said Lucy with a smile, looking at a paper that finally grabbed her attention. "Teaching at a magic school for kids ? That's pretty good !" However, as she lifted her hand to take the job, it was taken from under her nose by… Gajeel.

\- "Hey ! I saw it first !" she complained, frowning at the slayer who wasn't even looking at her. "Teaching kids ? Can you even do that kind of job ?!"

\- "What I choose to do is my business." He growled at Lucy, showing his sharp teeth at her. "Watch out that I don't kick your behind, bunny girl." Gentaro watched him leave as his behavior pissed Lucy off, not impressed by his intimidating behavior as she walked up to Natsu, shaking him like a pair of maracas.

\- "Hey ! Hey, Natsu ! Why don't you say something to that jerk ?!" she cried, for once wanting to see the hotheaded Natsu diving in for nothing. But the dragon barely registered her, getting up as he started to walk away.

\- "Sorry, Luce, but I don't feel so good. I'll just go home…"

\- "Wait, I need to go take a job ! I can't make the rent !" she said, trying to stop Natsu by pulling on his scarf, only for the said scarf to go loose and slipped off Natsu's neck, the Slayer leaving the building without it as it was now in Lucy's hands. Gentaro had witnessed the scene, feeling down for Lucy but he couldn't help her right now as he had something else to do.

/- Somewhere in Magnolia -/

\- "Why did you guys call me here ?" Gajeel was standing in the middle of a park, hand in his pockets as he stood in front of Jet and Droy, both mages glaring at him as they stood a few feet away from him. "I've got a job to do."

\- "Job ? This coming from the guy who destroyed the guild ?" Began Jet, his voice full of resentment.

\- "You can go to any other guild to take missions ! Have you no shame ?" Added Droy as Gajeel grinned, almost amused by their reaction.

\- "You guys really hold a grudge. Can't just let bygones be bygones…"

\- "Jet, Droy, don't… I'm over that really." Said Levy, trying to calm down her friends while hiding herself behind a tree, a gesture that show that she wasn't as cool with the situation as she'd like, the memory of her and her team crucified on the large tree still haunting her mind. And Jet and Droy weren't going to let it slide, no matter what she'd say.

\- "You're ruining the guild's reputation." Added Droy.

\- "This is our limit." Said Jet as he used his magic to dash at Gajeel. "You won't act so casual for long !"

 _ **SEED ! PLANT TRANSFORM !**_

 _ **WING STRIKE !**_

As Jet was starting things up with Gajeel, Droy threw some seeds in front of him, his magic making the plant grew quickly and take the shape of fists to pummel Gajeel who, despite his obvious superiority in term of power, did nothing and let himself get pummeled, also letting Jet kick him at full speed in the stomach, sending him to the ground and as Gajeel was on the ground, Jet and Droy couldn't understand what he was doing. However, before they could get an answer, someone else joined the fray.

\- "You're being picked on ? Huh ?" Said Laxus as he walked past the two men of Shadow Gear who were surprised to see him here. "So… this guy is the punk that turned my guild into a mess. And that old fart let you join for some lame reason ?" As he said that, his face got contorted by fury. "It's because of this that we're looking down upon. Damn it !" While Jet and Droy used fist and kick to vent their anger on Gajeel, Laxus literally summoned lightning on the Slayer, something much more painful for him. This made Jet, Droy and Levy flinch at the action and Laxus was only starting. "It's all your fault…" With this, he threw a large ball of electricity at Gajeel, charring up the poor guy and this time, even Shadow Gear felt like this was too much.

\- "St, stop ! Luxus !" asked Jet. "You're going too far !"

\- "It doesn't matter how strong Laxus is… He should be able to fight back." Commented Droy as reality began to settle in. "Could it be that Gajeel was, from the beginning…"

\- "He wanted us to recognize him as a nakama, so he didn't fight back ?" Finished Levy who began to feel sorry for Gajeel, the slayer on the ground as he struggled to get up. However, Laxus weren't going to let him go like that.

\- "It's all your fault we're being made fun of !" Roared Laxus as he repeatedly kicked Gajeel, unleashing his pent up frustration and anger on the poor guy. "Why don't you just die ! I'll kill anyone who goes against Fairy Tail !"

\- "Stop ! That's enough Laxus !" Begged Jet, only to anger Laxus even more.

\- "SHUT UP ! Little riff-raff should be quiet !" He roared, sending a lightning bolt from his hand but not at Jet, at Levy. But before the girl could protect herself, Gajeel suddenly appeared in front of her, shielding her with his own body, taking everyone by surprise, mainly Team Shadow Gear. Without letting people said anything to him, Gajeel wobbled to his bag, grabbed it without a word and began to walk away, leaving a shocked Levy, Jet and Droy behind, but also a furious Laxus.

\- "Who said I was finished with you ? Don't you dare turn your back to me !"

Another lightning bolt was sent at Gajeel, the Slayer too weak right now to dodge, but luckily, something, or rather someone, jumped in to take the blow for him, as the smoked cleared, a man in white with a space shuttle shaped shield on his arm.

\- "I have a hard time believing you're the old man's grandson with the way you're acting. What happened in your life for you to act like this ?" Said the guy who got immediately recognized by the mages.

\- "Gentaro !" exclaimed Levy as the Rider lower his shield, Gajeel saying nothing as he walked away, Laxus glaring at the guy before turning away, leaving the group behind to wonder about what happened. Among them, Levy looked at where Gajeel left while talking to Gentaro. "What are you doing here ?"

\- "I'm sure Gajeel is not the cold hearted guy he want us to believe he is. And judging by what I saw, I was right." He said with a smile, turning his transformation off. "As for Laxus, I think it's the same."

\- "What do you mean ?" asked Levy, her teammates surrounding her.

\- "He did came to beat Gajeel for what he did to the guild, which means that he liked the guild. That's a beginning. And I swear that I'll go to the bottom of this."

As Gentaro was talking with Team Shadow Gear, Laxus was walking away, fists tight by his side, his anger still flaring.

 _"Useless… Fairy Tail… This isn't the guild I want ! My tolerance have its limits ! Fairy Tail is mine !"_

/- Rider's HQ -/

After talking a bit with Levy and the others, Gentaro had walked back to their little HQ where the other Riders were all gathered.

\- "I'm home !"

\- "Welcome back !" came the answer of the other Riders who were all passing the time anyway they could, Haruto being the one to question him about what he did. "So, what happened on your side ?"

\- "I witnessed some things concerning Gajeel and Laxus." He began, grabbing the attention of some of his friends. "Basically, Gajeel let Jet and Droy get back at him for what he did and Laxus joined in, adding his own beating to the count. I had to jumped in to stop him from zapping him a second time after he took one bolt to protect Levy but I'm know sure of one thing : Gajeel isn't as cold hearted as he let people think." After saying that, he looked at the drawing on the central table. "So, how are things looking for the festival ?"

\- "Pretty good, in fact." Said Shinnosuke. "It's a good thing Makarov warned us about Fairy Tail's parade."

\- "True. It would have been complicated to build a car for the festival if we had less than a week to build it." Added Kouta who was ecstatic. He knew that this festival was going to be a good opportunity to do what he was best at beside being a Rider : dancing.

\- "Laxus is worrying me." Confessed Takeru. "He's got so much anger inside of him. I hope he won't try anything during the festival."

\- "I don't think he would." Added Emu. "Even if he did, despite his strength, I don't think he could much alone against a guild like Fairy Tail."

\- "You're right. And how's Sento ?" The Riders all looked back at Sento who had yet to say something, hunched back on his desk, muttering about 'stupid theory', a dumb matchmaker and others things. He had yet to process what happen with Mirajane last time. "… He's alright. Anyway, I didn't know there was a Miss Fairy Tail contest." Added Gentaro as he looked at the poster for the festival. "Looks like Lucy might have a chance to get what she need to pay her rent in the end."

Gentaro was genuinely happy for Lucy even if he had a feeling she'll have a hard time winning if people like Mirajane or Erza joined the contest. However, he couldn't shake the feeling that something will happen during the festival. Something no one would have been able to predict.

/- A week later -/

Magnolia was bustling with activity as the Harvest Festival was beginning this beautiful and sunny morning. Everyone was joyous and full of energy in anticipation for the day to come. Everyone. Except one.

\- "Ugh… Ugh… " Natsu, surprisingly, had yet to recover from the Etherion consumption as he walked, or rather wobbled, through the streets of Magnolia, half-sleeping with Happy who was excitedly bunny-hopping next to him. "I'm gonna eat delicious food until I'm full."

\- "He doesn't look good. Is he really alright ?" Wondered Lucy, hands on her hips as she saw the Slayer dangerously zigzagging among the crowd.

\- "Let him be." Sighed Gray who stood next to Juvia who was busy checking out the decorated street.

\- "Anyway, there's really a lot of people." Said the water mage. "I didn't know there was so this many people in the city."

\- "I guess it's due to Fantasia." Came the voice of Shinnosuke who was walking to the group with Takeru and Haruto. "People from all around come to see it."

\- "Fantasia ! The great parade ! I heard you guys are participating."

\- "Indeed." Said Haruto, confirming that what Lucy heard was true. "Our car is almost ready, Kouta, Gentaro and Sento are putting the last touches to it."

\- "And where's Emu ?" Asked Gray.

\- "He's back at the HQ." Explained Takeru. "Something to do with the Hybrids. We talked about them to our friends back in our worlds and they had questions. He should be done soon. I hope."

\- "Wait, talking about festival… Miss…" Lucy looked around, trying to remember something about the festival when she suddenly remembered with a gasp before taking off. "The contest is about to start ! My rent !"

\- "Looks like she really need that money." Noted Belt-san, looking at Lucy had disappeared in the busy streets while next to him, Juvia's face was suddenly much more serious.

\- "Juvia won't lose to Lucy !"

\- "Yeah, looks like this contest is going to be really fun." Added Takeru as they all walked back to the guild, wondering how the contest will go.

/- Back at the guild -/

\- "People of Magnolia Town ! And people from nearby towns ! And those who especially came from the underworld, don't forget to go back to your graves when it's over ! and for what you have been waiting for ! The Fairy Tail beauties will perform on this stage ! Let the contest begin !"

The guild hall was full, filled with people from the city and its surrounding, all cheering for the show to begin, Max acting as the announcer as the first contestant, Cana, stepped onto the stage, an uproar coming from the crowd, the cheer continuing as she threw cards around her, the cards covering her, forming some sort of cocoon before opening up revealing… Cana in a swimsuit, much to the pleasure of the audience.

\- "So it's going to be this kind of contest ?" Wondered Haruto, enjoying the ambience, not really focused on the girls, not being the pervert kind of guy who liked to watch half-naked girl.

After Cana came Juvia who did something similar to Cana, changing her body into water before reappearing in a swimsuit, the slight blush on Gray's face going unnoticed by the majority of the people in the room. When Mirajane appeared after Juvia, people were ecstatic, hoping to see the same kind of trick, aka in bikini, but she had other things in mind, namely a partial transformation of her head, and only her head, going from Happy's head to Gajeel's, much to the first one laughter and the latter shock and also for Lucy's happiness as the current champ literally destroyed herself. After that, the contest continued, Erza requipping into, not a bikini, but some sort of gothic dress, Levy used her Solid Script magic to create many beautiful words surrounding her, followed by Bisca who put her marksmanship in display, much to the admiration of her partner Alzack who stared lovingly at the green haired beauty. And after that, finally, it was Lucy's turn.

\- "Seventh contestant ! Super rookie… Give it up for… Lucy H…"

\- "NO ! Don't say my last name !" Lucy dived on the stage, stopping Max before her name could be revealed, not wanting people to know who her dad was. Getting her stress back under control, she grabbed her key, wanting to do a little dance with her spirits when, as lucky as always, she got stopped by someone.

\- "Number eight." Came a feminine voice as someone walked onto the stage, Lucy turning around to look at the newcomer disappointedly, not realizing the situation she was now in as the new girl continued. "If you talk about Fairy, then it's me. If you talk about beauty, then it's me. That's right, it's all ME. The champion will definitely be me, Evergreen !" The new girl was now on full display, her light brown hair arranged in a side ponytail and dark brown eyes with oval glasses. She was, true to her words, beautiful in her green dress with movable wings on the back, her face half-hidden behind a feathered purple fan. A lot of people among the crown, Riders included, wondered what was happening, even if the green Fairy Tail mark on her right collarbone, just above her breast, proved she was part of the guild. The Rider didn't recognized her but judging by the face of the other fairies, she was familiar and her presence here wasn't planned.

\- "Evergreen ?! She came back !?" asked Elfman, looking at the brown haired young woman in shock.

\- "Hey ! Quit playing around this beauty contest concern my living !" Shouted Lucy, not liking that this woman could come and interrupt the show as if she own the place.

\- "What did you say, little girl ?" Asked Evergreen with a smile as she put her hands on her glasses. However, Lucy didn't know what that woman was about, which wasn't the case for Gray who tried to warn her.

\- "Lucy ! Don't look into her eyes !"

Alas, it was too late. As soon as the eyes got freed from the glasses, Lucy became a stone statue, the non-mage audience wondering what was happening as Max shout at them to run away, things now bound to turn bad.

\- "What are you doing, Evergreen ? Are you trying to ruin the festival ?" Asked Makarov, looking up at the woman who kept smiling as she walked to the curtain.

\- "Doesn't a festival have a main show ?" she asked as she put the curtain on fire, the cloth burning quickly, revealing all of the other contestants who also got changed into stone, shocking everyone in the room, Evergreen apparently really proud of her little show.

\- "You fool !" Shouted Makarov, feeling her anger growing at the young woman. "Turn them back to normal !"

As soon as he said that, lightning came down on the scene, immediately grabbing the attention of the Riders and mages as Laxus appeared next to Evergreen with two others guy. One as tall as him, the upper part of his face hidden behind some sort of helm, grinning madly with 5 little wood totem floating around him. The second one was another young man with long green hair with two lightning bolt shaped strands on top of his head, the Fairy Tail mark on the top of his hand, a sword on his waist, wearing a dark red knee-length double-breasted coat.

\- "Oi, Fairy Tail idiots…" began Laxus as he stood tall in the middle of his group with a large grin on his face. "The real festival begins now !"

\- "Freed and Bickslow !?" Exclaimed Gray, looking at the mages on the stage as the Riders stood at the ready, analyzing the situation as Natsu, who was half-asleep until then, was starting to react, his ears twitching slightly. "The Raijinshu, Laxus bodyguards ! They are back !"

\- "Why don't we play a little game… old Geezer ?"

 **Okay, it's done and next time, there will be some actions and the chapter will probably be quite long so he also might take longer to come. I hope you liked this chapter. Don't forget to review if you liked it or not, it will be a great help for me to continue. See ya !**

 **Next time : The battle for Fairy Tail begin ! A fratricidal fight among fairies. The strength of the Raijinshu.**


	32. Chapter 32 : The Battle for Fairy Tail

**Hello everyone ! I'm actually taking some days off from work for a week and since I had no day off since January, I have to say it's soooo good to be able to stay in bed during the week. Alright, this chapter is a little bit shorter than usual, but I'm pretty happy with it. I hope you'll like it. Don't forget to review if you liked the chapter and the story so far. Good reading to you all !**

 **Chapter 32 : The Battle begin !**

The day started really well for everyone. Everyone was happy and having fun with the Harvest Festival going on everywhere in the city of Magnolia. At the center of the celebration was the Fairy Tail Guild who will be the main event of Fantasia that night and opened the festivities with their famous Miss Fairy Tail Contest. But this last event had been interrupted by the return of Laxus, who came back with his bodyguards, the Raijinshu, aka Evergreen, Bickslow and Freed. And they didn't came back to be part of the party as they had transformed all the girls of the guilds into stone. Needless to say, the Fairies weren't happy and Makarov even less.

\- "Don't do something stupid." Said Makarov to his grandson, trying to defuse the situation before it could go really haywire. "We have to get ready for Fantasia. Turn them back to normal now !"

\- "Fantasia is late at night." Simply said Laxus, sure of himself as he sneered at his grandfather. "If we hurry, people might get to see it."

As soon as he said that, he summoned a lightning bolt just above a petrified Lucy, aiming at the statue and, fortunately, Laxus spared her, the bolt redirecting itself before it could reach her to struck the ground next to her, much to everyone relief, but this confirmed that the threat was real. The Riders in the building were now ready to jump into action should they try anything.

\- "I'll take these girls as hostages." Said Laxus as he stood next to the petrified mages. "I'll destroy them one by one if you break the rules… Like I said, this is the main show."

\- "I don't know what your problem is, but there are things that can't be taken as a joke." Said Shinnosuke, glaring at Laxus who knew that already. He was deadly serious.

\- "It's just a game, to out who…" began Freed.

\- "… Is the strongest here, in Fairy Tail." Finished Bickslow, tongue hanging out of his mouth, showing that it's where his mark were. Laxus then take the lead again.

\- "The rules are simple. The last survivor wins ! The Fairy Tail fight starts now !"

*BOOM* As soon as the sentence was finished, an explosion, followed by a flying table, coming from Natsu who, strangely, wasn't that sleepy anymore, but totally awake, grinning madly.

\- "Isn't this great ?! This is way too easy to understand ! I'm pumped !"

\- "… I have the feeling that you missed the point, here." Said Takeru, looking at Natsu who had been out cold until now, woken up by the simple prospect of a fight.

\- "Natsu, your arrogant way of talking pisses me off…" Said Laxus, simply glaring at the Salamander.

\- "Natsu…"

\- "What festival is this, old man ?" Asked Natsu as he took his vest off and threw it to the side as he ran at the scene. "Let's start !"

\- "Weren't he beaten effortlessly by Laxus last time ?" asked Haruto.

\- "I was just a little kid back then."

\- "Wasn't that last year ?"

\- "…But your lack of attitude pisses me off more." Continued Laxus, ignoring whatever the other said as Natsu jumped at him, his fist ablaze only to end up being zapped effortlessly by Laxus, the Fire mage landing on the ground with a thud, much to everyone exasperation.

\- "If you want them to return to normal, you'll have to defeat us." Revealed Evergreen, standing next to the statues.

\- "We only have 4 people on our side." Said Bickslow. "You have almost 100 people. It's not fair for us." The Riders were taken aback when they heard the small flying totem repeating the 'Not fair !' part as if they were alive.

\- "The time limit if 3 hours." Continued Evergreen. "If you can't defeat us, they will turn into sand."

This revelation shocked all the mages who couldn't understood why they'd do that. The Riders looked at each other, deciding on what to do since Shocker weren't involved even if the answer was quite simple.

\- "The battlefield is the entire town. The battle starts when you find us."

\- "DON'T MESS AROUND !" Makarov had enough, using his magic to grow to a gigantic size, his patience at its limit, deciding that Laxus had gone way too far. But Laxus wasn't impressed.

\- "I say calm down… Let's enjoy the main show." As he said that, a light shone from Laxus hand, blinding everyone and when the light disappeared, Laxus and his friends were gone, the voice of the S-Class mage echoing in the room. "The battle of Fairy Tail… starts !"

Once the surprise of their disappearance had passed, they all rushed without any hesitation at the door and into the street, their anger boiling as the desire to save the girls overcame everything else. Even Makarov was fuming as he ran to the door.

\- "God, I will stop those bastards !" He shouted but when he reached the door, he was stopped, slamming into an invisible wall, much to the other mages surprise who could exit easily.

\- "What are you doing, old man ?" asked Gray as he looked at the master who was pushing at whatever was keeping him trapped inside the building. The Riders, still inside, were pretty much surprise as there were no wall or anything else.

\- "What is happening here ?" asked Takeru, trying to understand what was happening, when Belt-san noticed something in the air above the old man in the opening of the door. Purple characters floating and writing sentences. And Makarov knew what this was.

\- "This is…. This is Freed's restriction spell !"

\- "A restriction spell ? What is that ?" Asked Haruto, genuinely interested in this kind of magic he never heard about before.

\- "It's some kind of barrier. It's a magic that traps anyone who step inside the limit it define." Explained Makarov. "I'm afraid in order to cover the festival, he wrote the restriction with deceiving letters. Those who step into the circle will have to obey an additional rule. If you don't obey the rule, you won't be able to get out."

As he said that, a text appeared above them, showing the rule of the restriction surrounding the guild.

\- "No statue nor person over the age of 60 gets out." Read Shinnosuke. "what kind of unreasonable rule is that ?!"

\- "It requires a lot of time to cast the spell. It's not appropriate in a battle but as a trap, it could have tremendous effect."

\- "So this thing is trapping you here ? Isn't there any way to bypass it ?" Asked Takeru to the old man who shook his head in negatively.

\- "This restriction spell is a rule, it's absolute ! I can't do anything." Makarov was mad, locked inside the guild by his own children. "I'd like to know how he could have found the time to put such a trap in place. We should have noticed it sooner."

\- "They never intended to let the old man out from the start." Concluded Gray. "It's well thought out. If it comes down to this, leave them to me !" As he said that, Gray began to ran to the city, Makarov unable to stop him. "I won't forgive him even if he's your grandson ! I will kill him !"

As he watched Gray ran away, Makarov couldn't help but think of Laxus, trying to figure out what his grandson was thinking and wondering if someone could take him out. As he was thinking about their current situation, a hand landed on the old man shoulder. Looking up, Makarov saw a smiling Haruto looking at him.

\- "Don't worry, we will stop Laxus too." He said, the other Rider nodding in agreement. "Shocker might not be involved, but we can't let something like that happen without us doing anything."

\- "He's right. Besides, I think we have another piece to move. Hooking Wrecker !" Said Belt-san and as he called the Shift Car, it came out of behind a wall, dragging Reedus behind it.

\- "I… I'm sorry… I'm… scared of… Laxus." Explained the slightly shaking mage as he got dragged to stand in front of Makarov who instantly got an idea.

\- "Reedus ! Do you know about Porlyusica house in the North Forest ?" Seeing Reedus nod, the master kept on. "She might have a cure for the stone curse. Can you go there for me ?"

\- "Yes, I'll do it !" As soon as he said that, Natsu, who had been out cold after being electrocuted by Laxus, woke up suddenly, taking the mages and Riders by surprise. Immediately, he noticed that no one was left.

\- "Huh ? Where's Laxus ? Where are the others ?! What happened, old man ?"

\- "The festival has started !" Immediately said Makarov, playing on Natsu's enthusiasm to make him fight. "Laxus is in this town ! Crush him !"

\- "Gotcha ! JUST YOU WAIT, LAXUS !"

*THUD* But when he reached the barrier, he slammed into it, much to everyone shock as they remembered that the rules said that only the statues or people older than 60 couldn't exit.

\- "WHAAT !?"

\- "I don't know what happened, but we only got 3 hours. Let's not lose any more time." Said Shinnosuke as he ran to the door. "Come on guys, let's go !"

They all ran to the door, Haruto got through, Takeru got through, Shinnosuke got through…. Almost.

*THUD* Shinnosuke came to a brutal stop, the upper part of his body outside and the bottom half still inside, much to everyone surprise who couldn't understand what was happening.

\- "What ? How is that possible ?" asked Natsu, who was still trying to fight the barrier, alas unsuccessfully.

\- "I don't know ! I have no idea how…" Shinnosuke came to a stop as he looked down at his Driver, where a sad face was glowing. "Belt-san !"

\- "My age is a sensible subject. But I'm sorry to say that I'm indeed more than 60." Admitted the belt, making Shinnosuke sighed as he realized that he won't be able to fight.

\- "We're going." Said Haruto as Shinnosuke got up. "We're going to go and try to at least free the girls before it's too late."

\- "Yeah. Good luck." Shinnosuke could only watch as the ghost and magic Riders left leaving him behind to wonder about what Laxus really wanted, as there has to be a meaning to this battle.

/- Meanwhile -/

In the city, the mages of Fairy Tail were running and looking everywhere for either Laxus or one of his friend, in hope they could put an end to this situation, but no one found anything for now. among them were of course Jet and Droy from Shadow Gear who were motivated by the desire to save Levy in particular. As they ran thought the street, they ended up finding Alzack who were in the same situation as them.

\- "Did you find them, Connell ?" Asked Jet as he jogged toward the gunner with Droy in tow.

\- "They're not around there. How about you ?"

\- "We got nothing. We can't find anything." Added Droy, much to Alzack frustration.

\- "There're no traces of them." He said angrily through clenched teeth before kicking a box filled with apple in anger. "Those bastard… They turned Bisca… I will not forgive you Laxus !"

\- "Hey ! Calm down, Connell !" Ordered Droy, the current state of Alzack worrying him.

\- "How can I calm down ?! If I don't defeat Laxus in 3 hours…"

Alzack never got the chance to finish his sentence, even if what he meant to say was pretty obvious, as something happened around them. Suddenly, magic walls appeared around them, trapping them in a portion of the street they were in, the three mages immediately knowing what and who did this.

\- "Did they plant a restriction spell throughout the town ?!" Asked Jet in disbelief. "At this rate, we should defeat Freed first."

As he said that, characters appeared on the walls, showing what the rule of the zone was and their blood ran cold as they read it.

 _Rule : Only the strongest mage can get out !_

\- "Wait, what ?! Are you telling me we have to fight each other ?!" As the realization settled in, Jet crossed his arm and grit his teeth in slight fear that he might be forced to do it as Droy voiced his disagreement.

\- "How can we do that ?! That's too cheap, Freed !"

\- "Sorry, guys." Those weren't good words to hear in this situation but as they turned their head, Jet and Droy could see that Alzack was too serious and ready to do anything. "I want to save Bisca, I won't stay here and waste time !"

The two other mages gulped as they realized that they won't be able make Alzack change his mind and that for them, the fight was unavoidable.

/- Back at the guild -/

\- "I can understand that even in this belt, Belt-san being too old could lock me here, but I have a lot of doubt about you Natsu. Are you sure you aren't more than 60 ?"

\- "What ? Of course I'm not ! Why would you think that ?"

\- "I can understand his doubt, Natsu. You're clearly not a statue and the only other condition to be locked here is due to our age, so…"

Back at the guild, Makarov, Natsu and Shinnosuke were trying to understand why Natsu was locked there with them when nothing should be holding him here. The Dragon Slayer had tried to force his way through the barrier without any success as the old man and the Rider tried to think of a way to exit when characters appeared above them, grabbing their attention.

\- "Uh ? Fairy Tail's inside fight speed report ?" Read Makarov making Shinnosuke frown in wonder.

\- "It is true that Laxus talked about the 'Battle of Fairy Tail'. Which means…"

As soon as he said that, another paragraph appeared above them with a statement that made their eyes go wide in shock.

 _Jet vs Droy vs Alzack._

\- "What the hell is this !?" Shouted Makarov in disbelief as Natsu stood by his side, stopping in his tried to force his way through the barrier to look at the text.

\- "Why are they fighting each other ?" He wondered, Happy gawking at the text from Natsu's shoulder as Shinnosuke crossed his arms.

\- "I have a feeling Freed put those barrier all over the city to force our friends to fight." He explained, the mages next to him sweating at the revelation. "That's why he trapped Makarov here. Laxus wanted you to see your 'children' fought and feel helpless at stopping them." As he said that, the result of the fight appeared above them.

 _Winner : Alzack ! Jet and Droy lost the will to fight. Remaining Fairy Tail members : 86._

/- In the city -/

\- "It looks like there's been a ruckus over at Fairy Tail…" While the mages were fighting, the other citizen of Magnolia kept on living their life, wondering what the hell was happening with the local guild.

\- "What's going on ?! They seem to be fighting each other in the streets !" said another citizen, sitting at a table in a bar with someone else when a lady walked to them.

\- "'Fighting' ain't half of it !" she said as she point at another street. "I saw them over there – they were deadly serious !"

\- "Is the Fantasia Parade going to be all right, I wonder… ?"

As soon as he said that, Vijeeter, the dancing mage of Fairy Tail came crashing through the building, the guy flipping his way to the roof of the building on the other side of the street, under the angered eyes of the people.

\- "Fairy Tail again, huh ?! Stop going wild in the middle of the town !"

\- "The townsfolk ?" Noticed Vijeeter as he looked down at the screaming people. "Of course… the rules on these enchantment aren't set to affect anyone but Fairy Tail members…"

\- "Vijeeter !" The dancer looked to the side to see one of his friend and current opponent running at him.

\- "Nab !"

\- "If you don't go to sleep like a good boy, I cannot go look for Laxus !"

\- "This is no time for comrades to be fighting amongst one another… But if it's a fight you're after…"

Nab vs Vijeeter wasn't, alsa, the only fight actually happening in the city. Everywhere, mages were fighting each other, forced to do so by the barrier that Freed had placed all over the city. As the fight kept going, the result kept appearing on the speed report back at the guild and this was something that was slowly starting to take its toll on Makarov.

 _Max vs Warren. Winner : Warren !_

 _Kulov vs Niggy. Ended in a draw, both rendered unable to fight._

 _Wang vs Joy. Winner : Wand !_

 _Macao vs Wakaba, battle starting._

\- "Stop this ! Just stop it, you fools !"

\- "So Freed really set up traps all over the city like Shinnosuke said. Laxus didn't lied when he talked about the 'Battle of Fairy Tail'…" said Happy, Shinnosuke nodding at him as next to them, Natsu was starting to lose his patience, but not for the good reason.

\- "What's with this stupid invisible wall ?! I wanna join in !"

\- "What good would 'joining in' do, Natsu ?" asked Shinnosuke, not surprised that he wanted to join the fight instead of stopping it.

\- "This is like a tournament to find who's the strongest !"

\- "This is no tournament…" said Makarov, hand chopping at the young man head. "Comrades being forced to eliminate one another…"

\- "Well, it's just fighting, right ? We do that all the time…"

\- "What part of this is normal !?" Makarov was starting to lose his patience as Natsu seemed to insist in not realize how serious the situation they were in was. "Our comrades lives are on the line here !" he said, pointing at the petrified girl. "Everyone's deadly serious ! Nobody's even thinking straight out there ! At this rate, everyone who was petrified will end up as dust and they'll never be coming back…"

\- "Ah, come on. Even Laxus wouldn't do that." Said Natsu with a smile, genuinely trusting that Laxus weren't such a bad guy. "He can be an ass sometimes, but he's still a member of our guild, isn't he ?"

After saying that, Natsu got back to trying to force his way back through the barrier as Shinnosuke and Makarov replayed Natsu's word in their mind. They also were hoping that Laxus weren't completely lost and that he could be saved in a way. But when they looked up to the 'scoreboard', they felt their blood ran cold.

 _Time remaining : 2h18._

 _Combatants remaining : 47_

\- "Not even an hour and we're already down to less than half ?" Stated Shinnosuke. "This is clearly not good." And he was right, but he also didn't know how bad things were about to become.

Near the outskirt of the city, Reedus could be seen running, heading toward the forest as Makarov ordered him to.

\- "The Eastern Forest… The Eastern Forest… Porlyusica-san house…" he repeated to himself like some kind of mantra. "I gotta get out of the city." However, much to his shock, as he was about to reach the town limit, he slammed into an invisible wall, much to his shock as this could mean only one thing. "What ? don't tell me they put an enchantment around the entire town ?!"

\- "I will not permit violation of my laws." A voice reached Reedus ears as he looked up to see characters flowing in the air and gathering in front of him, forming a body.

\- "Freed !"

\- "Laxus made it quite clear. The battleground is Magnolia." Said the mage as he appeared in front of a nervous Reedus. "If you are a mage, then fight. Show me your power. That I decree… as law."

 _Freed vs Reedus : fight starting._

Meanwhile, Elfman was running in the street of Magnolia, looking for Laxus, determined to save his sister and the other girls. He was looking everywhere he could in hope of finding someone when he finally did, spotting the glasses and light brown eyes of Evergreen who was right in front of them, in the middle of the townspeople.

\- "Evergreen !" he shouted as he ran even faster, his anger all directed toward the woman. "Damn you ! If you're a man, then don't take hostages ! Put Nee-chan and the others back how they were !"

The only answer he got from the woman was her lifting her glasses up in an attempt to lock eyes with him, the Take Over mage immediately closing his eyes and tilting his head down to avoid being turned to stone, even if this meant that he couldn't saw her as she used that to hit him, sending her crashing in a flower shop.

\- "You know… I like flowers." She said casually. "After all, they suit a diamond like me, yes ? don't you agree ?"

She never got an answer to her question as Elfman got up, in a full Take Over as he now towered even more the woman. "Ah, such a pity… With a cute name like yours !"

\- "Put Nee-chan and the others back how they were. NOW !" he said as he walked toward her, using his nose to smell her as he had blindfolded himself to be safe from her petrification. But this only amused her.

\- "You really think you can defeat me blindfolded ?" Elfman jumped at her, swinging his arms at her with a pretty good accuracy for a blind man, barely missing Evergreen as she jumped around to dodge, kinda impressed by how well he was doing, but this was clearly not enough. "I see… You have a beast's sense of smell ? But I'm afraid you are already caught in my Fairy Dust…" Indeed, all around Elfman floated some sort of shining dust the slowly began to ignite.

 _ **FAIRY BOMB : GREMLIN !**_

As soon as she said that, her dust exploded all around Elfman, trapping him in a cocoon of explosion, leaving him no space to dodge as he took the full strength of the attack, Evergreen almost floating around him before landing on the ground in front of the fallen Elfman whose blindfold was now reduced to nothing but dust.

\- "You know… I like statues. Even the most disgusting of monsters can be considered beautiful when fashioned out of stone. Now, look into my eyes and abandon your body to beauties."

 _Elfman vs Evergreen. Winner : Evergreen !_

 _Combatants remaining : 46._

 _Winner : Freed !_

 _Combatants remaining : 45._

\- "Elfman just got defeated !" Noticed Happy.

\- "Gray is fighting Bickslow and Freed just beat Reedus." Added Shinnosuke. "We really are in a pinch. Reedus was supposed to go to Porlyusica to see if she had a way to sure the girls."

\- "There's not much point, since Laxus is obviously bluffing." Said Natsu, pretty much convinced that even he wouldn't do such a thing.

\- "Oh ? You think I'm bluffing, do you, Natsu ?" They all turned around to see that Laxus, or rather a projection of himself was now standing there with them. "What are you and this Rider doing here anyway, Natsu ?"

\- "Shut up ! we can't get out !"

\- "I can't because my belt is too old…"

\- "Hey !" shouted Belt-san, outraged.

\- "And apparently, Natsu is either a living statue or a really well conserved old man."

\- "Your allies… No, you usually just call them 'brats', don't you ?" said Laxus, now addressing his grandpa. "Well, how does it feel, watching those brats of yours pound one another into the ground ? And with Erza out of the picture and Natsu trapped in here, I guess there is nobody out there with the power to stand up to the Raijinshu… So, do you surrender ?"

\- "There's still Gray !" Happy jumped in, glaring at the projection. "He's about as strong as Natsu is ! He'd never get beaten by the Raijinshu !" Ignoring Natsu who got offended by what Happy said about Gray being as strong as him, Laxus sneered.

\- "Gray ? Haha ! So you've got high hopes for that loser, huh ?"

\- "I wouldn't underestimate Gray if I were you, Laxus."

Meanwhile, Gray was still fighting Bickslow, the fight pretty much even for now, both fighter dodging each other attacks effortlessly in the clothing store they were both in.

\- "YAHOO !" Laughed Bickslow who looked like he was having the time of his life. "Fly, my babies !" as he said that, his small totem flew around and fired magic lasers at Gray who dodge them by rolling to the back, some laser missing him by an inch.

 _ **LINE FORMATION !**_

Following their master orders, the totem all flew and stacked all together, creating a column as they all fired at the same time, creating one deadly magic bullet shaped like a crescent that cut through everything it touched, Gray jumping above a mannequin as the magic attack cut a shelve clean in two.

\- "You're not bad for a kid, Gray !" Admitted Bickslow, pointing at his opponent. "Next up… Victory Formation !" However, nothing happened, which surprised the masked mage as he turned around to see that his babies had been all encased in ice, giving Gray an opportunity to counter-attack with a knee to Bickslow's jaw, sending him to the ground.

 _ **ICE MAKE : HAMMER !**_

 _ **X FORMATION !**_

As the large hammer made of ice fell toward Bickslow, he was saved by four mannequins that came to his rescue, stopping the hammer before it could reach its target, much to Gray's surprise.

\- "What ?!"

\- "My Seith Magic, Human Possession, allows me to implant souls into dolls." He explained as the four mannequins hovered above him. "You may be able to freeze their bodies, but you can't freeze their souls. I can simply transfer them to new bodies."

\- "Then I guess I'll just have to freeze you instead !" Shouted Gray as he summoned his magic, aiming at the ever-so-carefree Bickslow.

\- "Go ahead, if you think you can ! HYAHAHAHAHAH !"

At that, he ran away after blocking Gray's attack with his puppets, the ice mage running after him. The pursuit kept on for many minutes, Gray blindingly following him around as he led him through the street. As he entered a small alley, Gray followed suite and realized that Bickslow was nowhere to be seen, at least not for one who only looked in front of him.

\- "I'm up here, Gray !"

Looking up, Gray indeed saw Bickslow, doing the split between two building a good ten meter above the ground as he smirked at his opponent who was starting to get sick of him playing around.

\- "Damnit… What are you trying to pull ?"

\- "I told you, didn't I ? I just want to play. And so do my babies !"

As he said that, Gray realized that he had been had, an enchantment appearing on both entry of the alley, trapping him inside with Bickslow. And when the rules appeared, Gray realized he was in a really bad spot.

 _Rule : Until their battle is over, those within this barrier may not use magic._

\- "It's times like these that remote-control-style magic really comes in handy !"

Indeed, if being in this trap prevented Gray and Bickslow from using magic, the same couldn't be said for the mannequins who were still outside of the barrier and had a clear view of Gray who now understood that he wasn't just in a pinch : he was probably done for. The puppets all began to shoot at the same time, firing repeatedly at the poor defenseless ice mage who could do nothing to protect himself as he got pummeled by the shots, the alley filling with the smokes of the shot, Gray's pained cry and Bickslow maniacal laughter.

\- "HYAHAHAHAH ! Too bad for you ! It seems even the great Gray is no use without his magic !" However, as if to prove him wrong, despite the damages he just undergone, Gray managed to jump from wall to wall, rising until he got to Bickslow level, much to his shock as Gray landed a strong punch that send him back to the ground where they both landed, crashing into the crates and barrel that littered the alley.

\- "This guy… After taking all that damage from my babies … !" Bickslow looked around, only to realize that Gray were in his last strength and was now laying on the floor, out cold. "Well, what do you know. It's over already ! Well now, I have somewhere to be !"

 _Winner : Bickslow ! Gray is no longer able to fight._

 _Remaining combatants : 28._

This was a message that no one in the guild was expecting and seeing their shocked face was enough to make Laxus laugh out loud.

\- "No way !" Shouted Happy, turning to look at the projection with a scowl. "You must have used some nasty trick !"

\- "So… Who's going to beat the Raijinshu now, hmmm ?"

\- "Gajeel !" Immediately said Happy, only to be shot down by Laxus immediately after.

\- "He's not even taking part ! It's not like he really cared for the guild in the first place after all."

\- "And yet, as things are now, he's worthier of It than you." Laxus turned to glare at Shinnosuke who, arms crossed, turn to look at him, Belt-san displaying his own scold on the Driver's screen. "There're two Riders out there and you won't get rid of them as easily."

\- "Oh, don't you worry about that." Laxus's grin wasn't really appealing as he seemed pretty proud of something. "I've think of something perfect for your friends, I'm sure you're going to love it." As soon as he said that, another text appeared on the screen, one that made everyone slack jawed, not believing what they were seeing.

\- "You bastard. You really have no shame, don't you ?"

 _Takeru vs Haruto vs Romeo : fight starting._

/- A while back -/

A few minutes before, Takeru and Haruto were still running in the city's street, trying to find Laxus or one of his bodyguard, hoping to at least save the girls before it was too late. But until now, they had no luck. They managed, after understanding and witnessing the power of Freed's trap, to proceed carefully and up to now, they had yet to fought anyone.

\- "Where are they ?" Muttered Takeru, his eyes scanning his surroundings.

\- "I don't know. We haven't been looking for that long so we still have time. We can't lose hope." Said Haruto, as they jogged through a street, looking around them, helped by Haruto's PlaMonsters who were looking for them. Suddenly, Haruto and Takeru noticed someone looking at them from an alley, a person clad in a black suit wearing a big red belt with a large grey emblem.

\- "Shocker !"

\- "Don't tell me those guys are teaming up with them ?"

\- "I don't know, but we have to know !"

They both ran after the soldier who fled when he saw them coming. The pursuit kept going for a few minutes until they reached Magnolia's park. They kept running until they finally came to a stop, or rather a forced stop as they literally slammed into an invisible wall. When they figured out what happened, they felt really stupid.

\- "Of course. I should have known." Said Takeru as he looked at the Shocker soldier who began to laugh like a maniac.

\- "Hyahahahah ! You really are easy to trick in fact, aren't you ?" Said the 'soldier' revealing himself to be a disguised Bickslow, soon joined by Freed and Evergreen.

\- "The disguise was quite good." Said Haruto with a suspicious frown. "How could you know what they are wearing ?"

\- "I really hope you aren't working with them cause that would gave us a reason to go full out on you." Said Takeru, really hoping they weren't that stupid and luckily, they weren't.

\- "We aren't gonna lie, we did meet those creepy guys a few days ago." Admitted Evergreen waving her hand dismissively. "They apparently knew we weren't in the best terms with the guild. They tried to convince us to work with them."

\- "And by the look of it, it seems like you weren't stupid enough to accept."

\- "Indeed." Confirmed Freed. "We don't need their 'powers' or whatever to prove we are the best. However, this encounter gave us a nice idea to bring you into a trap."

\- "I can't believe it worked so well ! Hyahahahahah !"

\- "Now, we know you Riders pack a lot more punch than meet the eyes." Said Evergreen. "And since we don't want you to be an hindrance, we decided to make sure neither of you will be able to fight after this."

\- "And what kind of rule is going to make that possible ?" asked Takeru as he looked up, the rule appearing on the barrier.

 _Rule : the barrier will disappear when all the fighter except one will have been rendered unable to fight. Furthermore, all kind of transport, magic or not, are allowed within the barrier._

\- "Well, that's a pretty simple rule, I was hoping for something else, even if the second condition is quite good to prevent fleeing." Said Haruto, knowing he probably won't be able to use Connect to exit the barrier. "It pain me to fight one of my friend, but if that's what it takes, we'll do it." Takeru nodded at that, sharing the feeling, but Freed had something more to say.

\- "Oh, but there is one thing you failed to notice and that will make this fight even more interesting." He said, the riders tilting their head curiously. "You aren't the only one inside the barrier. There's someone else."

At that, they heard a whimper coming from behind them and as they turned around, they found themselves dumbstruck by what they were seeing : Romeo Conbolt, half-hiding behind a tree, crying in fear. The two Riders looked at each other, feeling their anger boil before turning to look at the three smiling mages outside of the barrier.

\- "You bastards !" said Takeru, seething like a beast.

\- "You included this child in the Fairy Tail mages just to make sure that Takeru and myself fight ourselves and knocked ourselves out. You really are vile." Added Haruto before walking up to Romeo who, apparently knowing that he was supposed, according to the rules, to fight, tried to make himself as small as possible but Haruto smiled warmly at him. "Don't worry, Romeo, we aren't going to hurt you. Stay here and don't move, alright ?" Romeo nodded weakly, Haruto smiling as he got up and walked to Takeru, both of them sharing a look that spoke volume.

\- "For Romeo ?" asked Haruto, immediately grabbing the Infinity Ring, deciding that, if they had to knock each other out, they could pulled the big guns out.

\- "For Romeo." Answered Takeru, grabbing the Mugen Ghost Eyecon, both Rider activating their driver at the same time.

 _ **SHABADOOBI, TOUCH HENSHIN ! SHABADOOBI, TOUCH HENSHIN !**_

 _ **EYE ! BATCHIRIMINAAAA ! BATCHIRIMINAAAAA !**_

\- "HENSHIN !" (x2)

 _ **INFINITY, PLEASE ! HI-SUI-FU-DO, BOU-ZABA-BYU-DOGON !**_

 _ **CHO KAIGAN : MUGEN ! KEEP GOING ! GO, GO, GO ! GO, GO, GO ! GO, GO, GO ! GOTTA ! GHOST !**_

Both Rider now stood in front of each other, clad in their strongest form, the diamond armored wizard looking at the white clad ghost, Romeo looking at them from behind a rock in awe as the three mages outside were looking at the Riders, unimpressed. For now, that is.

\- "So, how do we proceed ?" asked Haruto.

\- "I think the best way would be to 'Rider Slash' each other until neither of us can continue. Besides…" Takeru said, taking his Gan Gun Saber in Naginata form in hand, turning his head to look at the Raijinshu who were still smirking at them so he spoke louder to make sure they heard them. "It might show them what we really are about and that there's still 5 of us left."

\- "Alright, let's do this." Said Haruto as the AxCalibur appeared in his hand, immediately going for the axe side.

 _ **TURN ON !**_

 _ **HIGH TOUCH, SHINING STRIKE ! KIRAKIRA ! KIRAKIRA !**_

 _ **INOCHI DAI KAIGAN ! YOROKOBI STREAM !**_

At the same time, the two attacks were used, the giant AxCalibur cleaving Takeru in two and the energy blade thrown by Ghost hitting Wizard, exploding after forming the infinity symbol, the resulting explosions sending both Riders flying and rolling on the ground. Luckily, Romeo wasn't hurt by the explosion whose power slightly surprised the Raijinshu, who had yet to be amazed. After that, Haruto and Takeru got up and did the exact same thing another time, and again, and again… With each new try, the surprise and awe on the faces of Evergreen, Bickslow and Freed would increase, not believing how much power those two were packing, each strike getting stronger than the last to the point were even the barrier was starting to shake, but they were also amazed by the stamina of the two who were still standing after all those tries. Now, after at least ten attack, one could see that they were using their last strength as they panted and struggled to get up.

 _ **INOCHI DAI KAIGAN ! KANASHIMI BREAK !**_

 _ **HIGH HIGH HIGH TOUCH, CLEAR SHINING STRIKE ! KIRAKIRA ! KIRAKIRA !**_

This time, instead of just standing in their spot and attack from a distance, the Riders ran at each other, weapon filled with energy. When they reached the other, they slammed their weapon against their friend horizontally, Takeru aiming for the torso and Haruto for the abs, the weapon grinding against their target, the power coming from the attacks keeping on growing the sheer power sending shockwave all around them, the barrier visibly shaking from the stress, which made Freed and his friends eyes go even wider. When the attack finally got through, the shockwave knocked Romeo off his feet before silence settled in. For a few seconds, nothing happened, the two Riders standing back to back, keeping their stance when, suddenly, electricity began to crackle on their bodies as they turned around, looking at their colleagues.

\- "You pack one hell of a punch, Haruto." Said Takeru, his voice trembling slightly.

\- "You too, Takeru. You too…"

After that, they both exploded, the two explosion sending a shockwave that almost made the three onlookers lose their footing and forced to close their eyes as smoke and dust came like a storm and blinded them. When they opened their eyes, both Riders were on the ground, not moving and Romeo was walking to check on them, trying to wake them up without any success.

\- "Looks like they are as powerful as those guys from Shocker said." Said Bickslow, looking at the two unconscious Riders.

\- "They are strong, but not strong enough for Laxus. Let's just hope they won't be too much of a hindrance." Added Evergreen when she looked at the kid who was now looking at them fearfully. "And what are we going to do with him ? Personally, I'd hate to hurt a kid."

\- "Don't worry about that, I know what to do." Simply said Freed as he walked to the boy.

 _Winner : Romeo ! Takeru and Haruto are unable to keep on fighting._

 _Remaining combatants : 26._

\- "See ? Even those riders can't save you ! HAHAHAHAHAHA !"

\- "Of course they can't win if you forced them to choose between themselves or a CHILD ! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU ?!" Roared Shinnosuke, his anger reaching a peak it never reached before and his anger was shared by another one of the guild prisoner.

\- "You made Romeo compete just to get rid of Takeru and Haruto ?! Forget what I said, you really are the craziest motherfucker I've ever seen in my life ! What's going to happen to Romeo now ?"

As soon as he said that, another text appeared on the report.

 _Freed vs Romeo. Winner by forfeit : Freed ! Romeo forfeited and withdrawn from the competition._

 _Remaining combatants : 25._

\- "I may want to take this guild, but I'm not crazy. At least, not to the point of forcing a kid to fight." Said Laxus with a grin, Natsu growling at him as the older mage turned to his grandpa. "However, the fight will keep going and the clock is ticking, old man."

\- "All right." Makarov, who stayed silent for a few minutes now, talked again as he turned around to look at his grandson. "That's enough. I surrender. So please, stop this, Laxus."

Natsu felt offended that Makarov thought about giving up to Laxus but Shinnosuke could understand why he was doing this. If he could save his children, he would do anything. However, Laxus wasn't satisfied with just that.

\- "Well, that's just no good… The great master of Fairy Tail, accepting his own pathetic defeat so easily ? No, if you really want to resign… You do it after you hand over the title of master of Fairy Tail to me."

\- "So THIS is what you were after from the beginning." Said Shinnosuke as Makarov and Natsu were awestruck at what he was asking the old man. "You want the guild."

\- "There's just an hour and a half left until the women crumble to dust. You better think this one over good !" Advised Laxus. "If you want to put an end to this, all you have to do is take your guild megaphone and announce so the whole town can hear that you renounce to the position of Fairy Tail's master to Laxus. I'll let you think about it. What's more important : your position… or the lives to your guild members ?"

After that, the projection disappeared, leaving the three prisoners to think about what just happened.

\- "Damn it ! Trying to act like he's the strongest without even fighting me ! And now trying to take the master's seat !"

\- "Well, in all honesty, it would be the best solution to just give him what he want." Said Belt-san, earning a glare from Natsu. "With you stuck here and Erza petrified, there are no one else who could beat those four, not in time at least."

\- "And to be honest, I would not mind giving up my master's seat." Revealed Makarov, much to Natsu's shock. "However… I cannot place Fairy Tail in the hands of Laxus. He is far too lacking conviction and in heart… to take this seat from me."

\- "But at this rate, the girls will be turned to dust." Reminded Happy, not that they really needed to be.

\- "AAAGH ! Isn't there somebody out there who can defeat Laxus !?" fumed Makarov, only for Natsu to point at himself.

\- "You're looking right at him !"

\- "You're of no use if you're trapped here with us." Reminded Shinnosuke. "There's also Sento and the others, but I left my phone at the base I can't contact them, and who knows when they'll be back."

*TING* Shinnosuke rubbed his head as something metallic just hit his head, looking down to see that it was a metal mug with a large biting mark on it. Turning their head to the bar, they saw other metallic object flying around as munching noises came from behind it. As they wondered who it was, Hooking Wrecker rolled behind the bar and pulled someone out of it, a black haired guy with red eyes who was eating a metallic goblet.

\- "Gajeel !"

\- "Don't eat the tableware !" asked Happy, even if this wasn't the main problem as Gajeel freed himself from the Shift Car and jumped over the bar.

\- "W…Would you actually… Do this for us ?" asked Makarov, a little doubtful due to the Iron Dragon attitude. But luckily, there was no need to doubt.

\- "I've got a bone to pick with that guy anyway… Leave it to me." He said as he walked toward the exit, much to the others joy. Now, visualize that joy as a bird, and now imagine that bird flipping you the finger before flying away as Gajeel, just like Natsu, slammed into the barrier, coming to a stop, much to everyone shock and disbelief.

\- "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT ?!"

\- "How should I know ?!" Roared Gajeel who was as lost as everyone else.

\- "What is this was a side effect of Dragon Slayer magic ?" Everyone turned to Shinnosuke, eyes wide as the Rider lifted his hands to calm them down. "I have no idea hos this Dragon Slyer magic work, but you two are affected by the barrier even though you aren't concerned by the rules and you're both Dragon Slayer. Maybe the fact that learning from a Dragon have some sort of side effect that made you older without physically changing, or maybe your dragons used something on you without you realizing it. Maybe you are really old and you were made younger by them for reasons… I know this is stupid but I'm trying to understand what was happening here."

\- "It doesn't matter. With Gajeel also trapped here, no one can stop the Raijinshu."

And indeed, while they were stuck and struggling in their made up jail, the Raijinshu, after taking care of Takeru and Haruto, got back to work, hunting down all the participant of the game, taking them out one after the other and back at the guild, they could only stare helplessly as the count of remaining combatants kept getting smaller and smaller until it came to a stop at a really worrying amount.

 _Remaining combatants : 4_

\- "Only 4 people left !?" read Makarov before turning to the Rider and two slayer who were trying to understand why Gajeel and Natsu were stuck here. "Wait, 4 ?"

\- "Wait a minute. If we take for granted the fact that Laxus didn't wanted Makarov to participate and that Happy isn't included in the four…" Ignoring the hurt Exceed, Shinnosuke continued with his analysis. "If Natsu, Gajeel and I are stuck here, this means that there is one last person in this town who can fight."

\- "Yeah but who ?"

\- "What the hell ? What happened to them ?" Everyone turned around to discover who the fourth man was. A young man wearing a doctor blouse looking at the statues with a worried look on his face. "Don't tell me they are the real ones ?"

\- "Emu ! I forgot you were at the HQ !" Shouted Shinnosuke as Happy and Makarov smiled, all their hopes now resting on the Rider.

\- "Well, the discussion was longer than expected but I'd like to know what is happening here."

\- "Long story short, Laxus came back to try to make me renounce to my position of master to him and he took the girls hostages." Explained Makarov. "We have less than an hour before they all turn to dust. You have to go out there and at least defeat the woman called Evergreen. She's the one who changed them to stone."

\- "Well, alright. But where are the others ?"

\- "They all ran to try to stop them but they couldn't stop them. Even Takeru and Haruto failed. By the way, give me your phone, while you'll be out there, I'll call the others." Emu gave his phone to Shinnosuke when Natsu began to stomp his way toward the statue.

\- "We can't take any risk by sending just one guy. I'll have to revive Erza !" People just stared at him, wondering if he could do it. And of course, his answer proved he couldn't. "If I burn it, the stone will come off, right ?"

\- "Absolutely not !" shouted Emu, his medical instinct kicking in, as he walked to Natsu who had already laid Erza on the ground, followed by the others. "What are you trying to do ? Kill her !? Get that fire off her !"

\- "Oh come on, what could go wrong ?" As soon as he said that, a crack suddenly appeared on Erza's face, much to everyone horror. "OH CRAP ! I cracked her ! Glue ! We need glue ! Happy, go get glue !"

\- "You don't use glue to heal someone, you idiot !" Shouted Emu in disbelief.

\- "He's right ! Glue is a stupid idea !" said Gajeel, Emu happy to see that all dragon slayer were stupid. "Take some of my iron and use your flame ! We'll weld it !"

\- "THAT'S EVEN WORSE !" Roared Emu as the cracks began to cover her whole face, Natsu loosing himself in excuses only for the stone to shatter… freeing Erza.

\- "I feel hot… Was that you, Natsu ?" asked Erza, feeling her anger grow as she stood up, punching him and Gajeel away from her at the same time. "What the hell were you playing at !?"

\- "Erza… But why…" Asked Makarov, not understanding how she could be free of the stone.

\- "That, I don't know myself… Perhaps it has to do with my right eye…"

That's when Makarov remembered that Erza's right eye wasn't a real eye, which meant that Evergreen's Eye Magic wasn't as strong on her. While Happy and Shinnosuke explained the situation to Erza, Makarov felt hope come back to him as one of his strongest mage was now back on business with one of the Rider.

\- "And now that I'm back in action, the remaining combatants change well. It goes to 5 people : Shinnosuke, Emu, Natsu, Gajeel and I."

 _Remaining combatants : 5._

 _Remaining combatants : 6._

\- "What ? It just got up again ?" noticed Happy.

\- "But who it is ? Everyone else is still frozen solid." Said Natsu, looking at the statue to see that indeed, they were all still petrified.

\- "Maybe it's the other Riders." Said Makarov. "After all, you did called them, didn't you Shinnosuke ?"

\- "I did, but there are 4 of them and I clearly asked them to come back all together. If this was them, it would have gone up to 9 remaining combatants." He explained, Makarov nodding at that. "But then, who it is ?"

\- "It looks like that man has decided to take part in this battle…" said Erza with a smirk, guessing who it was. Indeed being right as, back at the city entrance, stood a man covered from head to toe in clothes, a bunch of staves on his back as he walked through the streets. "It's Mystogan."

\- "Mystogan is here ?!" Exclaimed Natsu as he, Happy and Makarov grinned even more. "Now this is becoming interesting."

\- "That guy is one of the potential candidate for the spot of strongest mage in the guild, isn't it ?" asked Emu, gaining a nod from the smiling Erza. "And the other are coming. This battle is far from over. If I may, it might just be the beginning."

What neither Laxus, his friends, the mages or the Riders knew, was that they weren't the only one interested in this battle. On the outskirt of the city, on top of a hill giving them a clear view of the city stood a small group of individual, led by a gorilla shaped robot with guns and cannons everywhere on his body.

\- "Well, this is more entertaining than I first thought." Said Gunrilla. "They may have refused our help but that won't stop us from using them. Remember, we aren't there to fight but to make them fight each other. Let's how those Riders fare against allies turned enemies."

 **So, concerning Takeru and Haruto, I tried to find a way to make sure they wouldn't take part in the battle since the already had their time to shine in the previous arc. I also made the age limit lower to stop Shinnosuke from fighting by using Krim's age as a block. We don't know his age, but it's safe to say he isn't young, so I take some liberties with him. I hope it wasn't too much for you, if it was, let me know with a pm or a review to make sure I don't do the same kind of thing two times. See ya !**

 **Next time : The 'real' Queen of the Fairies. Shocker's plan. Activating the Hall of Thunder. First up : Keys, Puppets and Fruits.**


	33. Chapter 33 : The counter-attack

**Hello guys, how are you ? I know it's been quite a long time since we last saw each other but I took some time for myself the week before. Furthermore, I had a lot to do due to me moving out to a new apartment, without any internet which slowed me down greatly but things should be back as they were before now. I hope you'll like this chapter. Have fun !**

 **Chapter 33 : Counter-attack**

/- Central Magnolia, Kardia Cathedral -/

In the cathedral, Laxus was looking at a magic screen where the current situation of the battle was displayed. He witnessed the guild members fighting each other, his team wiping them all out easily. But when he saw that Erza was free and that Mystogan was back in town, he couldn't help but feel like things were about to become interesting.

\- "Erza revived, and Mystogan is here… Including me, that makes all three of Fairy Tail's top fighters. This is what a festival should be like."

\- "I agree, but I have the feeling those Kamen Riders can be quite dangerous." Said Freed, who was back talk to Laxus about what he saw, earning a curious gaze from Laxus. "I witnessed what those guys are really about and they can be really powerful."

\- "There's nothing to worry about." Said Laxus. "They won't be a threat for us. They may have the advantage of us not knowing what they can really do, but it won't matter. I'm the best mage in this guild and if those guys think they can beat us, they are in for a surprise."

As he said that, Erza and Emu were running in the street, looking for Laxus to stop him and his friends before the petrified girls turn into sand. Back at the guild, Makarov and Shinnosuke could do nothing but wait and hope for the best while Gajeel and Natsu were weeping, wanting to go and be a part of the fight but unable to get out because of the barrier put by Freed. Seeing Erza and Emu running through the street was the occasion for the citizen to ask question about the situation to the redhead.

\- "Erza-chan, what're you doing out there in that getup ?" asked a man.

\- "All these guys from your guild have been getting in fights about the place and causing all sorts of trouble." Said a woman.

\- "I must apologize." Said Erza with a smile. "We're just getting ready for the Fantasia parade."

\- "That's some weird preparations…"

\- "Well, look forward to the big event !" add Emu, who ran alongside Erza as the two citizen felt reassured, even if he felt like he lied to them. "I hope they won't have to cancel Fantasia because of what's happening."

\- "Don't worry. As long as we save the girls, we won. Laxus won't be able to do anything if he lost his hostages." Explained Erza, turning to look at Emu who was struggling with something. "A problem with the glasses ?"

\- "I'm not used to them, it's the first time I'm wearing some." Indeed, Makarov gave Emu a pair of magic glasses. Erza was already protected from the Raijinshu Eye Magic thanks to her artificial eye so he gave those glasses so Emu could be safe too.

\- "Maybe, but you'll have to deal with it." Said Erza. "You won't be able to fight if you can't use your eyes. This is the best with our current opponent."

\- "I understand that. Well, if those guys think it's a game, then let's play." Said Emu, grinning slightly like he usually did as M, his gamer persona. "I'll save the girls with my own hands. Well… WE'll save the girls with OUR own hands."

Erza smiled at his auto-correction as the kept running, looking for the Raijinshu, hoping to find Evergreen first so they could save the girls before it was too late. And fate decided to give them that chance. As they were running through an empty street, they were stopped by magic spears raining down on them, forcing them to dive into an alley to dodge them, knocking down crates as they did, looking up to see who the attacker was, the latter perched on the edge of a roof.

\- "Well, looks like another rider decided to come out and play." Said Evergreen, looking down on the two, reporting her attention to Erza. "And you, Erza ? How did you managed to de-petrify yourself ? Well, not that it matters. Things will be more fun this way."

\- "Evergreen…" said Erza as she look up at her comrade turned enemy as Emu glared at the woman.

\- "I'm not one to turn down playing a game, but this one is too twisted to be called a game." Said Emu, readjusting his glasses, a little too big for his head. As for Evergreen, she seemed more focused on Erza than the Rider.

\- "You really irritate me… calling yourself 'Titania'…" Said Evergreen as she looked at Erza with disdain. "I am the only Queen of the Fairies !"

\- "I don't really get why you're so worked up about that." Said Emu as he grabbed his main Gashat. "It's not like she asked to be called like that. It's the others who called her Titania. But that's not important right now." As he said that, Evergreen had glared at him. "The fact is that the life of the girls back at the guild are at stake and as a doctor, I have to find a cure to their situation and the best way to do it is to defeat you."

 _ **MIGHTY ACTION X !**_

Evergreen's gaze left the Rider to look at the digitalization of her surrounding as Emu activated the Gashat.

\- "You can say whatever you want, neither of you can beat me. The petrified girls fate is sealed." She declared, sure of herself as she smirked at the two who glared back at her.

\- "It doesn't matter whose fate it is… I will change it ! HENSHIN !"

 _ **GASHAT ! LEVEL UP ! MIGHTY JUMP ! MIGHTY KICK ! MIGHTY MIGHTY ACTION X !**_

Now clad in his usual armor, Emu shared a look with Erza who nodded as she stood next to him, looking up at their target who seemed unimpressed. After witnessing the 'fight' between Takeru and Haruto, she should have been at least on your guard concerning Emu, but she was too confident in herself to care.

\- "Let's clear it together with super co-op play !" They declared in synch, Erza playing the part easily and with zest, apparently liking to play role. As for Evergreen, she simply rolled her eyes, not amused by this but she quickly brushed it aside.

\- "Your little act is really amusing, but I'm not here to see a play." She said as she flipped in the air, the wings like cape on her back fluttering slightly as her body began to emit a shining dust that rained around the duo who looked at it in curiosity.

 _ **FAIRY BOMB : GREMLIN !**_

The dust around the mage and Rider then exploded, trapping them both but not for long. Soon after, Emu came jumping out of the smoke, Gashacon Breaker in hand as he swung it down at the roof she had landed on, the auto-proclaimed 'Queen of the Fairies' jumping out of the way as the roof broke down to pieces as she landed on some kind of large chimney.

\- "Looks like you have a hard time aiming, hm ?" she taunted, not seeing the smile on Emu's face under his helmet.

\- "That's the point of a coop game. You aren't fighting alone."

As soon as he said that, Erza jumped out of the smoke, swords in hands as she tried to slash at Evergreen, only managing to cleave the chimney in three pieces as the glasses wearing mage flew out of the way.

\- "Hah, that's Erza for you !" She said, superiority seeping out of her voice.

\- "To think that you'd be the first one to show your face…" Said Erza. "If we defeat you, we can turn everyone back to normal !"

\- "And you think you can do that ?" as she said that, she lifted her glasses, her pupils now shining green as she looked at the two of them, aiming to petrify them but much to her surprise, neither of them got petrified, Ever only seeing Erza closing her left eye.

\- "Not going to work !" they both exclaimed, Erza slashing at Ever who barely dodged, only for Emu to came from above, slamming his Breaker on the mage, only to be stopped by the latter fan.

\- "I see now… " She said, flipping her way out of their reach. "I wasn't aware that you had an artificial eye. And I guess that this armor of yours protect you from my eyes." She Turned to Emu as she said that, the Rider standing next to Erza.

\- "Well, it's either that or the magic glasses Makarov gave me just in case." Revealed Emu, taking another Gashat out. "Either way, this means that you'll have to find another way to fight us since your dear petrification is out of the way."

\- "Don't go thinking turning people into stone is the only thing I can do." Said Evergreen, slightly unnerved. And Emu seemed to be aware of that.

\- "I know. And that's why I won't look down on you."

 _ **GEKITOTSU ROBOTS !**_

\- "DAI DAI DAI HENSHIN !"

 _ **A GACHA ! BUTTOBASE ! TOTSUGEKI ! GEKITOTSU PUNCH ! GEKITOTSU ROBOTS !**_

\- "Well, would you look at that." Began Evergreen, looking at Emu with a slightly amused face. "Why, are you trying to imitate Elfman ? I hope you'll be more of a challenge than he was."

\- "I'll let you be the judge of that !" Emu then ran at Evergreen, swinging punches at the fairy who either dodged or blocked the punch, but quickly forgot the idea of blocking as the first she tried to stop nearly broke her hand. After some times, Erza joined the fight and they both soon took the upper hand on Ever who had to think of something to get out of her current situation. And this occasion came, but not as she first though.

 _ **KIMEWAZA ! GEKITOTSU CRITICAL STRIKE !**_

Emu fired his Smasher at Ever, hitting her in the stomach as she was taken for a ride with it, slamming her into a bunch of crates as Emu came running at her who, pinned by the fist, couldn't do anything to save herself. As Emu came, he punched inside the fist which triggered an explosion that sent her flying though the crates but Ever wasn't as frail as she looked and was still able to fight and now that she was away from them, she had the opening she was waiting for.

\- "Your strong, but let's see if you can dodge this !"

 _ **FAIRY MACHINEGUN : LEPRECHAUN !**_

This time, instead of exploding dust, Evergreen summoned a flurry of magic needles at the two of them, forcing them to dodge while preventing them from getting closer to her. In fact, Erza was more at ease than Emu whose Gekitotsu Robots wasn't his most agile form.

\- "Let's see if you can dodge my torrent of needles !"

Soon, it became a hot pursuit with Erza and Emu pursuing a fleeing Evergreen, Erza easily repelling the needles with the swords in her hands while emu was in a pinch, missing the speed to dodge and repel the attack. After some time, he was falling behind, leaving Erza alone to ran after Ever, much to the woman amusement.

\- "Well, it seems like your little friend couldn't keep up." Said Ever, glancing behind her at Erza who was still there, the gap between them staying the same.

\- "I'm sure he's alright. And I'm sure I can take care of you either way." Declared the redhead, which amused Evergreen a lot.

\- "To think that you managed to dodge all those needles… You're pretty good." She admitted, smirking at the mage. "However, what if I were to double them ?"

Doing as she just said, Ever summoned even more needles which rained down on Erza who kept swinging her swords repeatedly to repel them but there were too many of them, some needles reaching their target, stabbing her in the leg, arm and grazing her face, much to Evergreen joy.

\- "AHAHAHAHAH ! From now on, the name of Titania belongs to me ! I am the one true Fairy !"

But alas for her, Erza wasn't done and proved that she was more than fitting for that name. She discarded her boots, leaving her bare feet, allowing her to grab swords with them. Now wielding four swords at once, she began to flip and dance her way through the needles, much to Evergreen shock as she repelled all the needles coming her way.

\- "Im… Impossible !" She cried as Erza was getting closer and closer, the glass wearing mage looking around her to look for an escape route. "I have to get out of here ! If I can stay hidden long enough, we…"

 _ **DRAGO KNIGHT HUNTER ! Z !**_

*CRASH* Without letting her finish her sentence, Emu came back breaking down a wall as he dived at Evergreen, clad in the dragon themes black armor of his Full Dragon Level 5, swinging down his Dragon Blade at Ever's feet, making her lose her footing before pointing the Dragon Gun at her, shooting at the mage, sending her flying into a room where she slammed into a wall where she was pinned down by Erza who, barely noticing Emu's return, did what she aimed for at first which was sending the two blades she hold with her feet at Ever, pinning her to the wall thanks to the swords holding her by her dress. Now unable to move, she was at the mercy of the Rider and mage in front of her, Emu controlling the full Drago Knight Hunter Z, for now at least.

\- "You may be intolerable, but you're still a member of Fairy Tail, and I will honor that." Began Erza as she looked at Ever. "If you want to call yourself Titania, then by all means feel free ; I don't even know who gave me that name in the first place."

\- "Now I'd advise you to stop this nonsense and return everyone to normal." Said Emu. "If you don't, I might lost the control I currently have on Drago Knight and trust me, you don't want to see me go on a rampage."

\- "Ohoho… Aren't you being a little naïve ?" laughed Ever as she sneered at them both. "My stone eyes have one more power, you know. Remote control." Then, she looked at Erza with madness in her eyes. "Now, take off your clothes ! Prostrate yourself naked before me ! If you do not… then I will reduce every one of those petrified women to dust right now !"

Emu was amazed that Evergreen had the nerves to do this kind of threat given her current situation, even more as he felt like she wasn't even serious about it, only trying to look like she was. When he saw Erza activating her Requip, he feared for a moment that she might do as she was told, but she quickly proved him wrong as for when she reappeared, she was wearing her Heaven Wheel Armor and all of the weapon she have in her possession all floated around her, all aimed at Evergreen as Erza glared at her, two impressively massive swords in her own hands.

\- "I see? If you feel winning or losing is more important than your own life, then so be it." She said, Emu looking at her with wide eyes as Ever looked at her, he face blank and slightly sweating at what she as seeing, all that pure anger aimed at her. "In taking your life, I will avenge the souls of those crumbled maidens."

As Erza was slowly making her way toward Evergreen, the latter began to sweat and shake more and more, letting out an ear-piercing shriek of terror as Erza was now standing in front of her, the redhead attacking…

… With a simple punch to Ever's face.

\- "… And THAT … Is how you do a real bluff."

\- "I… I surrender." Said Evergreen, her voice muffled by Erza's fist as Emu sighed, pulling his Gashats out of his Driver.

 _ **GASHUN !**_

\- "You got me for a moment Erza." Admitted the guy. "For a moment, I thought you were really going to kill her."

\- "I would never do that to a fellow comrades, no matter what he did." She said with a smile before turning her attention to Evergreen. "Now, free the girls, right now !"

\- "Alright. I'll do it. Let's…" *CRASH* As Ever was about to free the hostage, the wall she was pinned to opened, a small troop of black clad men appearing and grabbing Evergreen, in a way that prevent her from moving a single finger, much to the shock of everyone here, Ever included as she tried to fight back. "What the hell !? You're from that Shocker group ?"

\- "What are they doing here !?" asked Emu, trying to jump in but he was stalled by another group of soldiers. "You're working with them ?!"

\- "NO !" Answered Ever who was as shocked as everyone else. "I don't get why they are here !"

As soon as she said that, one of the guy pulled out a Gashat out of nowhere, activated it and literally plugged it into the Fairy Tail symbol on Evergreen, the Gashat entering her body much too Emu's horror.

\- "NO !"

At the guild, they were first ecstatic when the first message came.

 _Evergreen vs Erza and Emu. Winner : Erza and Emu !_

\- "Yes ! They beat Ever !" Cheered Happy.

\- "Then this means that the girls are now safe !" said Natsu as he turned to the girls… who were still petrified. "What ?"

\- "I don't understand. Why aren't they back to normal ?" Wondered worriedly Makarov when Gajeel called them back to the board.

\- "Maybe because of this." He said as he pointed at the board where another line had appeared. "Looks like they aren't really done with it."

 _Erza and Emu vs Evergreen Bugster._

Back with Emu and Erza, they were now facing something they weren't expecting and that could make things a bit more complicated. In front of them stood what once was Evergreen. She was now looking like a fairy, a demonic one but a fairy nonetheless, with fluttering ragged wings on her back as she hovered over the ground. Her slim body was covered in green armor with a little bit of scales pattern, her head looked like a dragonfly, with two large red eyes covered by a red visor. Her fan was still here, now welded to both of her forearm, also much more larger and sharper. In addition, little light being were orbiting around her and if one looked closely at them, they would see that they were small flying girls with shining bodies, like real fairies.

\- "And she wanted to be the 'Queen of the Fairies'." Said Emu as he took in what happened to Evergreen, Erza standing by his side, swords in hands.

\- "I have to say it's impressive, but also worrying." Admitted Erza. "I fear that as long as she'll be like this, the stone curse will stay. We have to get rid of her."

\- "I won't go down as easily." Said the Ever-Bugster who looking down at them. "As I am right now, you won't be able to lay a single blow on me."

\- "I don't think so !" Shouted Erza as she ran at Ever who didn't even bothered to move out of the way or to protect herself, and that was cause she didn't have to. As Erza swung her sword at Ever, some of the fairies around her gathered to block the blow, taking Erza by surprise as the others fairies shot magic beam at Erza, sending her crashing to the ground.

\- "As I said : not a single blow."

 _ **LEVEL UP ! BANG BANG SHOOTING ! A GACHA ! JET COMBAT !**_

 _ **REQUIP : BLACK WING ARMOR !**_

Assuming Taiga level 3, Emu flew around the room, opening fire on Ever but just like Erza, the fairies all blocked the shots with their own bodies or with shots of their own. Luckily, Ever apparently had a limited amount of fairies to use as she couldn't use them to deal with Erza this time, but she wasn't just about the fairies. She also became stronger physically, easily dealing with Erza, toying with her as she barely broke a sweat. After some time, she decided she had enough and that it was time to end it. Light gathered around her as did her fairies, creating a sphere of light all around her, sphere that exploded after some time, the explosion coming with an incredible amount of needles similar to the ones Ever shot with Leprechaun. Basically, she became a frag grenade, sending shrapnel all around her, successfully nailing Erza and Emu, the two of them flying through the room and stumbling on the ground before coming to a stop, struggling to get up, Emu having reverted to his civilian form.

\- "What did I just said ?" repeated Ever, looking down at the two, mocking them. "You can't do anything to me. You'd better give up, the both of you."

\- "Maybe, but we haven't said our last word yet." Said Emu, pulling two Gashat which he handed to Erza. "We still have one option."

Erza simply nodded, grabbing the two trinkets and did as she already did before, letting her magic into the devices, which changed them, the first one going from black to scarlet red with a drawing of a woman in a samurai armor wielding two sickles and the second going from blue to metallic grey and pink showing a man in a medieval armor with a large sword and shield. Keeping the first, Erza gave the second back to Emu as they both got up and activated their Gashat.

 _ **GIRI GIRI TITANIA !**_

 _ **FAIRY QUEST !**_

Evergreen looked curiously at her two opponents, a white Buggle Driver II appearing at Erza's waist as they both triggered their transformation.

\- "HENSHIN !" (x2)

 _ **GASHAN ! LEVEL UP ! FAIRY MEGURU ! FAIRY MEGURU ! FAIRY QUEST !**_

 _ **GASHAN ! MAGIC LEVEL UP ! SHÕRI NO YÕSEI ! SUBARASHI TATAKAI ! GIRI GIRI TITANIA !**_

Erza was now wearing some kind of scarlet samurai armor with yellow design, like the Fairy Tail symbol drawn on the left side of her chest plate, the right side adorned with the same kind of gaming pad. Her hair was tied in a braid, flowing through a helmet that covered the rest of her hair, his face still visible. She had two weapons on her back, two yellow sickles with scarlet colored jagged blades. By her side, Emu was in a slightly different version of Taddle Quest. The blue was now grey and the part that were grey before, like the front of the helmet were now a dull pink. Basically, the armor was now much more medieval looking with plates on the abs, legs and arms. In term of weapon, it was easily the shield on his left arm. It was no longer attached to it as Emu hold it in front of him, much more larger than before, a sword hidden inside it whose handle could be seen peaking from behind the shield who had the Fairy Tail symbol embed onto it.

\- "Those are nice armors, but they won't save you !" Declared Evergreen proudly. "Now, die !"

A new swarm of magic needles and beam rained down on the two mages but this time, they were more than ready. As the projectiles fell on and around them, it lifted a large cloud of smoke and dust which hid the two fighters from Ever. When she thought she was done with them, she was taken aback when a flurry of scarlet colored energy-made arrow came out of the cloud, taking down most of the fairies, Ever looking in shock at the damages done before looking down at the receding smoke to see Erza, holding her own Gashacon Sparrow in Arrow Mode, pointed at her. Ever gritted her teeth, unleashing another series of shot at her nemesis, only for the shot to be stopped by Emu's large shield, the Rider jumping in between the two to protect the redhead who took advantage of this to jump at Ever, the Sickles at the ready before exchanging blows with the Fairy Bugster and this time, Evergreen physical boost wasn't enough to hold her own against the Titania, the Fairies almost all gone by now, destroyed by Erza or Emu who had squashed all the fairies he could with his shield. Once the fairies were all done for, Erza and Emu teamed up against their progenitor who couldn't do anything against the onslaught she was undergoing. After some time, she was left panting, a few feet away from the two attackers who were about to trigger their Critical Strike when Ever did something unexpected. Her wings began to flutter at high speed, a mix of dust and light gathering in them as she did so and with one last wide flutter, all that gathered energy exploded in a myriad of bullets at the two mages, like a tsunami of magic that came at them from the front, but also from above and the sides, Ever aiming to make sure they couldn't escape. Erza had already began to move when she was stopped by Emu who simply showed her the Gashat in his hands, Erza nodding in understanding as Emu plugged his own Gashat into his shield as Erza pressed the button on her Buggle Driver II.

 _ **KIMEWAZA ! FAIRY CRITICAL FINISH !**_

 _ **KIMEWAZA ! CRITICAL TITANIA CREWS-AID !**_

Emu lifted his shield which began to glow, literally drawing all of the projectiles to it, absorbing them all, the shield shining brightly with the power of the shots. But Emu wasn't done. He took a hold of the sword handle on top of the shield and hold the shield like a sword, the shield changing to literally become the sword blade, a long and large blade covered in crackling digital pink and silver energy which he hold with both hands. As for Erza, she was holding the Sickles whose blades also had yellow and scarlet energy crackling around them. Ever could only stare in horror as the two jumped at her and slashed her at the same time, Erza spinning on herself to cut her like a sawblade while Emu simply slashed her horizontally, the cumulated energy making the Bugster explode in mid-air as a large GAME CLEAR appeared, ignoring Evergreen, now back to normal, as she fell to the ground, utterly defeated.

\- "Wow. This was pretty cool." Said Emu as he undid his transformation, looking at the Gashat before it goes back to its original shape.

\- "I have to say, it was refreshing." Admitted Erza looking at her own as the Buggle Driver II disappeared. "I don't think I ever thought about using two sickles. This could be a good idea. But this is not finished." Suddenly, Erza was serious once again, giving the Giri Giri Chambara Gashat back to him. "I have to go and take care of Laxus. With Natsu and Gajeel stuck in the guild, me and Mystogan are the only one who have a chance against him."

\- "Then take this with you." He said, giving her the Gashat back, surprising her. "Shocker doesn't work with them apparently, but that didn't stopped them from appearing and turning Evergreen into a Bugster. So just in case they did the same to Laxus, you should keep it for now."

\- "Well, thanks. But what about you ?" asked Erza, grabbing the Gashat.

\- "The girls should be free now, but maybe some need some healing. I'm heading back there and while I'm at it, if I can I'll take all the mages I can find back in case they need help. Good luck with Laxus."

\- "Thanks."

Erza then ran out of the building, leaving Emu alone for a moment, the doctor looking at Evergreen's unconscious form, sighing as he knelt down next to her, checking out her wounds before leaving for the guild. After all, he was a doctor first and he couldn't leave someone like that. But as he was checking Evergreen for any kind of serious wounds, he couldn't help but wonder how things were going to be now that Laxus lost Ever and, incidentally, his hostages.

/- Back at the guild -/

 _Evergreen Bugster vs Erza and Emu – Winner : Erza and Emu !_

As soon as that message appeared on the battle feed, all the girls in the guild turned back to normal, the stone around their body shattering like glass. As the girls all looked around, wondering what happened to them, the boys turned to look at them, at first surprised but then, either a smile or a grin appeared on their face. Happy instantly lunged at Lucy, hugging her while crying, much to the blonde surprise who had yet to realize the current situation. Gajeel smirked but said nothing more while Natsu was obviously very happy, mainly looking at Lucy while Shinnosuke and Makarov smiled.

\- "Well, here we are." Began Shinnosuke as he looked at his watch. "All the girls are free and just in time."

\- "Indeed." Belt-san followed suite. "And with the girls free, Laxus just lose his hostages, the only mean of pressure he had on us."

\- "That's wonderful !" Makarov piped up, a large proud smile on his face as he turned back to look at the board which shown an increase of 6 in the remaining combatants. "So ? What will you do now, Laxus ?"

At the cathedral, the mood was in complete opposition with the one at the guild. When the message revealing that Evergreen had been defeated, he had felt his anger boil, soon replace by confusion and annoyance when he saw the message talking about the round two with a Bugsterized Ever, wondering how this could have happen since he made it clear that he wasn't interested with their help. But he said nothing as long as this didn't made his little game go haywire. But when the second announcement of Evergreen defeat came, he felt his frustration peaked up once again, fueled up even more when he saw the number of fighters go up, sign that the girls had been freed.

\- "Damn you…" he seethed, punching a column in pure anger. "Why the hell did Ever get herself taken out by the likes of Erza and one of those Riders !? Damn it, Ever, when did you get so god-damn weak ?!"

\- "Erza in simply too strong for her. You should have sent myself or Bickslow." Said Freed, who was standing a few feet behind his leader. "Besides, those Riders can do some things we can't even imagine from what I gathered."

\- "And what are you doing back here, Freed ?" asked Laxus, barely listening to what his bodyguard said.

\- "Well, the game is over." He said matter-of-factly. "With the hostages freed, the Master will never give in." The lightning bolt that cracked the ground of the cathedral barely missed him, taking Freed by surprise as he covered his face, shocked by Laxus reaction.

\- "It is not over." Said Laxus calmly, bit of lightning still crackling on his skin. "If you want to chicken out now, then get lost. I don't need weaklings like that in my Fairy Tail."

Freed simply stared at Laxus, taken aback before nodding and looking back at Laxus, his loyalty speaking for him as Laxus turned back to the screen, already knowing what to do to keep the fight going. Meanwhile at the guild…

\- "The battle of fairy Tail ?! Laxus really pulled a thing like that ?"

The girls were just informed by Makarov of the situation and needless to say, they were surprised.

\- "It doesn't really matter, now." This was Emu, finally back to the guild. He decided it was best to come back to the guild before looking for the others fallen combatants. "With all of you free, it's a Game Over for Laxus, he can't keep this game going without a mean to pressure us."

\- "Emu ! Where's Erza ? I thought you fought together ?" asked Makarov, worried that something bad might have happened.

\- "She's alright. She just left to take care of Laxus. And Evergreen is still alive, don't worry about it."

\- "Are they really teaming up with Shocker ?" asked Shinnosuke, the girls looking at him wide eyes at the accusation as the policeman gestured toward the board. "It showed here that you fought a Bugster Evergreen."

\- "Wait ! Laxus teamed up with Shocker just to take over the guild ? That bastard !"

\- "It's not like that, Cana." Said Emu, putting an end to the chaos this misunderstanding could have caused. "They were approached by them but they refused their 'help'. However, that didn't stopped Shocker from following them and forcefully using a Gashat on Ever. She never wanted this."

\- "That's nice to hear, but still…" Mirajane was looking down, a sad expression on her face. "What about everyone who was caught in Freed's traps and got seriously hurt… ?"

\- "That's right !" Shouted Bisca in agreement, fist tight. "Laxus had better see some punishment for this; We can't simply tolerate it !"

\- "Oh, you can be sure I'll give him a proper seeing to later !" Said Makarov, anger showing on his face. "Damn you Laxus… You've gone too far this time !"

\- "Hold it a second." Natsu hold his hand up to grab everyone else attention, having some things to say. "Here's the thing… I've gotta admit it was a bit screwed-up of Laxus to force everyone into situations where they had to fight against each other…"

\- "Just a bit ?" Piped up a sweat dropping Emu, just like Shinnosuke and Belt-san, Natsu ignoring him as he continued. "But there's nothing wrong with his basic idea of finding out who's the strongest in Fairy Tail, is there ?"

\- "I'm… not sure I agree, but…" said Levy, only to be cut out by Natsu who smiled at the master.

\- "All I'm saying is… Don't be too harsh on the guy. Okay, old man ?"

Makarov looked up at Natsu admiratively, impressed that Natsu could be like this toward Laxus despite everything he did to them. But the Riders weren't that naïve and were now waiting for the incoming stupid conclusion.

\- "So yeah…" Natsu then smiled broadly, turning toward the girls while cracking his knuckles. "Let's start the battle of Fairy Tail, round 2 ! Who wants to try me, huh ?!" Makarov did a spit take, the girls all gawked at Natsu and the Riders facepalmed, all of them not believing that he could be so focused on the idea of fighting. "I mean, we still haven't even done anything ! C'mon ! Bring on the battle !"

As the Riders sighed, looking at Natsu who was literally running after Lucy to force her into a fight with him, which made the girl run away in fear, much to the other girls amusement who laughed at the whole ordeal, Juvia walked over to Gajeel who was looking at the scene with a blank expression on his face.

\- "What's wrong, Gajeel-kun ?" she asked, the Iron Dragon simply frowning.

\- "Nothing…" was his answer, but Juvia already knew what this was about as she looked at the laughing group with a smile.

\- "…This guild is a lot of fun, isn't it ?"

\- "They're fucking crazy."

After a moment of 'calm', they were all reminded of their current situation as the display board on the door got completely black, a pirate skull with a lightning over his left eye appearing on it. Soon after, many others screen appeared all around the guild, multiplying until there were about 30 of them in the whole guild.

\- "What is that ?!" asked Shinnosuke, worry showing on his face at the unknown screens.

\- "The enchantment display board are flooding the guild !" explained Levy before a familiar voice could be heard, echoing through all the screen in the room.

\- "Can you hear me, old man ? And everyone from the guild, too…" Natsu snarled as he heard Laxus voice echo through the hall, gaining their attention. "It looks like we've lost one of our rules… So I'm going to instate a new one."

\- "Can't you just let it go, instead ?" asked Emu, feeling annoyed. "When you lost the game, you don't made up rules on the go to make the game continue when the outcome wasn't the one you wanted."

\- "So as to keep this battle of Fairy Tail moving…" Whether he heard Emu or not, Laxus continued, not paying with he said any mind. "… I've activated the Hall of Thunder."

\- "The Hall of Thunder ?!" repeated Makarov, apparently the only one to know what this was and judging by the old man face, this thing was bad news. Really bad ones.

\- "Only one hour and ten minutes remain.. Do you think you can defeat us ? Or will you play nice and retire, 'Master' ? HAHAHAHAHAHA !" With that last laugh, Laxus voice died out as the screen all disappeared and needless to say, Makarov was furious.

\- "What on Earth are you thinking, Laxus ?!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, his heart speeding up with each words that left his mouth. "Are you trying to drag innocent civilians into this ?! NGH !"

Suddenly, the old man put a hand to his heart as he fell to the ground in pain, taking everyone by surprise, most of them only staring in shock, Emu being the first one to react, his doctor instinct kicking in as he knelt next to the master.

\- "Old man !" shouted Natsu worriedly, Lucy standing by his side, just as worried.

\- "What's wrong ?!"

\- "It's his heart !" said Emu, alarmed by what this could imply. "It can't have happen just now. As he been sick before ?"

\- "Yes !" Confirmed Mirajane as she stood on the other side of Emu. "He already had some problems before, but never as serious."

\- "He must have some medicine for this, right ?" asked Emu, to which Mira nodded in confirmation. "Then go fetch them ! We have to at least stabilize him !"

With Mira now gone to fetch the medicine, Levy and Bisca knelt next to the old man, worried for their master and saying him to hold on, talking to him to try and keep him conscious. Meanwhile, Shinnosuke and Natsu were asking themselves the same question, the Rider being the first to voice it.

\- "What the hell is the Hall of Thunder ?" he asked the girls. "I guess it's not a good thing judging by Makarov's reaction but I think we need more details."

\- "It's terrible !" said Mirajane as she walked down the stairs, medicine in hands, her other hand pointing to the outside. "Everyone… Look outside !"

Doing as they were told, leaving Emu and Mirajane alone to try to heal the master, the mages and Rider ran up the stairs and walked onto a balcony where they could see what Mirajane wanted them to see. All around the city, large spheres that seemed to be made of glass with a lightning bolt inside and some kind of blue belt around them where floating high in the sky, creating a perfect circle large enough to fit the whole city inside of it.

\- "What the hell is that ?" Asked Natsu, wondering about those strange sphere.

\- "Thunder Lachryma …?" Guessed Levy, a worried look in her eyes. "All those Lachryma are packed with an enormous amount of magical lightning…"

\- "So they're probably the Hall of Thunder. But what's their purpose ?" Wondered Shinnosuke, his brain in top gear as he tried to understand the way it worked. And thinking about what Makarov said before, it began to make sense to him. "… He's holding the whole city hostage."

\- "WHAT !?" was the main reaction around him as he had dropped that bomb as if he had said 'nice weather today.'

\- "He said that by losing a rule, he decided to make another one. And since the 'rule' was about the hostages, he had to find another way to pressure us since you girls are now free. In about an hour, he'll probably activate those Lachryma…"

\- "And with the power stored inside…" began Cana. "It could engulf the whole city in a storm of lightning strike."

\- "Well, I'm not going to let that happen !" Shouted Bisca as she summoned her magic.

 _ **REQUIP : SNIPER RIFLE !**_

Summoning a magic Sniper Rifle, she knelt next to the railing, taking aim for one of those Lachryma, only to be stopped by Shinnosuke.

\- "Wait a second, Bisca !" Everybody turned to him, only to see him smile while waving a green Shift Car in his hand. "I'm tired of being trapped here, unable to do anything, so I'd like to be of some help now that I can."

\- "Of course, be my guest." Said Bisca with a slight smirk. "Or is it that you think you can outclass me in a shooting contest ?"

\- "I won't pretend that I can." He said, turning his Driver on, Belt-san asking him to 'Start your engine !'. "But I can try. HENSHIN !"

 _ **DRIVE : TYPE TECHNIC !**_

Now clad in his green, shooting expert armor, Shinnosuke stand by Bisca side, the young woman aiming for a Lachryma on the other side of the city, trying to use this occasion to display her sharpshooting ability. As for Shinnosuke, he held his Door-Ju in one hand and Midnight Shadow in the other.

 _ **HISSATSU : MIDNIGHT SHADOW FULL THROTTLE !**_

At the same time, both gunner shot at the Lachryma, Bisca destroying one on the other side of the city while Shinnosuke destroyed 5 of them at the same time, each one taken down by a purple shuriken shaped bullet.

\- "All right ! Nice going Bisca ! You too, Shinnosuke !" praised Lucy, making the two of them smirk.

\- "Don't worry you all. We got this." Said Shinnosuke, ready to go for another round as Bisca got her gun ready.

\- "We'll take down every last one of those…"

Bisca never finished her sentence as she felt something happen to her, and the next second, she got electrocuted out of nowhere, the poor girl falling to the ground, unconscious after just one shot and she wasn't the only one who suffered. Shinnosuke also got zapped, and if his armor took most of the damages, he also receive five times what Bisca had, which meant that he was still conscious, but not in the best shape.

\- "What… What the hell happened ?!" asked Shinnosuke, breathing deeply in shock as Belt-san seemed as lost as he was.

\- "It's like this sudden burst of electricity came from inside your body, Shinnosuke." He revealed. "I don't understand how…"

\- "Living Link Magic !?" exclaimed Cana, apparently recognizing this magic. "Those Lachryma are enchanted with a form of magic that links any damage done to it back to the attacker."

\- "Then that means that if we attack the Lachryma directly, we'll get zapped too !" Deduced Shinnosuke as he turned his transformation down. "There's no way we can do it like this. Not with so little people fighting."

\- "The only way is to take out Laxus himself !" finally said Cana, turning back to go back inside the guild. "We'll also have to try and evacuate as many people as we can ! And there's still two Raijinshu left so be careful, everyone !" As Lucy, Juvia, Cana and even Mirajane left the building, Natsu jumped over the railing and slid down the roof.

\- "What the hell is that asshole thinking ?!" he growled as he slammed his head on the barrier which was also here on the roof. "You're going way too far ! If you really want to be master that much, then fight the old man yourself ! GIVE IT UP ALREADY, LAXUS !"

\- "Natsu, stop that ! Come on back up !" Asked Levy, Natsu ignoring her as he desperately tried to break the barrier by force. "It's an enchantment, right ? That's a form of written magic… I might be able to do something about it."

Now THIS got Natsu, but also Gajeel and Shinnosuke's attention, both of them hoping that she might be right as they followed her back inside.

\- "Seriously, Levy ?!" asked Shinnosuke, who was waiting for an opportunity to exit this building and do something to help in this battle.

\- "I… I believe that you have what it takes to stop Laxus !" she said as Natsu nod but also made a slightly sour face.

\- "That's good but I hope you can do it fast enough." He said, looking at the door. "They are strong, but I doubt any of the girls can take Laxus or the Raijinshu for what matters."

\- "I know and I'll be as fast as I can." Said Levy as she entered the library, the three men following her as she exited it, her arms full of books. "Besides, I think they won't have to fight alone."

She said that while looking at the broadcast screen, the boys looking at it too to see that the number of remaining combatants had changed once again.

 _Remaining combatants : 10 - 13_

\- "That's three more fighters." Noticed Gajeel, arms crossed as Shinnosuke smirked at the number.

\- "They are back." He said, the others boys looking at him in confusion while Levy smiled even more as she knew what it meant. "Three more Riders entered the fight."

/- Kardia Cathedral -/

\- "You would go this far… ?!"

Freed was looking at his boss back, sweat sliding down his face. Apparently, he wasn't that sure about the use of the Hall of Thunder which made him doubt ever so slightly his boss choices. But Laxus wasn't paying this any mind.

\- "This far, you said ? I decide my own limits." He said under his breath, before looking up, teeth clenched and frowning deeply. "This is a battle ! It's not over until one side or the other is obliterated completely !"

"The Hall of Thunder…" Thought Freed, thinking about this plan which he found to be too much. He may have said nothing, but Laxus knew he was still here and that didn't pleased him at all.

\- "What are you doing, Freed ?" he asked slowly, without turning to look at his bodyguard. "Bickslow is still out there hunting fairies, you know… The old man's resting his hopes on Erza… I'll take her myself and the same goes for Mistgun. So you get out there and take out Cana and that Phantom girl. I don't need either of them in my Fairy Tail. Feel free to kill them."

\- "Kill them ?!" Repeated Freed, the order coming as as shock to him. "We may be fighting them right now, but they're still members of…"

\- "DID YOU NOT HEAR MY ORDERS !?" The sudden shout took Freed by surprise but he simply closed his eyes and took a deep breath, refocusing on the task at hand.

\- "…Now that we have come this far, I feat there is no turning back." He said, his face void of any emotion for now, his devotion for Laxus taking over everything else. "I will accompany you along this path… Even if it leads to hell. I will accomplish my mission." He said as he turned toward the exit. "I will be aiming to kill. Don't get cold feet now."

\- "Very doo, Dark Freed." Smiled Laxus, satisfied by Freed's answer as the latter left the building, leaving Laxus alone. "It's time to show them your real power."

In the meantime, the girls were walking the street of Magnolia, looking for Laxus. Cana was with Juvia and Lucy was by herself. Well almost since she had Happy with her? They were currently talking about the situation and needless to say, things weren't looking good.

\- "Why no one thought about using the guild megaphone ?" Asked Happy, walking on a railing. "We could have used it to warn everyone."

\- "There's an enchantment on it." Explained Lucy, who was shivering due to her lack of jacket, the blonde still wearing the cheerleader uniform she wore for the contest. "'During the Battle of Fairy Tail, only the master can use the megaphone.' They really thought of everything… Anyway, we have to get the townspeople to evacuate !" Said Lucy, looking decided but Happy wasn't agreeing with her.

\- "I've thought about that, actually… And I thought that maybe we shouldn't…" Lucy looked at him curiously, not understanding why he was saying that. "Right now, thanks to the festival, there are tons of people visiting from outside town… And the place is really busy. We don't want to cause a panic – it could just end up causing unnecessary casualties."

\- "Yeah, that's true…" admitted Lucy now wondering what to do. "But then… What should we do ?"

\- " _Yeah… What should we do ?... Yeah…_ "

Lucy turned her head, surprised by the three little voices that repeated her words, only to find three small wooden totem flying next to her. Thanks to Happy's speed and reflexes, she was pulled out of the way as the totem fired at her, magic bullets exploding all around the spot she was in a few seconds ago. Flying to a nearby roof, Happy put Lucy's down, immediately noticing the man who was standing on top of a toy store insignia.

\- "It's Bickslow !"

\- "Hey there… Are you the newbie I've heard so much about ?" said Bickslow, looking down at Lucy and Happy.

\- "And what's that supposed to mean ?!" she asked, frowning in apprehension. "I get the feeling that I don't want to know what you've heard…"

\- "The cosplay-maniac queen, right ?"

\- "That's taking exaggeration too far !" shouted Lucy at Bickslow's nickname, knowing that he wouldn't have the right image about her. Even if, truth to be told, her current get up would tend to prove this nickname right. But now wasn't the time to play around.

\- "Hey, babies… Take her out !" Following Bickslow's orders, the totem began to shoot at Lucy, who dived to the side to dodge the bullet which destroyed the spot she was standing on before. "Hey, I'm sorry – I should probably be a little nicer since you're new around these parts. But since we're in the middle of this game right now, y'know…"

\- "Do you actually think the master is going to forgive you people for this ?!" She asked, wondering if he was aware of the implication of their acts and apparently, they were.

\- "I don't need forgiveness from that guy. When this game's finished, Laxus will be the new master."

Shots kept being fired at Lucy, forcing her to dodge again and again. It didn't took her long to understand that the real threat wasn't Bickslow himself but the puppet he was controlling which were currently flying in circle above her. She then grabbed a key, knowing exactly which one would be perfect for the job.

 _ **OPEN THE DOOR TO THE ARCHER ! SAGITTARIUS !**_

\- "Moshi, moshi. You called ?" said Sagittarius as he appeared, saluting as he always does while Bickslow whistled, genuinely impressed as he wasn't expecting this.

\- "Ohhh ! Stellar Spirit Magic ? And your spirits are cosplay freaks as well !"

\- "Oh, shut up !" Shouted Lucy, annoyed that this was how people were seeing her and she will prove that she was much more than that. "Sagittarius ! Take down those flying things, all right ?"

\- "Moshi, moshi ! Orders received and understood !" said the Archer as he aimed at his current target, firing five arrows, each one of them destroying one totem until they were all destroyed, Lucy cheering at this as Bickslow looked in shock, head in his hands.

\- "My babies ! First you get frozen and now that ?! Nooooooo !" he cried before smirking, tongue pulled out. "Just kidding." Out of nowhere, another magic shot came and shot the spirit down, sending him back to his world, much to Lucy's shock as she turned to Bickslow, only to see 5 wooden toys flying next to him.

\- "You can destroy my dolls all you like, but it won't stop the souls within the that I control !" Explained Bickslow with a big smile, Lucy's eyes widening in shock as Happy explained a bit more.

\- "Bickslow's magic allows him to implant souls into dolls and control them !"

\- "And we're standing on the roof of a toy store !" realized Lucy as she understood the implications. "He basically have an unlimited amount of dolls to use !" As she said that, one doll sped by her and took her keys off her waist, making her defenseless as the dolls kept on attacking, one kicking Happy away as the others managed to send Lucy to the ground by making her trip on her own feet. As for Bickslow, he was feeling pretty great and was having one hell of a time.

\- "I'm afraid there's no escape for you now." He said with a smirk as his puppet gathered and got into a pentagon formation, their bodies shining brightly. "Sorry about this, little cosplay girlie. Your soul will be serving Laxus purpose from now on !"

 _ **BARYON FORMATION !**_

Magic swirled around the puppet, creating a whirlpool that quickly formed a mass of energy in the middle which then got shot at Lucy, a large beam of magic that would surely destroy the poor blonde. Happy tried to help her but he wasn't fast enough but luckily, there weren't any need for him to do so. Just as the beam was about to reach its target, Lucy was pulled out of the way by a newcomer who had grabbed her just in time, the ground exploding behind them as they fled it to avoid getting hurt. Everyone wondered what happened, or rather who just saved Lucy asno one was there just a second before.

\- "Now, why could it be, I wonder… ?" began the savior, his voice pretty familiar to the three fairies on the roof. "It looks like I alone have the power to pass through the gate whether you call me or not." Lucy looked up at the guy, instantly recognizing him despite his suit, wild orange hair with cat ears like strands and blue glasses. "I suppose this is just proof that the barrier between human and spirit… crumbles to nothing before the power of our love."

\- "… Love ?" repeated Lucy, her annoyance barely discernable behind her relief. "What are you talking about, you silly idiot ?"

\- "It looks like it's time to fulfil my promise." Said the guy, standing up and looking at Bickslow with a scowl, as the Raijinshu was shocked, remembering that guy from the times he was at the guild.

\- "You're… Loki !" Once the surprise passed, he began to smile, his tongue still hanging out of his mouth. "Why, so you were a Stellar Spirit after all, huh ? I always had a feeling that you might be… And what, now you're gonna bare your fangs at me even though I kept it quiet for you ?"

\- "He knew ?" asked Lucy, surprised that someone could have known Leo's secret to which Happy answered.

\- "It's possible… after all, he has the ability to see human souls."

\- "So you're joining the Battle of Fairy Tail, hm ?"

\- "Can't say I really care much what's going on around here, to be honest." Admit Leo, straightening his suit. "But I'm afraid… no matter the circumstances, hurting my owner Lucy is the one thing I cannot forgive."

\- "Can't forgive ? HAHAHAHA !" Laughed Bickslow, amused by the spirit's words. "Don't forget, you've never once beat me in a fight ! Hell, I'm always playing the nice guy, going easy on you ! And teaming up with your new owner won't change the fact that you have not a single chance against me !"

 _ **DONGURI SQUASH !**_

Bickslow, until now at ease on his spot above the others was forced to jump to the side, dodging the large projection of an acorn, spinning like a drill, but not without getting a graze on his face as the acorn came crashing down on the roof, in front of Lucy and Leo who could only stare in shock but when the acorn disappeared, they could help but smile.

\- "If two isn't a challenge for you, then maybe three will be."

\- "Kouta !" Happily shouted Happy, looking at the Rider, in the Donguri Arms, hammer in hand, looking at a smirking Bickslow.

\- "Well, if it isn't one of those famous Kamen Rider." Said Bickslow in a sing-song voice. "Well, to be honest, I hope this will be a challenge. If this is not, I'll be really disappointed. Babies, let's destroy them !"

\- "Lucy, you stay back." Said Leo, pushing her behind him and Kouta, the Rider grabbing another Lockseed. "We'll take care of him."

\- "I don't think she's the kind of girl to just stay on the side and watch the fight." Said Kouta, which Lucy confirmed.

\- "He's right !" She said, taking her whip out. "A Stellar Spirit isn't a shield ! I fight together with my spirits… That's my style !"

\- "Well said." Commented Kouta, smiling just as Leo did as he change his armor.

 _ **SOIYA ! MATSUBOKKURI ARMS ! ICHIGEKI IN THE SHADOWS !**_

As soon as the armor was on, bullets rain down on the group, making them jump away, each one in a different direction, the three of them taking a fighting stance, ready to go.

\- "Kouta ! You and I will deal with those dolls one way or another ! Lucy, once we've made an opening, you go for Bickslow !"

\- "Ok ! Let's go, Happy !"

\- "Aye !"

\- "I'll assist her if I can." Added Kouta, holding his spear firmly, Leo nodding as he began to shine while mumbling some kind of prayer.

\- "O Regulus… Grant me your strength !"

With that, Leo ran at the dolls, destroying them with light-infused arms as Kouta followed suite, jumping and slashing at the dolls the Lion missed or forgot,. This would have been way too easy if they weren't standing on top of a toy store, giving Bickslow an uncountable amount of toys to use to replace his destroyed the destroyed ones. Many of them were speeding toward Lucy, but Leo was on watch and made sure that his master wasn't bothered in any way. Once she was safe, Lucy, using Happy's wings, flew up to the top of the building Bickslow was now standing on, swinging her whip down in a hope to reach him, but her opponent was quick enough to dodge, the whip slapping the floor where he stood a few seconds before.

\- "Oooh, spare me, mighty queen !" mocked Bickslow, much to the girls annoyance. Meanwhile, Leo was still busy with the dolls but he wasn't in a tight spot, far from it, as he gave another advice to Lucy.

\- "Bickslow himself doesn't have all that much power ! Keep at it !"

\- "What was that, you freak ?!" shouted Bickslow, not liking at all Leo's comment, which gave an opening to Lucy who slapped Bickslow hard across his face whit her whip. "BUEGHH ! You little… Fire at will !"

Two dolls appeared suddenly behind Bickslow, aiming at Lucy who was surprised to see them here, just like Leo who had failed to notice them but luckily, the third member did saw them. With one stab and one slash with his Kagematsu, Kouta took Bickslow by surprise as the Rider redirected his attention toward the mage, which he slashed at once, lifting his spear and swinging it down on Bickslow, cutting him all the way from his head down to his waist. The cut wasn't that deep, barely missing the face and leaving a light cut on his torso, but this was enough to anger him. But while he should have been glad to see Bickslow taking some damages, Happy instead felt fear as he saw the metallic mask fall apart, cut in half by Kouta.

\- "Damnit all ! I guess there's nothing else for it ! Thanks for taking the mask off by yourself !"

\- "Everyone, cover your eyes ! Quick !"

 _ **FIGURE EYES !**_

Following Happy's order, they all closed their eyes just in time as Bickslow opened his, showing green shining eyes, similar to the ones Evergreen used when she turned the girls to stone. If they could open their eyes, they could see Bickslow real face, which was covered by a tattoo covering the upper part of his face, a stickman of some sort with spread legs and arms and also his hair, black and blue with the black part almost shaven and the blue part sticking out on top like a mohawk and above the ears. But they just couldn't and for a pretty good reason.

\- "The Raijinshu all have something in common : a secondary ability in their eyes, even though Ever use her own as her primary." Explained Happy, his paws on his eyes. "Bickslow's Figure Eyes allows him to turn anyone who look into his eyes into a doll and take control of his soul !"

\- "And how are we supposed to fight an enemy with our eyes closed !?" Asked Kouta, also closing his eyes under his helmet.

\- "You can't !" Gleefully shouted Bickslow as his dolls all attacked the mages and Rider, who could do nothing to protect themselves since they were all forced to close their eyes, meaning they couldn't see a single thing. "HYAHAHAHAHAHAH ! There isn't anyone in the world who can beat my ultimate combo of Figure Eyes and Human Possession !"

\- "Lucy ! Use Horologium !" Asked Leo. "I'll fall back for the moment and you can use Horologium to harden your defenses !"

\- "That's easy for you to say ! He took my keys, remember ?!" Reminded Lucy, not liking Leo's idea. "And anyway, I'm trusting in you here, so do something about him already !"

Leo stayed silent a moment, still surprised by how much better Lucy was as a master than Karen, a smile gracing his lips.

\- "Okay. I have a plan. When I give you both the signal, Kouta and you will open your eyes and go for him." Lucy was, at first, about to stop him, saying that if she opened her eyes she would be trapped by Bickslow but she said nothing, trusting Leo who then took a stance, one Bickslow wasn't going to let happen.

\- "Don't let them pull anything funny – Finish them off immediately !"

\- "If only they could stop attacking, even for just a second…" muttered Leo as he was constantly bullied by the dolls, a problem to which Kouta seemed to had a solution.

\- "I know of a way. Wait for my signal."

 _ **LOCK OFF !**_

\- "Wait ! Did you just cancel your transformation ?" asked Lucy who had recognized the Lock off signal, having heard it before. "What are you doing ?"

\- "Don't worry. I may have kept this for myself until now, but I have other ways to fight."

Suddenly, his body shone and the second after that, Bickslow widened his eyes, shocked by what he had in front of him.

\- "What… the… hell !?" He was awestruck by what he was seeing, but this was only the beginning as a zipping noise was heard and the moment after, the dolls had all been stopped, Leo not feeling them pummel him anymore. Kouta's body shone once again as he took a pair of Lockseed and finally gave Leo the signal.

\- "Now, Leo !"

 _ **ZENITH OF REGULUS : LION BRILLANCE !**_

 _ **SOIYA ! MIX ! ORANGE ARMS ! HANAMICHI ON STAGE ! JIMBER LEMON ! HA-HA !**_

Bickslow, still shocked by what he had just witnessed with Kouta, got had by Leo who had used his magic to create a smokescreen of light, effectively blinding him. This allowed the group to finally open their eyes, Lucy immediately going for Bickslow who, still blinded, could do nothing to prevent her from wrapping her whip around his neck, preventing him from moving and giving Kouta, who was now in his Jimber Lemon Arms, and Leo the opportunity to finish him off.

\- "There's no way… You can defeat me !" said Bickslow, hands on the whip, trying to free himself.

\- "You said it yourself." Said Kouta, putting a hand on his Driver. "No one in the world can beat that combo of yours. And I'm not from this world."

\- "Neither am I." added Leo, fist shining brightly. "Besides, I'm not the same as I used to be… Since meeting Lucy, I have recovered my original powers as a Stellar Spirit. Meeting Lucy itself has made me stronger. I'm not like those ridiculous dolls you control !"

 _ **JIMBER LEMON AU LAIT !**_

 _ **REGULUS IMPACT !**_

Kouta fueled Orange and Lemon energies into his body, before leading it toward the Sonic arrow, covering it in a mix of orange and yellow energies before slashing Bickslow with it, the slash forming a projection of two slices of Lemon and Orange and at the same time, Leo landed a punch at Bickslow at the same time, the explosion of light taking the shape of a large lion's head. The combination of power sent Bickslow to the ground, knocked out by the two guys as Happy cheered. Lucy smiled, Leo was about to go back to his world and Kouta to undo his transformation when something unexpected happen. Out of nowhere, and much to the group of friends shock, a small group of black clad men appeared and rushed at Bickslow, doing something to him quickly before fleeing the scene, not leaving Kouta the time to stop them. When he looked back at Bickslow, he saw something next to him that made his blood ran cold : an eaten Helheim fruit.

Just like Kouta feared, Bickslow got up, his body having undergone the same kind of transformation that Gajeel did during their fight against Phantom Lord, something that always reminded Kouta of what happened to Hase back in his home world. As of now, Bickslow was covered in a vegetal looking armor, with leaves like plate covering his arms, legs and torso. His hands were now claws, his jaws now more reptilian than human with sharp teeth protruding out of it. His eyes were once again hidden behind his helm like mask, with roots seeping out of the slits and his hair, now longer, were laced with vines.

\- "What the hell ?!" shouted Leo, taken aback by the sudden transformation. "What is happening to him ?"

\- "Those Shocker soldier probably forced him to eat a Helheim fruit. We have to destroy this Inves before it completely replace Bickslow." Said Kouta, looking at the Inves who had yet to move.

\- "Are you sure this can work ?" Asked Happy, fearing the worst.

\- "It already happen with Gajeel when we were at war against Phantom." Answered Lucy, tightening her grip on her whip. "We can do it. And who knows : maybe it won't be that hard."

And as soon as she said that, things became worse. With a grunt, the Inves lifted his arms and it wasn't 4 but an army of at least 20 dolls that came flying out of the toy store, all of them floating next to Bickslow whose roots, the one on his face, extended and pierced the dolls, injecting them with something that changed the dolls into vegetal looking puppets, as if they were made of leaves, wood and vines, the eyes on the dolls shining dangerously.

\- "You had to say something, Lucy. You just had."

\- "Huh… Sorry ?" tried Lucy however, what was done was done, there were no other way. All at once, the dolls suddenly opened fire at them, rays of green light raining down on them in an unavoidable flurry. Kouta dived right at Bickslow, hoping the others could hang on until he took care of the Inves, hoping he could deal with him in time. However, this Inves proved to be better at close range than Bickslow was and not just to dodge. He was keeping up with Kouta in his Jimber Lemon but Kouta, as he swung his Sonic Arrow around, noticed that he weren't that good when it came to taking damages, the blows he managed to deal doing their fair share of damages. However, just like before, when the Inves feel threatened, he called back some puppets to fire at Kouta, forcing him back to the others who managed to survive the onslaught.

\- "Those dolls are tough." Said Leo, panting as he looked at the floating toys. "I couldn't destroy a single one."

\- "Maybe they are Hybrids, just like Bickslow currently is ?" Theorized Happy, theory which made Kouta nod.

\- "That's probably the case. And I have the feeling this call for at least two Hybrids on our side too." As he said that, he pulled two Lockseed, giving Leo the Lemon Lockseed and Lucy the Peach Energy Lockseed. "Leo, put your magic in this Lockseed, I have a feeling it will work perfectly with Lucy. As for you Lucy, I'll use this one." He said, pointing at Peach. "The weapon will be the same as this one, if you can my drift." Lucy nodded, understanding what he meant as she grabbed the Archer Key while Kouta got up. "I'll try to protect you while you charge those up."

 _ **SOIYA ! MELON ARMS : TENKA GOMEN !**_

As soon as he had the Melon Defender in his hands, the puppets attacked once again, either with energy shot or by diving themselves at the Rider. Kouta used his shield but also the Musou Saber to repel the assault, a task proven difficult by the sheer amount of dolls attacking him but he held his ground : this was his stage and he'll defend it no matter what. However, he was slowly losing the battle but was saved by something he waited for but wasn't expecting that soon.

 _ **COME ON !**_

A white thin blade suddenly came out of nowhere, piercing three dolls in a blink of an eye by someone who was now standing in front of Kouta, long blonde hair falling around a blue helmet like a waterfall.

 _ **STAR LEMON ARMS ! INCREDIBLE SUMMO**_ _ **NER !**_

Lucy stood there, wearing the same armor than Kamen Rider Duke when he used a Sengoku Driver, just like the one she was currently wearing. The blue of the Ride Wear was darker and covered in small stars, reminiscing of a starry night sky. Speaking of stars, the part of the armor normally shaped like a lemon was now a gold color and shaped like a star, on the torso and shoulders mainly where the symbol of the Lion Constellation was engraved. A small dark blue skirt with gold trimming had been added, the rapier guard was also shaped like a star and the visor on the helmet was gone, her face visible as well as her hair which were spilling out from the top of the helmet.

\- "I'll hold them off for now." she said with a grin, throwing a differently shaped Peach Energy Lockseed back at him. "I hope this will be to your liking."

\- "I'm sure it will."

 _ **SOIYA ! MIX ! ORANGE ARMS ! HANAMICHI ON STAGE ! JIMBER STELLAR PEACH ! HA-HA !**_

The armor was the same as before, the difference coming from the design on it, the pink part of the armor replaced with stars and in the middle of the chest stood the symbol of Sagittarius, whose power Lucy channeled inside the Lockseed. The Sonic Arrow was basically the same as usual but in a black and gold color (A.N. : The colors of the bow Lucy wield in her Star Dress Sagittarius.). Of course, he immediately wanted to try it, pulling the string back, charging up a shot and firing at the doll, or rather, the dolls since he fired not one but 5 arrows at the same time, each one of them destroying a doll, much to the Inves anger who grunted his displeasure and Lucy's joy who could see what kind of boost Sagittarius gave to this form.

\- "So ? Does it please you ?" asked Lucy while dodging another shot, her rapier extending like a whip to slash at the doll from afar.

\- "It does." Answered Kouta, shooting down another doll, which seemed pretty useless since every time they destroyed one, another one came from the store. "Hey Lucy, I'm going to take care of the puppets, you go for Bickslow."

\- "Well, okay then." She said, turning toward the Inves with a small smile. "I guess I can say that this is my stage now !"

With that, the Inves ran at her, the puppets following him and Kouta running alongside the Stellar Spirit Mage. When they came close, Kouta jumped at the dolls, slashing at them and engaging the fight, leaving Lucy to fight the Inves. Lucy was amazed by how natural it was for her to fight with a rapier in this form, despite it being a weapon she never used before. She was slowly pushing the Inves back who tried to use his dolls to protect himself, but Kouta kept destroying them as they came, either with the blade of his Sonic Arrow or a shot and soon enough, much to the Inves frustration, the whole store had been emptied, not leaving a single one left for him to use. This gave Lucy the opportunity to land a powerful strike on him, sending him rolling on the ground. She then use her rapier like a whip, something that came with this new hybrid form, and wrapped it around the Inves neck to hurl him to the sky, above her and Kouta.

\- "And now to finish it !"

 _ **STELLAR PEACH SPARKING !**_

 _ **STAR LEMON SPARKING !**_

With the Inves airborne above them, Lucy and Kouta both aimed at him. The tip of the rapier got covered in a yellow energy forming a star projection with the Lion symbol on it as orange and golden energy appeared on the blade. At the same time, Kouta shot an arrow while Lucy thrusted her arm toward her target, the rapier extending at the same time as the arrow got shot, the arrow splitting into many others as they all converged toward their intended target, exploding upon contact as the rapier pierced the Inves, the two attacks destroying the Inves in a large explosion. This resulted in making Bickslow fall from the sky as the Inves in him got destroyed, landing hard on the ground as Lucy sighed in relief. Kouta smiled with Leo as Happy cheered for their victory, meaning only Freed was left before Laxus.

 _Lucy and Kouta vs Inves Bickslow. Winner : Lucy and Kouta._

 **And here we are. First of all : Yes, it took me THAT long to figure out how to write a** **~.** **For your information, this is the ~ symbol in Helvetica (there might be another way but this is mine.) I hope you can all forgive me for my delay but I was in the middle of a change of apartment, without internet so I had less time to write. But things should be better now. I hope you liked that chapter. Don't forget to review and comment if you liked it. See ya !**

 **Next time : Shocker is here, the dragons will soon be. Unleash the demon. An unexpected threat. Sento's experiment : soothing a demon with match making.**


	34. Chapter 34 : Satan's awakening

**Alright ! I hope you guys are all feeling good. As I'm French, I'm sending my prayers and thought to the high schooler currently undergoing their finals exam. Good luck to all of you !**

 **I'd like to talk about something Lockon said in his review about how I disrespected Gaim and Fairy Tail by turning characters into Inves before making them go back to their normal form when it shouldn't be possible. I perfectly know that, but I don't think there is any kind of official information about Fiore's mages and Helheim Fruit. So I'm sorry if I allow myself some fantasies in my own story. Furthermore, the chapter 34 (33 if you don't count the author note I did) is not the first time I make a mage eat a Helheim Fruit, I already did in chapter 24 with Gajeel so why react only now ? Basically, this is my story, mixing two completely different universe, so I'm sorry if I can only imagine how things might interact.**

 **Just a reminder, for those who might have forgotten, I'm not the owner of neither Fairy Tail not Kamen Rider, I'm only using them.**

 **EDIT : I added some elements when Sento use his new Hybrid form since someone pointed something out of it to make things clearer.**

 **Let's not waste any more time and let's get down to business.**

 **Chapter 34 : Satan's awakening**

The townspeople, looking up at the sky above Magnolia, didn't knew what to think of the glass-like orbs floating all around the city. Many of them thought that this was just something the mages of the town were preparing for Fantasia but some others couldn't help but feel worried about those things, not knowing what they were but fearing this might be bad news. And they should all be worried as those Lachryma, in less than an hour, will release enough thunder magic to blow the town to smithereens. And the Fairy Tail mages were currently doing everything to stop it before it was too late, or at least those who were still able to fight since this huge city-wide battle had taken down a lot of them already. But they were slowly taking things back into their own hands. Out of the three Raijinshu, only one was left after Evergreen got beaten by Erza and Emu, and Bickslow lost against Lucy and Kouta. And speaking about the Stellar Spirit Mage, she was currently feeling the tiredness overcoming her whole body.

\- "Huh… My body…" she muttered while letting herself fall on top of a pile of bags, her legs to weak to carry her anymore.

\- "Well, you did use two of the twelve ecliptic gates, after all…" Reminded Happy, standing next to her as she panted, Kouta walking up to her, back in civilian clothes.

\- "That and the use of a Hybrid form might be too much for your body to handle. You should rest for a little while." Said the Rider, grabbing the Lemon Lockseed she was handing back to him as Leo walked up to her and kneeled next to her, holding something in his hand.

\- "And I'll always be here, whenever you need me." He said as Lucy grabbed her keys from him, smiling as she did before Leo looked back at Kouta, serious once again. "So, what are you gonna do ? I can't really go anywhere without my master so I can't go with you."

\- "Well I…"

\- "YEE !"

Kouta was stopped dead in his track by a familiar battle cry coming from a whole platoon of Shocker Combatmen, all rushing toward him and his friends, Lucy and Happy gasping in shock while Leo and Kouta got ready for the fight.

\- "Well first, I'll take care of those guys. You don't mind giving me a hand, Leo ?"

 _ **KIWI !**_

\- "Not at all."

\- "HENSHIN !"

 _ **SOIYA ! KIWI ARMS ! GEKI, RIN, SEI-YA HA !**_

They may have been surprised by the sudden attack, but that only lasted a few seconds and after that, Leo and Kouta got rid easily of the Combatmen, either punching them with light infused fist or slashing them with the Kiwi Gekirin. In less than two minutes, all the soldiers had been defeated, leaving Leo and Kouta who got back to Lucy and Happy.

\- "You wanted to know what I'm going to do now ? Well I'm going to search the whole city for Laxus if no one found him already, but I'm also going to look for the Shocker men who might still be here. Stay here Lucy, you and Happy should be safe here." After saying that, Kouta began to walk away, but was interrupted by Lucy who had one last question to ask.

\- "Wait Kouta, I need to know something." He turned around, waiting for her question. "How did you get rid of Bickslow's puppets ? If you simply destroyed them, he could have simply put the souls in another set of bodies. What did you do exactly ?"

\- "It's a little bit complicated to explain." He chuckled, confusing Lucy. "Don't worry, I'll explain it to you but not now. I have things to do and anyway, to explain it, I'll have to reveal some things and I'd prefer to do it with everyone here. I'll see you later." And with that, he left the mage and spirit, confused by what he just said and wondering what kind of revelation he had to do. But they put it on hold for now, the blonde in need of sleep while Leo disappeared, going back to his world, hoping everything will turn out nicely for his friends.

/- Back at the guild -/

 _Lucy and Kouta vs Bickslow. Winner : Lucy and Kouta_

 _Lucy and Kouta vs Inves Bickslow. Winner : Lucy and Kouta_

\- "You're kidding me ! That bunny-girl could actually fight ?!"

While the girls and Rider were out there fighting to save the town from its impending doom, the one left at the guild were following what was going on outside with the result board left by Freed. And needless to say, the last two results were shocking for a certain Iron Dragon.

\- "No way ! I mean, she's a freaking bunny !" He said, not believing what he was seeing. "I'm sure that fruity guy did all the work !"

\- "Nah, he didn't." said Natsu confidently with his arms crossed, a proud smile on his face. "Lucy is pretty strong by herself."

\- "That's Lu-chan for you !" Proudly stated Levy, looking up from the book she had splattered all around her on the ground, kneeling on it as she was still working on a way to bypass the enchantment that trapped the boys here. "And I've got to do my best as well !"

Meanwhile, Shinnosuke was on the phone, talking with Kouta who was giving him a report of the situation, one that was far more dire than the policeman first though. He was now feeling his whole body itch for some action, to have a chance to help his friends out of this situation. As he walked back to the group, glancing at Levy who was struggling on the last part of the decrypting, he overheard the two guys in a debate which was quite… dispensable.

\- "Bunnies are strong, you know." Began Natsu.

\- "Now that's one I haven't heard before !" Mocked Gajeel.

\- "Haven't you heard of the story of the tortoise and the hare ?" Asked Natsu.

\- "Sure, and the hare lost, remember ?!" Reminded Gajeel.

\- "Yeah, the first time. They had hundreds of rematches, and the hare won all of them." Added Natsu, now gaining Shinnosuke's attention, who until now had simply looked between the two guys as if he was watching a tennis match.

\- "I… I see... So that was the moral…" Said Gajeel, as if he jus discovered something new which took a sigh out of Shinnosuke.

\- "Not at all." He said exasperate. "Is stupidity inherent to all Dragon Slayer, I wonder ?"

\- "That's it !" Levy shouted so suddenly, poiting at the Slayer that for a moment, Shinnosuke felt like his sarcasm had triggered something in her brain. But it was in fact the 'debate' between Natsu and Gajeel that made her react as she suddenly began to scribble down at a blinding speed. "Of course ! I just have to go through it deciphering the two separate grammars at different rates !" She explained, more to herself than to the boys. "If I go through the text, mapping the characters with corresponding frequency onto guile grammar, and then convert that into rogue…"

\- "… Is an old fable really that helpful to broke down an enchantment ?" Asked Shinnosuke, not expecting any answer, which Levy didn't gave, simply standing up, a large stack of paper in her hands, a victorious smile on her face.

\- "I've done it !" She said, much to the boys surprise as she walked out of the building. "You just wait there ! I'm going to overwrite the enchantment ! Are you guys ready ? It's time for you to take part in the Battle of Fairy Tail !"

\- "Hell yeah !" shouted Natsu, arms ablaze as he was hoping for a fight soon.

\- "Time to go have a little fun." Said Gajeel, grinning with his arms crossed.

\- "I don't know who I'll end up meeting first, if it is Shocker or Laxus, but either way, they are going down." Said Shinnosuke, tightening his tie. "I'm in Top Gear right now !"

/- Meanwhile, with Sento -/

When he, Kouta and Gentaro came back to the city, briefed about what happened by Shinnosuke, they were thinking they'd arrive in a warzone, the town full of mages fighting each other to save their friends. Instead, they discovered a city covered in beaten up mages surrounded by a belt of Lachryma which made them realize the threat was now worse than they first though. They immediately split, each going their way and until now, Kouta was the only one who found an opponent. Sento had no idea where Gentaro was but one thing was sure, this huge building he was currently exploring seemed empty and this gave him a lot of time to think.

\- "According to Shinnosuke, those Lachryma can't be destroyed due to a link that send all the damages they suffer to the sender, which meant that this approach isn't the right one. That being said, if we could find enough people, we could destroy them, we just need to make sure the ones destroying them are strong enough to take the damages without dying. Maybe some Riders could do the work, but I don't have the Rider Caller with me and even if I did, who know how many of them are available right now. As things are right now, it would seem like the only way out of this ordeal is to deal with Laxus before it's too late."

As he came to this conclusion, he entered a large room and immediately noticed that something was off. One of the wall had been completely ripped open, cracks and small hole looking like bullet impact covered the ground and when he finally spot the explanation to what happened here. Sitting against a wall, out cold, was Evergreen, member of the Raijinshu.

\- "So this is the Evergreen Shinnosuke talked about, the one who got changed into a Bugster." Muttered Sento with fascination as he knelt next to her. "According to Emu, her power are based around fairies and her Bugster form allowed her to summon real fairies to fight by her side, as if it became an extension of her own power." *FWIP* A tuft of hair suddenly rose on his head. "Then, is it possible that mages turned Hybrid by Shocker have the same power but elevated into something even more powerful ? Or maybe it's a feature only the Bugster form possess ? Then it might be possible that depending on what kind of Hybrid you are, you get a precise set of upgrades ?"

*BOOM* Lost in his thought, Sento never noticed the group of Shocker Combatmen that were standing in the ripped wall which just shot at him, the detonation making him fall forward, rolling to avoid landing on Evergreen, losing some FullBottles at the same time. Getting back up, Sento glared at the newcomers.

\- "I see how it is then." He said to the 'yeeing' soldiers. "You stay in the shadow, waiting for the guild to tear itself apart and then jump in to claim the victory, isn't it ? That is so typical of you. But I got some bad news for you : as long as we are here, you'll never win." He finally said, Driver in place and FullBottles in hands. "Now, shall we begin the experiment ?"

 _ **ROSE ! HELICOPTER ! BEST MATCH ! ARE YOU READY ?**_

\- "Henshin !"

 _ **JOUNETSU NO SENPUKI ! ROSECOPTER ! YEAH !**_

Immediately rushing at the roaring crowd of black men, Sento slashed through their rank like a hot knife through butter, his Batrotor Blade either dicing the soldier or taking Sento for a spin who could then use his Ibalash Arm to shot thorn projections at them, nailing them on the ground. Just like Kouta with Leo, Sento did little work of those Combatmen who couldn't held their on that long against him which also made Sento feel disappointed.

\- "Well, that was a lot of noise for nothing in the end." He sighed as he walked back to Evergreen to pick up the FullBottles he lost when he got shot. "But it would seem like Shocker is even more active here than what we first though. I really should get going. Some people might be in need of help." As he walked out of the building, he was so focused that he failed to notice that one of the FullBottle he picked up wasn't the same as before, soaked in something that seemed to be a tad bit… ferric.

/- Meanwhile -/

Mirajane was walking along the disturbingly empty street, people apparently now knowing that the situation was not suitable for a day of festival, the townspeople leaving for now, hoping the mages could find a way to calm things out before Fantasia and among those mages stood a certain barmaid who was looking for people to tell them to leave just in case to avoid anyone from being harmed by the Hall of Thunder should it become active. And laying in the middle of the street, in front of a flower shop whose frontage had been smashed down, she found her brother, beaten up but alive, which was already too much for her.

\- "Elfman !" she gasped, running and kneeling next to her dear brother.

\- "N…Nee-chan…" muttered Elfman, waking up and struggling as he tried to get up while her sister was starting to wept next to him. "Th…Thank god… You're back… to normal…"

\- "These wounds are terrible…" cried Mirajane, trembling like a leaf. "I'm sorry, Elfman… I'm sorry !"

\- "What've you… got to apologize… for… ?"

\- "Back then… With Phantom… and this time, too… I couldn't do a thing… so you…"

\- "You don't have… To do anything, nee-chan…" said Elfman, smiling at her crying sister with a gentle smile on his face. "Once this stupid fight is over and done with… You just greet everyone with a smile; that's more than enough. Come on, nee-chan… don't cry…"

Mira then smiled, helping her brother up and holding him so he could walk next to her as they both walked away, hoping to find some help. At the same time, another group was walking the street of Magnolia and this was the group of Juvia and Cana, both of them thinking about the Hall of Thunder and those who activated it.

\- "Juvia… How long do we have until the Hall of Thunder is activated ?" asked Cana, looking at the orbs in the sky anxiously.

\- "Around half an hour, Juvia thinks." Answered the water mage, just as tensed as the card mage was.

\- "Aghh ! 'Battle of Fairy Tail', my ass !" Shouted Cana, feeling her fury toward the Raijinshu and mainly Laxus grew with each seconds as she shouted her frustration at anyone who could hear her. "You're just hiding yourself away and not doing a damn thing, Laxus !"

\- "Where on earth could he be ?" Wondered Juvia, looking around, neither of them noticing someone watching them from a bridge above them.

\- "Laxus is saving up his magic." Said the newcomer, grabbing the two girls attention as they turned around and looked up at the guy. "He means to have an all-out battle with the Master. That's why he's saving his power until then."

\- "Freed !" Exclaimed Cana, her eyes locking on the green haired mage with fury burning in her pupils.

\- "This is the man behind the enchantments… ?!" Asked Juvia, also narrowing her eyes as she looked at this man she didn't knew but already despised. Neither of them did anything, simply staring at Freed who was staring back, looking at the two girls as Laxus orders echoed in his mind.

 _"Take out Cana and that Phantom girl… Feel free to kill them..."_

Suddenly, and much to the girls surprise, Freed turned around and ran away, the girls immediately ran after him, trying to catch him, wondering why he would ran away like that and alas, they realized why to late. When Freed suddenly came to a stop in the middle of a dirt path just outside the city, magical letters appeared on the ground as Cana's eyes widened in shock as she and Juvia suddenly got trapped. They got mad that they got had so easily and when they saw the rule appearing on the magic wall, shock added to the frustration.

 _Rule : Leaving this enchantment is forbidden until one or other of the occupants is rendered unable to fight._

\- "Until one of us… Is rendered unable to fight …?" Read Juvia, eyes wide as the prospect of fighting one of her new comrades scared her.

\- "I'll take on the winner myself whenever you're ready."

\- "That's dirty, Freed !" Shouted Cana, leaning against the barrier. "If you want to fight one-on-one, that's fine by me ; I'll take you on, enchantment or no enchantment ! So let us out of here already !"

\- "Making comrades fight one another like this…" Juvia trailed off, looking around her before stopping as she looked upward as Cana kept going, trying taunts to get a reaction out of Freed.

\- "Or what… Are you too scared to take both of us on at once ? Is that it ?! Terrified of a couple of girls, are you ? Pretty pathetic of you, huh, Freed !" However, the taunt had no effect on Freed, and he proved it with an answer that enraged Cana even more.

\- "I am merely attempting to limit the number of people I am forced to kill to the best of my ability."

\- "Wow ! How noble of you."

 _ **READY, GO ! VORTEX FINISH !**_

Freed jumped out of the way, barely dodging a rotating turquoise blade covered in red energy and black thorny vines as a vermillion and turquoise armored man dive past him as he skid to a stop a few meters away.

\- "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I won't let you keep on with your twisted plans." Said Sento as he got up, turning to Freed, the mage slightly surprise to see him here.

\- "So you decided to join us, hmm ? It doesn't matter, anyway." Said Freed as he turned to fully face the Rider. "Maybe you'll be giving me just enough entertainment until the two of them decided to do as my rules state."

\- "That won't be necessary. I suppose this leave us no choice." Everyone turned to Juvia, who had a determined look on her face as she turned into water, taking Sento and Cana by surprise, the latter fearing what she might do as Freed simply looked at the scene. "Freed-san… You promise that once one of us is incapacitated, you will fight the other like a man ?"

\- "I'm not the kind of man to break his own rules." Said Freed, answering Juvia's question.

\- "Juvia, you don't have to do this." Said Sento. "If I have enough time, I can deal with that guy."

\- "We don't have such luxury." Said Juvia, her body now completely aqueous as Cana shouted at her.

\- "Are you serious Juvia ? If we go at it here and now, we'll just be doing exactly what he wants !"

Her words never reached Juvia, but she had nothing to worry about. Juvia rushed at Cana, but turned just before her, hitting the barrier and using it to jump even higher, wall jumping again and again, trying to go as high as possible surprising Cana as Sento wondered what she was trying to do and Freed simply looked, almost disappointedly.

\- "Ascend as high as you wish. You cannot escape the enchantment."

\- "That's not what she is aiming for." Said Sento slowly as he realized what she was doing. "She's going to save Cana."

\- "Indeed." Confirmed Juvia. "If Juvia have to hurt someone… If Juvia have to injure a comrade…" She kept going, higher and higher, the two other mages following her and in the process, saw what she was going after : a large sphere, hovering in the sky.

\- "She's heading for the Lachryma ?!" Exclaimed Freed, who apparently never thought about this possibility.

\- "Stop !" Tried Cana. "If you attack that, you'll…"

\- "… Then it may as well be myself !" Shouted the water mage as she destroyed the crystal, shattering it and of course, just like Bisca and Shinnosuke before her, she got struck by lightning, sending back the damages she did to the Lachryma. Shouting in pain, Juvia then fell back to the ground, Cana rushing to her side as Freed looked at her with wide eyes.

\- "You crazy… What on earth were you thinking ?!" Asked Cana, tears in her eyes as she looked at her fallen comrades who was barely conscious by now.

\- "Juvia just… wanted to… make you all… accept her… as a true member… of Fairy Tail…" Confessed the blue haired girl, tears falling on her face as she smiled. "Juvia loves you guys…"

\- "Of course you're one of us !" Cried Cana at the top of her lungs. "There was never any question about that ! You're a brilliant mage of Fairy Tail !"

\- "Juvia… is glad…" she whispered as she closed her eyes, now unconscious as Cana cried for her as Freed looked in bewilderment, too shock to even speak or move, which was a stupid move as Sento used that opportunity to punch the guy in the face, sending him back a few feet, now back in his classic RabbitTank form.

\- "A scientist know that he has to take everything into consideration when you make any kind of experiment. The simplest detail can change everything and make a good experiment a complete fail." Said Sento as he got up. "The mistake you made here is that you didn't took into consideration Juvia's desire to be accepted into the guild. In fact, no one in your group think that feelings can influence how things can go. And this will be your downfall."

\- "FREEEEEED !"

Filled with fury and rage, Cana had jumped right at Freed, cards in hand and pushing Sento out of the way as she tried to hurt Freed in any way she could, but alas, this was not enough as Freed was, visibly, stronger than Cana, or at least, her current self, out of control which got her beaten in less than a minute.

 _ **YAMI NO ECRITURE : PAIN !**_

Freed right eye shone purple and with the tip of his sword, Freed wrote a word on Cana and as soon as the word was on, she began to cry in pain as if someone had just thrown her in a pool full of lava. The pain added to the blows she received from Freed was too much for the girl who was out cold a few minutes later. Sento didn't moved all this time, transfixed by Freed magic, trying to understand how it worked.

\- "I see. Your magic allows you to write runes, or whatever it is, on your opponent to convey things like pain or maybe other things, basically applying a state of some sort to the target. It seemed to be linked to your eye, seeing the way it shone when you used it and I also feel like you can use those words on yourself, am I right ?"

\- "Your analyzing skill seems to be on point." Admitted Freed, turning toward the Rider. "But there's a difference between knowing your opponent power and facing them."

\- "That's true, but I'm pretty sure I have what it takes to take care of it. All I need is some FullBottles."

\- "And you're going to beat me by using your most basic form ?" Said Freed, pointing his sword at him, his comment making Sento smirk.

\- "You'll also learn that in any experiment, even the simplest one, can go awry and out of control." As he said that, he pulled out his infamous Hazard Trigger and placing it on his Driver.

 _ **RABBIT ! TANK ! SUPER BEST MATCH ! ARE YOU READY ?**_

\- "BUILD UP !"

 _ **UNCONTROL SWITCH ! BLACK HAZARD ! YABEI !**_

The armor in itself had nothing really special and yet, this simple black armor with red and blue eyes was much more intimidating to Freed than it should. The mage was feeling slitghly worried, not knowing what kind of power the Rider currently had but that won't be enough to deter him.

 _ **DARK ECRITURE : PAIN !**_

In one swift movement, Freed put the runes on Sento's armor, the Rider not even trying to dodge as pain coursed through his body, though not for as long as Freed would have liked.

\- "So my armor don't protect me completely from those words. That's good to know."

With that in mind, Sento ran at Freed, the mage taken aback by his speed as he reached him, throwing a punch he dodged while trying to put other Ecriture on his opponent, Sento dodging all of them, from Pain to Shock, not wanting to overdo it in case one of those runes happened to be stronger than the others or more precisely too much for him. Seeing that his opponent was too good at dodging his runes, he decided to go and confirm what Sento theorized : using them on himself.

 _ **DARK ECRITURE : CLAW !**_

When the runes shone on his left arm, a large claw made of purple and black energy covered his hand and used them to slash at Sento, sparks flying as he scratched his armor, making him take a step back, surprise by the strength of the claw but smirking either way.

\- "Well, looks like I were right about you being able to use it on yourself." He said, sounding proud of him. "And it can also grant people new body part. I bet you can also grew some wings."

\- "You should know when to stop analyzing and starting to fight for real." Said Freed as he rushed at Sento, both of them starting for real, exchanging blows for blows but Freed wasn't blind nor stupid. He knew Sento was slowly taking the upper hand and even if he didn't, after witnessing what looked like Haruto's and Takeru's strongest form, he could guess he also had strongest form waiting to be used, which meant he had to use his brain to get rid of him. And the idea came suddenly to him.

 _ **DARK ECRITURE : BREAK !**_

Sento, too focused on his opponent, failed to see where Freed had put his new runes but he quickly discovered it when he felt the ground suddenly collapse under him. The bridge suddenly collapsed, taking the Rider with it, the scientist standing under it but surprisingly, he wasn't alone down here.

\- "Is that you, Sento ?"

Sento turned around, his eyes finding Mirajane's wide and surprised ones, the white haired barmaid holding her brother Elfman as he looked like he lost a fight, which was probably the case considering the situation they were in.

\- "Mira ! Elfman !"

\- "What the… Juvia ?! Cana !" Elfman cry grabbed the barmaid attention as she looked around, seeing the charred up Juvia and crying Cana, both unconscious and laying on the ground. "What the hell happened here !?"

\- "Well…"

 _ **DARK ECRITURE : SHOCK !**_

This time, Sento couldn't dodge it and he shouted in pain as he felt as if lightning was coursing through his veins, forcing him to his knees before the runes disappeared, apparently not liking to be put on armors like this one.

\- "Freed !" shouted Elfman, now noticing the man standing on the bridge, sword in hand. "Damn it all !"

\- "Are you really willing to be my next opponent, Elfman ?" asked Freed, looking at the half naked man who was coming for him. "Well, I say that, but you have already lost to Ever; you have no right to return to the game."

\- "This is only a game for you four. Don't you think those rules will stop anyone of us to give up that easily." Said Elfman as Mira grabbed Freed's attention.

\- "Stop this nonsense already, Freed ! Aren't we supposed to be comrades !?"

\- "We were, once." He said solemnly, closing his eyes. "However, in this game, the purpose of which is to recreate that structure, such notions crumble to nothing. Laxus' enemy is my enemy."

 _ **DARK ECRITURE : PAIN !**_

Once again, Freed used his runes, this time on Elfman who immediately felt this excruciating pain course his whole body, much to Mirajane horror. But this time, Freed didn't stopped there.

 _ **DARK ECRITURE : FEAR !**_

With this new runes, fear-filled cries joined the pain, adding to Elfman torture as Mirajane closed her eyes and tried to shut off her brother's cries as tears ran down her face, as Freed kept going, adding Fear, Suffering and Pain, over and over making Elfman roar in pain and fear even more with each new word as Sento took out his Drill Crusher in Gun Mode, as Mirajane's begging had no effect on the green haired mage.

\- "Stop that, Freed ! You're going way too far ! You said it yourself, he's already out of the fight. Knock him out cold if you want but don't do anything unnecessary !"

Alas, nothing seemed to be working as Freed kept going, Mirajane shouting in pain, suffering from seeing and hearing her sibling suffer so much but what Freed tried next was the last straw, one that would unleash something that had been dormant for many years now.

 _ **DARK ECRITURE : DEATH !**_

\- "STOP !"

However, as soon as the word 'Death' was pronounced, Sento and Freed both felt that something was wrong. A sudden burst of magic came out of nowhere, overwhelming both of them as they frantically looked around, trying to see who could be the one giving off such a strong aura of strength. But neither of them saw anything and that's when Sento noticed that something else was missing : Where did Mirajane's cries go ?

\- "Aahh.. Aaagh…" Both mage and Rider turned toward the white haired barmaid who was shaking, fists tight and while Sento looked confused, Freed looked pretty much afraid, fearing for something Sento couldn't see.

\- "Mirajane ?" Muttered Freed a second before everything goes awry.

\- "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHHH !"

All of a sudden, magic exploded out of Mirajane, the shockwave sending Sento flying as the ground cracked and shattered all around the barmaid, Freed shielding his eyes as the burst of magic even teared open a hole in the layer of cloud above the Strauss elder as she unleashed something the Rider never though she could have. In the middle of the cloud of smoke her outburst created, Sento and Freed could see the same kind of marking on her body as the one on Elfman when he used his Take Over Magic but while he morphed into beast, she morphed into something else, something far more threatening that Sento had a hard time identifying but which Freed knew and seemed to feared.

Her hair were wild, standing up on her head above two pointed ears, her eyes an icy blue with a dark mark, looking like some kind of crack, on the right side of her face. Her dark red leotard could easily be noted as revealing, with a large opening on the front with yellow lining, but the others aspect of her body made it quite difficult to look at her perversely, mainly her two clawed hands and scaly upper arms with some kind of crest on them. A large and scaly pointy tail dangerously swipe around her legs, clad in tights with the same color pattern as the leotard, going from mid-thigh to her feet, ending in a pair of stilettos fused with the leggings. As soon as she stopped roaring her anger, she jumped straight at Freed, anger painted on her face and apparently, Freed wasn't feeling like fighting with the now demonic barmaid, immediately scribbling on his arm.

 _ **DARK ECRITURE : WINGS !**_

The claw disappeared as a pair of wings appeared on his back, using them to take off at the exact moment Mirajane had reached him, swinging her claw down at where he stood a second before, pulverizing the stone. But if Freed though he was out of it, he was proved wrong as Mirajane, after glaring at him from the ground, suddenly sprouted her own pairs of dark dragon like wings, immediately taking off and, in a blink of an eye, she was on Freed, punching him hard, sending him flipping through the air until he came to a stop, the whole scene happening under the eyes of an awestruck Sento who didn't even tried to move, to engrossed in the sudden turn of event to do anything.

\- "I will eliminate you." Said Mirajane to Freed, her eyes conveying the anger she felt and her resolve, making Freed sweat heavily in apprehension.

\- "I can't believe it." Sento said aloud, remembering the other two of his presence. "I knew she was able to use magic and I made several theory but I can't believe I never thought about this one. This is Take Over magic, just like her brother, but while Elfman use beast forms, she use… I don't even know what this is supposed to be."

\- "Satan Soul… This is Demon Mirajane's Take Over…" Said Freed, answering Sento's question without even realizing it, too focused on his new opponent to care.

\- "Satan Soul… Does that mean that she can use Take Over Magic to take the power of demons ?" Sento said to himself before he realized something. "Wait a second… Emu said that after losing their sister Lisanna, Elfman stopped using his full Take Over. Could it be that the same trauma made Mirajane stopped using her own magic ?"

While Sento was deep in thought, the fight kept going between Mira and Freed and needless to say, Freed was in for a pretty rough ride. Right now, she landed a powerful kick to Freed's guts before chaining with a punch with send him plummeting to the ground but Freed managed to take back the control of his flight and tried to fly away, putting as much space as he could between him and the demon who was already after him. As he flew, Freed had taken a decision he knew was risky.

\- "It may be forbidden, but I have no choice at this stage…" he said as he put two fingers on his chest, writing some runes. "Only a demon can master a demon !"

 _ **DARK ECRITURE : DARKNESS !**_

Just like Mirajane a few minutes before, Freed transformed into some kind of demon. His mane of green hair now the only reminder of who he was with the bottom-half part of his clothes which were still here with the exception of the feet which were now demon like clawed feet. For the rest, he had a pair of dark horns, his body was muscular and gray in color with dark blue fur on his back and arms, the latter being adorned with strong and large hands which he curled into a fist as he turned around, meeting Mirajane's punch with one of his own, the force of the collision creating a shockwave which destroyed the ground all around them. As for Sento, he was still in RabbitTank Hazard but he was now sitting on the ground, looking at the two while scribbling on a notepad he took from who know where.

\- "A fight between demons ! That is fascinating ! Let's see what they can do."

As Sento kept taking notes on the fight, the two demons were going head to head, flying higher and higher with each blows, each time one of them landed a blow, the other gave it one in retaliation. Neither of them seemed to take the upper hand until Freed got a hold of Mirajane tail and hurled her into the river but what happened next took him by surprise. The water began to swirl as Mirajane spun in the middle of it, the whole river drawing around her, sticking to her hands.

\- "She drew the water of the river around herself ? Fascinating…" Muttered Sento as he wrote about it on his notepad as Freed looked at her with wide shocked eyes.

\- "Just how much magical power does she have ?!"

As if this wasn't enough, Mirajane threw her hands toward Freed and the water shot toward, gathering in a focused blast of water which soaked and disoriented Freed, allowing her to flew back to him and use her head like a battering ram to send him away from her to give her the time she need for the finishing strike. Putting her hands together, she slowly began to gather magical power in between them, forming a large sphere of energy she then unleashed on Freed, a torrent of magic engulfing the mage in an explosion which shone brightly in the whole city and gathered the attention of many, like Erza who felt something in this explosion. Back at the fight, Freed, now charred up by the explosion, fell hard on the ground, back in his usual form as Sento closed his notepad, knowing the fight was over but feeling slightly worried when Mira landed in front of Freed who was looking at the demon in fear as Mira jumped on him and pulled her fist back, ready to strike.

 _"I… I can't possibly defeat this !"_ Realized Freed. _"This is truly the power of a demon ! I'm going to be killed…!"_

When Mirajane threw her punch, Sento had jumped in, grabbing her arm to stop her from doing a mistake but there was no need as she had stopped when her fist was just in front of Freed's face. In her mind, the smiling face of her sister was looking at her and it made her cancel her transformation, surprising Freed.

\- "This battle… It's so meaningless, don't you think ?" She said, looking down at Freed who looked back at her, trembling.

\- "Pity for the defeated, Mirajane ? Just finish it…" he asked her but she didn't listened.

\- "We're nakama, you know… fellow members of the same guild… Smiling together… Laughing together… Walking together…"

\- "Sh… SHUT UP !" Shouted Freed, stopping Mirajane. "I have only one nakama and that's Laxus."

\- "That's not true, though, is it ?" Asked Mirajane. As Freed's eyes widened slightly. "I'm sure you must have realized… I don't think it's completely such a bad thing to cling to one single person… But you have any number of people all around you. People are always connected to one another." As she said that, images flashed in Freed's mind, images of the different times other member of Fairy Tail did or said nice things to him, his eyes losing their animosity as he realized that among them stood people like Alzack, Reedus or Cana which he heartlessly fought and defeated. "You see." Added Mirajane while grabbing the hand he didn't realized he had lifted to her. "Just reach out your hand, and there's someone right here…" At this point, some tears appeared in Mira's eyes. "It's when people realize how lonely it is being on their own… That they start to become kind. You know that really, don't you ?"

That's all it took to break Freed, who began to cry, tears streaming down on his face as he apologized, saying he never wanted to do all this, Mirajane comforting him as much as she could, all under Sento's eyes, but also Cana and Elfman, who were back on their feet, the bulky mage holding a still unconscious Juvia in his arms.

 _Mirajane vs Freed. Both parties have lost the will to fight._

\- "Well, that is all good." Said Sento, clapping as he powered down. "Now, Laxus is the only one left to fight. Let's hope we have enough time to beat him before the Hall of Thunder activation."

\- "Yeah, but we're going to let you handle this." Said Mirajane with a smile, standing a little to the side, slightly tired after undergoing a full Take Over after so many years. "I'm going back to the guild to see if Levy managed to break the barrier."

\- "I was thinking about using this green guy, but I think I have a better idea."

And as suddenly as that new voice was heard, a cloud of gas appeared and engulfed Mirajane, much to the mages shock and Sento's stupor, turning his head to see a gorilla-like monster covered in cannon aiming a Transteam Gun at the barmaid.

\- "You !" shouted Sento as Gunrilla looked at him.

\- "Good luck dealing with her, Rider. This should be entertaining to say the least." After saying that, Gunrilla left the place and left the Rider and mages with a gas which quickly disappeared to reveal the nightmare hiding inside.

Mirajane, after being sprayed by what Sento identified as Nebula Gas, once again looked like a demon, but this time, she was hardly recognizable. A large pair of horns grew out of her head in the middle of a mix of black and white hair that stood up like the bride of Frankenstein. The upper part of her face was hidden behind some sort of mask that looked like an eye which shone darkly. She had the same kind of wings as before, the color pattern of her armor was basically the same her Satan Soul clothing but it looked like her armor had been fused with some sorts of tentacles, some of them hanging limply and oozing some kind of nasty looking slime, the same kind that were oozing out of her sharp teethed mouth. The claws, either on the hands or legs, were longer and sharper and the tail, now adorned with a trident on the tip, was slowly slapping the ground as the demon stood there, waiting for the right moment to attack. Needless to say, if Sento didn't liked what he was seeing, Elfman, Cana and Freed were completely shocked and afraid of what was happening.

\- "W…What the hell happened ? Is that really Mirajane ?!" Asked Freed, looking wide eyed at the creature in front of them, fearing what might happen now.

\- "What did that… gorilla thing did to her ?" Asked Cana, a hand on her cards just in case.

\- "It's the Nebula Gas. It's a gas which can transform people into monsters."

\- "Can she be saved ?" Asked Elfman, worried for his dear sister.

\- "Yes, she can." Said Sento, Elfman sighing in relief. "But with how strong she is in her normal self, I wonder just how dangerous she can now be."

As to answer the question, the no Smashed Mirajane let out a powerful roared, one that created a shockwave which threw the mages and Rider off balance as the monster rushed at them, too fast for them to react as she crashed into Sento, punching him hard in the guts, sending him crashing into what was left of the bridge from before. The sudden attack took the mages by surprise as Cana, knowing she had no other choices, took her cards out to try and stop her former friend.

 _ **LIGHTNING, REVERSE TOWER, LOVERS : THUNDERBOLT'S FATE !**_

Using her magic, Cana summoned massive bolts of lightning to try and stop Mira but the only thing it did was too redirect the demon attention to her, back-slapping the brunette which was sent to crash in a wall, wincing in pain as she kept walking, finding Elfman on her road.

\- "Nee-chan ! Listen to me ! I know you're in there somewhere. Stop that, Nee-chan !"

Elfman's words at first seemed to work as Mira looked like she hesitated in hitting her brother, which she did anyway. Now with Elfman out of the way, she was going toward the city, something Sento had to prevent as no one could guess what would happen if this creature got all out in the middle of the town. But as nothing seemed to be able to stop her, she suddenly slammed into an invisible wall, taking Sento, Cana and Elfman by surprise as the demon began to punch that invisible wall.

\- "I did thing I could never atone for. But I can at least try to." Said Freed, grabbing the Rider and other mages attention as they saw him, hand on the ground and panting heavily. "So let's play another round, okay ?"

 _Rule : As long as one of the two parties aren't been rendered unable to fight, no one can escape the barrier._

 _Smash Mirajane vs Sento, Freed, Cana and Elfman._

\- "Nice one, Freed !" Complimented Cana with a smirk as she got up, Elfman grunting as he followed her, the both of them joining Freed as they all jumped on Mirajane, trying desperately to save her, or to at least buy Sento enough time to find a solution, one he'll have to find quickly as the three mages weren't in the best shape to fight someone as strong as Smash Mirajane who was basically toying with them, throwing them around like ragdolls.

 _"What could work ? She seemed tough, I might need some powerful attack."_ As he said that, he fished the Gorilla FullBottle as he also glanced at the Hazard Trigger. _"I never tried to use the Hazard with Gorilla or any form that came with an included weapon, like Panda or Harinezumi. This could give me the punch I need. But I still need to find a way to reach her."_ As he thought that, he looked at Freed who tried to attack Mira from behind while she was busy dealing with Cana and Elfman, still having some kind of resistance when she attacked her brother, only for the green haired mage to be swiped aside by the tail. _"It's like she has no blind spot but it looks like Mirajane is still in here somewhere… Wait a second… What if… There is one thing that can make Mirajane soar no matter the situation and I witnessed it firsthand. Maybe this can work…"_

\- "Hey, Mirajane ! Look here !" The demon, noticing the Rider, quickly got rid of her attackers to turn to the Rider, slowly walking toward him like a predator stalking its prey.

\- "What the hell are you doing, Sento !?" Shouted Cana, not understanding what the Rider was trying to do.

\- "I'm doing what every scientist does : experimenting." He simply said as he pulled two FullBottles from his belt, showing them to Mira. "Remember the other time at the bar ? You said that my Best Match could be used to create couples." The demon tilted its head, as if she was searching her memories to find about what he was talking about while the other mages were looking at the Rider as if he had gone mad. "You were associating people with my FullBottle. For you, Elfman was the Gorilla, Levy was the Rabbit, Gajeel the Tank, Natsu the Dragon,… " The demon grunted, as if to said 'Yes, I did' but that didn't stopped it, now running toward him, much to the onlookers shock and horror. " And let's admit, like you said, that Best Match create couple. You asked me who Natsu's Best Match was, isn't it ? Well here's what you wanted, Mirajane !"

 _ **DRAGON ! LOCK ! BEST MATCH ! ARE YOU READY ?**_

\- "HENSHIN !"

 _ **FUIN NO FANTASY STAR ! KEYDRAGON ! YEAH !**_

*SKREEEEEEEEEEEE* Sento's transformation just proved his point as the Smash skidded to a stop, taking everyone by surprise bar Sento who was kind of expecting this. The demon now stumbled backward, shaking his head as it suddenly began to fight internally, Mirajane trying to fight back the Smash that was controlling her.

\- "What the hell did you do ?" asked Cana as she ran to stood next to Sento, as Elfman and Freed managed both to land a blow on the Smash from behind, something they couldn't do before, proof that the creature was currently not focused enough.

\- "I tried to bring back Mirajane by playing on the one thing I assumed she loved the most beside Fairy Tail and her family, something that was almost compulsive for her : matchmaking. But now, I can go and take care of her. I'll even try a new Hazard while I'm a it."

As he said that, he grabbed two FullBottle and inserted them in his Driver.

 _ **GORILLA ! FAIRY DUST !**_

\- "HENSH… Wait what ?" Looking down, Sento saw that if the Gorilla FullBottle was indeed in place, the Diamond FullBottle wasn't, well, Diamond anymore. Instead, it was a light green color with a picture of a pixie surrounded in what looked like dust. "What the hell happened to Diamond ?" As Sento think, he only found one explanation, one Freed confirmed.

\- "Did it said Fairy Dust ? That remind me of Ever's magic."

\- "That may be it. I found her before coming here. Some of her magic may have been absorbed by Diamond. But how can I use it, now if it doesn't work with Gorilla ?" Suddenly, the memory of his discussion with Mira came back to him.

 _"…I mean, there's some pretty easy ones, like Elfman being Gorilla or Natsu being Dragon… if Elfman is Gorilla, then his future woman will be someone strong and beautiful, like a Diamond…"_

\- "You've got to be kidding me…" Muttered Sento while rubbing his eyes. "I can't believe her theory have some fundament. At the same time, it's not like this world is that logic." He then turned to Elfman and handed him the Gorilla FullBottle. "Elfman, put your magic in there and quick, before the Smash got over its internal crisis."

Elfman did as he was told, hoping he could help in saving his sister while Freed and Cana exchanged glances, wondering what that tired look on Sento's face could mean. Soon, the Gorilla FullBottle was gone, replaced by another one, dark red, just like the fur of his Beast Soul, and with the design of a flame of some sort on the forehead of said beast on it. Immediately, Sento grabbed the FullBottle back, turning to face the Smash which was slowly going back to its senses, now running toward the Rider, looking even more ferocious than before, probably mad that he was that close for being beaten by his host. He had some doubt if this could work, but he had to try anyway.

 _ **BEAST SOUL ! FAIRY DUST ! MAGIC MATCH ! ARE YOU READY !**_

 _"Magic Match, huh ? Interesting. Normally, beast and fairy shouldn't work as they are both biotic essence, but this is a Magic Match, so we're probably talking about magic essence here. This probably work like this Unison Raid Haruto told me as well as a Best Match : the Best Match combine the magic infused in the bottle. With the fact that our trinkets are easiest infused with magic when there's an affinity between the user and the trinkets, this probably meant that the Magic Match can work only with compatible magic. I'll have to do some…"_

\- "SENTO ! What are you waiting for ?!" Shouted Cana as she and the others had witnessed Sento going into a muttering mess, the scientist stopped dead in its track as he remembered where he was.

\- "What !? Oh, sorry. BUILD UP !"

 _ **MORETSUNA YOSEI ! FAIRYBEAST ! YEAH !**_

Sento, letting go of his navy and gold armor, was now wearing another set of armor, dark red and light green. The dark red part was armed with claws and large 'muscles' with an eye shaped like a roaring beast while the green part was smoother and pretty classic, with a pair of fairy wing sprouting out of his shoulder and an eye shaped like a small pixie. As the Smash was closing on his, Sento waved his left arm, the green one, sending a cloud of dust at the demon, dust which exploded just like the Fairy Bomb Gremlin Evergreen used, blinding the demon which Sento then punched her with his right arm damaging the demon but Sento quickly took noticed that it was going to be harder than he though as he immediately after was met by a punch to the face from the demon which send him back. The two exchanged blows after blows, the demon taking the upper hand as Sento, despite the fact that he was an hybrid as he missed power and strength. As he was trying to get up after a strong hit to the guts, he took a glance at the Hazard Trigger, wondering about it. He had a slight fear, wondering if using the Hazard Trigger with a Best Match like this one would do the same things as it did when he first used the Hazard Trigger. But he couldn't help but feel like this won't be the case this time and that even if it did, he trusted the others to stop them before he could do some really bad things.

 _ **BEAST SOUL ! FAIRY DUST ! SUPER MAGE MATCH ! ARE YOU READY ?**_

\- "BUILD UP !"

 _ **UNCONTROL SWITCH ! MAGE HAZARD ! YABEI !**_

Transforming with the Hazard Trigger, Freed and Elfman, who witnessed it before, waited for a black armor with colored eyes, but this time, the armor had kept his colors but with even much more detail, reminiscing of the two mages that gave him his current power. The dark red side was looking a lot more like Elfman's Beast Soul, with a horn on his side oh the helmet, a large horn on the shoulder with even sharper and longer claws, now also present on the feet. On the green side, the fairy wings were longer, like the ones Evergreen wore, with slicker armor parts and very special pupil in the eye and fairy wings pointing outside and surrounding the eye.

\- "Well, that was unexpected." Said Sento, still in control like he thought as he looked at his armor. "But that should do it perfectly."

The confrontation began once again and this time, Sento was slowly but surely walking on his opponent. The beast side was even more powerful, allowing really powerful strike that shook and threw the demon to the side effortlessly and if Mira managed to reach him, the fairy dust, constantly prevent around him this time, either exploded or formed needles that repelled the Smash. Blow after blow, Sento was pushing the Smash back until he finally had time to breathe and trigger a finisher.

 _ **READY, GO ! VORTEX FINISH !**_

The Fairy Dust gathered around the beast claw, the claw shining with a dark red energy as he ran at the Smash and suddenly thrusted the claw at his opponent : the claw left a large gash on the armor, dealing his fair share of damages and a few seconds later, the fairy dust the claw left in the scratch exploded, making the beast explode from the inside. At first, this show worried Elfman about her sister wellbeing, which didn't disappeared as the vanquished Smash laid on the ground. But it disappeared when Sento came and took the Nebula Gas out of her, Mirajane reappearing and her brother immediately rushing to her side.

\- "Don't worry. She's alright." Said Sento as he unmorphed, the Gorilla and Diamond FullBottles back to their original form. "She might be out cold for a moment, though."

\- "That was horrible to fight Mirajane like that." Said Cana as Freed stood by her.

\- "I'm still worried thought." He said, looking around. "those Shocker guys are probably still in the town and if they targeted the Raijinshu, they probably also have something in mind for Laxus."

\- "Don't worry about it. I'm going to go and find Shocker before they can do anything else." He said with a smile. "Besides, there's people here who have yet to fight and I'm pretty sure they are more than enough to take care of Laxus."

Indeed, things were starting to get complicated for Laxus as, now that Freed had been beaten, only him was left and the last contestant of the Battle of Fairy Tail were coming for him, all dead set on putting an end to his madness.

 **Okay, that's done. Not my longest chapter, but that will do. I hope you liked it, don't forget to review, comment, follow if you liked it, don't hesitate to tell me even if you didn't liked it, that will help me for whatever come next. See ya !**

 **Next time : The last stretch of the battle. Iron, Fire, Lightning and Space. The true heart of Laxus.**


	35. Chapter 35 : The true heart of a dragon

**Edit : i corrected a mistake, just a mistake regarding a switch, nothing serious.**

 **Chapter 35 : The true heart of a dragon**

At the guild, the tension was high. Levy and Emu were the only one still here, with the exception of the wounded. Their eyes were glued on the screen displaying the results of the fight and they were feeling neither good or bad. On the good side, they were happy to see that all the Raijinshu had been defeated, just like the tries from Shocker to mess things up and that was good to see. But at the same time, they had yet to see anything talking about Laxus being in a fight with anyone yet and the Hall of Thunder was still in standby, nearing their activation and that was a bad news.

\- "The Hall of Thunder…" Said Levy, eyes locked to the screens. "Thunder filled Lachryma attacking the entire city… judgement from a thunder… And time is short…"

\- "There's what ? About ten minutes left ?" Asked Emu, rubbing his head. "If Laxus really is serious about this, this is going to be horrible. "

\- "Hey, I'm sure it'll will work out somehow." Said Levy with a smile. "We still have Erza and Natsu out. There's also Gajeel. And even Mystogan, too !"

\- "That's true." Nodded Emu, his arms now crossed on his chest. "Besides, my friends are still out there and judging by what we saw, Gentaro had yet to fought. But they better do it quickly or else, the town may have to pay the price."

Just as he said that, they heard footsteps and they turned their heads to see that someone had just walked in, half-hidden by the shadows and the cape the person was wearing. Both Levy and Emu wondered who that could be when the newcomer came to a stop, lifting HER head as she glance at them, revealing an old woman face with pink hair framing it.

\- "Where is Makarov ?"

\- "Porlyusica-san ?!" Half-shouted Levy, surprised to see the old healer in the guild as Emu stared wide eyed before shaking his head, answering the question she asked.

\- "We put him in a bed in the medical office right here." He said as he pointed at the door leading to the sick bay, Porlyusica simply humming in answer as she walked past them, the two following after her. "I did what I could to stabilize him but I have to say that I can't do much without the tools I usually use."

\- "Ah ! There's a bit of a situation right now..."

\- "I am aware of that !" Snapped Porlyusica, stopping Levy as they kept walking. "That is why I came."

The Rider and mage exchange a glance as they wondered what she meant by that as they entered the sick bay, the old woman now standing by the bed where Makarov was laying, looking pretty peaceful.

\- "Could you have come here to heal him, then ?!" asked Levy full of hope, only to be ignored by the old woman as she stood there, only looking at her old friend. After a few seconds of silence, she finally said something but not what the two expected.

\- "Bring Laxus here."

\- "Hum… I don't want to sound like I don't care, but I don't think he'll come here even if we beg him." Said Emu, but Porlyusica insisted.

\- "I said : bring that idiot boy who is playing the fool in ignorance of his grandfather's critical condition here at once."

Two pairs of eyes widened suddenly as the implication of what she had just said settled in, Emu standing there mouth agape while Levy began to tremble, a hand on her heart as she feared that she might have heard correctly.

\- "C…Critical condition ? What do you… "

\- "Just do it… please." Asked Porlyusica, turning to face them both, tears welling in her eyes as she, too, began to shake. "He doesn't have long left."

Emu and Levy gasped once again as Porlyusica confirmed what they were fearing, her tears and shakiness, unusual for such a woman, adding to the gravity of the situation. Emu looked down, shaking his head as Levy looked like she was about to cry.

\- "I knew that whatever it was, it was pretty bad, but I had no idea it was that bad." Muttered Emu as he clenched his fist and stormed out, Levy running after him.

\- "Wait ! Emu !"

\- "Stay here, Levy !" Shouted Emu, putting his Driver back on. "I'll go and bring Laxus here, in a wheelchair if I have to. I won't let Makarov die like this. I'll change his fate with my own hands !"

/- Kardia Cathedral -/

Evergreen, Bickslow and even Freed failed. Laxus sat alone in the large hall of the Kardia Cathedral, head hanging down as he waited for his opponents which we're on their way here, wondering who would be the first one to find him. There were only 10 minutes left before the Hall of Thunder activation and Laxus simply waited, sitting alone in the quiet nave but if he looked peaceful from the outside, despite his frown, in his mind, he wasn't as calm as he recalled a memory from the past, one that probably began everything.

\- Flashback -

Laxus, at the time a teenager, was standing in his grandfather's office in the old building, looking down at him with a frown, visibly pissed by something.

\- "Everybody's been looking at me through rose-colored glasses since I was just a kid just because I'm 'your grandson' !" He said to Makarov who was listening at his grandson, feeling slightly nervous. "Doesn't matter what the hell I do, it's always 'Well, he is Makarov's grandson', 'He is the grandson of the master of Fairy Tail, after all'… I never get any proper credit for anything !"

\- "You're thinking about this far too much." Said Makarov, understanding his problem but not knowing what to say to calm him which made him rather nervous. "'Proper credit' is a remarkably difficult thing for anybody in this world to achieve…"

\- "It pisses me off enough already without you bringing that shame upon me as well !" As Laxus said that, Makarov looked down, more serious as he knew where this was heading. "Don't you even have any goddamn feelings ?! Why did you excommunicate my dad, dammit ?!"

\- "… He was a danger to the guild." Simply said Makarov which of course didn't satisfied Laxus one bit.

\- "Okay, so he did a lot of stupid things ! But he's still your son, isn't he ?! He's family, dammit !"

\- "Family or not… I cannot allow a man who endangers the lives of his comrades to be a member of this guild." Explained Makarov, dead serious as he looked at his grandson. "Like the generation before me, I will protect this guild. That is the way of Fairy Tail."

\- "Then what… Are you gonna get rid of me and all ?" Asked Laxus who didn't looked like he accepted his explanation. "If you do, I'll just go join the guild my dad founded, and I'll take you out !"

\- "The guild he… founded ?" Repeated Makarov, genuinely surprised by this revelation. "Do… Do you mean to say you know where he is right now ?"

\- "Hah, like you give a crap…" Said Laxus as he turned around toward the door. "Ain't no use pretending like you care at this point."

\- "W…Wait !" Stopped Makarov, having something really important to say, eyes wide in what seemed to be fear. "He left the guild in possession of extremely sensible information regarding Fairy Tail ! We must find him or the guild may be in danger !"

\- "Says the guy who went and chased him out…" muttered Laxus, head low. "I'm gonna surpass you one day. Not for my father… But so that I can be myself… So I can be a man in my own right."

\- Flashback's end –

In a way, that day marked the day he became the one he is today : someone who would do anything to get what he wanted and in this case, this was the guild he was after. Getting up, he looked at the timer on the side, displaying the time left for the Battle.

\- "Six minutes left until the activation… So he still doesn't feel like giving in, huh ?" He said to himself, ignoring his grandfather current state. "I guess that's the stubborn old bastard I know, all right…" A few seconds later, he heard the noise of a large door being opened behind him, making him turn around to see who entered, a smirk gracing his lips as he saw the man who had walked in.

\- "So you're here… Mystogan." He said as Mystogan came to a stop, standing a few feet away from Laxus. "I never dreamed you'd actually decide to take part in my little game…"

\- "Deactivate the Hall of Thunder immediately, and you may still be able to pass this odd as a mere addition to the festivities." Asked Mystogan, not beating around the bush but Laxus paid him no mind.

\- "This is my lucky day ! I'm sure you know, right ?" He began, chatting with Mystogan like two friends. "The rumors are flying left and right… About who's the strongest in Fairy Tail. Me… Or you."

\- "I have little interest in such things." Revealed Mystogan. "But if I had to make a choice, I would propose Gildarts."

\- "Eh, he's no use… He ain't coming back." Laxus said, shrugging this possibility off. "Erza's showing a lot of promise, and all, but she's still weak."

\- "Erza ? Weak ? You must be as good as blind."

\- "Look, I'm complimenting you, here, Mystogan." Said Laxus. "Right now, the strongest member of Fairy Tail is one of us two."

\- "I may have never seen them in action but from what I've heard, those Kamen Rider have a lot of power, too." Threw Mystogan but once again, Laxus didn't care.

\- "They are only in our world because those Shocker soldier are in our world, so they won't stay here indefinitely. Besides, strong they may be, but they are nothing compared to me. As I said, you and I are the two only candidate for the seat of Strongest of Fairy Tail."

\- "Is that really all you have eyes for… ? And you claim you are the lucky one…"

\- "Let's settle this once and for all." Stated Laxus. "With the title of 'strongest' at stake ! Mystogan … Or should I say… 'Another…'"

As soon as that word left Laxus's mouth, Mystogan, whose eyes had widened all of a sudden, spun one of his cane around as Laxus reacted by summoning his magic, the two colliding in a large explosion which shattered the windows of the cathedral, the shockwave coursing through the town, acting like a beacon to those who were still looking for Laxus. Back to the fight, Mystogan only visible eye was glaring at Laxus, in a rare display of emotion.

\- "… Where did you learn of that ?" he asked Laxus, wanting to know how he could have learned this.

\- "Good question… Maybe I'll tell you if you beat me ?" Said Laxus, purposely doing this to provoke Mystogan and force him to fight and it worked.

\- "You will regret this Laxus." Began Mystogan, brandishing one of his staves in front of him. "You are about to witness a form of magic like you never saw before."

\- "Bring it. I'll show you just where you stand."

With that being said, Mystogan took all of his five staves and put them in front of him, holding onto the one in the middle as the others seemed to float, all perfectly still.

 _ **SKYSCRAPER !**_

In a flash of light, the ground around Laxus began to swell and rise like the sea during a storm before opening up as a large column of light propelled the blonde several hundred meters into the air, above a now completely destroyed cathedral. But this wasn't the end. As Laxus stared in shock at the crater which was the church a few seconds before, he looked up as the sky began to open, to clawed hands opening a crack in the suddenly dark skies as belts wrapped around him, as a gigantic demon break through it and reaching for him. However, as the demon was about to eat him, Laxus seemed to realize something as he reappeared in the cathedral, bursting through some kind of bubble which pushed Mystogan back.

\- "HAHAHAHAHA ! What a load of crap !" Laughed Laxus as he stood in front of Mystogan. "You thought some stupid illusion would be enough to deal with me, Mystogan ?!"

\- "Impressive enough. But you noticed just an instant too late." As he said that, a column of light appeared around Laxus as several magic circle appeared above him. "You are already within my technique."

 _ **FIVEFOLD ARRAY : MIKAGURA !**_

As the spell activated, Mystogan though he got Laxus but alas, the other mage also had a surprise in store for him. Just as Mikagura exploded on Laxus in a pillar of light, a bold of lightning rose from the ground right under Mystogan, shocking and sending him flying, both attacks doing some damages to their respective target without really incapacitating them. Still airborne, Mystogan used his magic to control the ground around Laxus, trying to grab him but in a flash, Laxus was out of there, Mystogan thinking for a moment that he got away when he noticed a spark running along the wall and pillar beside him which suddenly dived at him, frying him pretty… Or did he ? Because the flying Mystogan began to disappear like a ghost before reappearing on the ground, in front of Laxus who couldn't help but smirk.

\- "Tch… Not half bad, are you."

\- "LAXUS !"

Both fighters turned their head toward the entrance, Laxus frowning as Mystogan opened wide eyes as they realized that they weren't alone anymore as Erza and Natsu stood by the door. Both of them looked at each other, surprised by their respective presence before reporting their attention on the cloaked men in the room.

\- "Who's this guy ?" Asked Natsu.

\- "Mystogan ?" Tried Erza as they both never saw Mystogan before since he kept putting them to sleep every time he came to the guild. As for the cloaked guy, he seemed… odd, immediately averting his gaze, as if he was trying his best to keep his face hidden from the two newcomers and that gave Laxus a perfect opportunity to attack. Using this opening, he threw a bolt at Mystogan, hitting him full in the face, burning his hood and mask off his face, revealing it to the outside world, and his sudden uneasiness at the idea of being seen got an explanation. Dark eyes, blue hair and red tattoo on the right side of his face, Mystogan was…

\- "Jellal…" Whispered Erza with tears in her eyes as Natsu was awestruck, memory of the sick bastard from the Tower of Paradise coming back to him. "You're… alive…"

\- "Oh ? A familiar face ?" Simply said Laxus who was looking at the scene in amusement, probably already aware of what was going through Titania and Salamander's head.

\- "Wh… What's going on ?! Mystogan is Jellal ?!" Shouted Natsu, not believing what he was seeing.

-"Erza… I wanted you, at least… Not to see this face…" said Mystogan with the same voice as Jellal, adding to the confusion. "I am not Jellal. I know him, hut he is not me." This was a lot to take in for Erza who was on the verge of crying as Mystogan turned around, looking down and eyes closed. "I'm sorry. I leave the rest to you." And with that, he disappeared, leaving a smirking Laxus, a shivering Erza and confused Natsu behind. Natsu which quickly switched from confusion to anger.

\- "Argh, stupid idiot ! Fine, I'll deal with you later ! Laxus… It's you I'm here for !" He roared, turning to look back at Laxus. "Erza… I'll handle this guy, all right ?!" However, he got no response from the redhead who was still standing there, dumbly looking at where Mystogan was standing a few seconds before, still shaking and despite Natsu's calls, the only thing that made her move was the bolt shot at her by Laxus, which send her to the ground with a pained cry.

\- "Wipe that dumb look off your face already." Said Laxus, grinning with sparks flying around his fist. "Now, come on… Bring it !"

\- "Laxus ! I thought I just told you… I'M gonna handle this ! You asshole !"

\- "Oh ? When did you get here, Natsu ?" Taunted Laxus, and it worked, Natsu staring disbelievingly at how much Laxus was looking down on him. And of course, he reacted in the Natsu's way, rushing without thinking aka the Natsu's way.

\- "You're gonna fight me, Laxus !"

\- "You know, I'm getting pretty damn sick of those head-on charges of yours, too." Sighed Laxus, not feeling amused by Natsu's antics. "Out of my face, trash !"

Laxus immediately shot a bolt at Natsu, the latter jumping above it to dodge and immediately counter-attack.

 _ **FIRE DRAGON'S CLAW !**_

Airborne, Natsu threw a kick at Laxus which he blocked easily before sending him flying back and welcoming as soon as he landed with a strong electricity enhanced kick to the face but as his body was sent flying, Laxus grabbed his wrist as he cocked his other hand, folded in a fist, back.

\- "You're not getting away that easy !" And he began to threw lightning punches at Natsu, pummeling him but Natsu, instead of pulling himself our of this, simply grabbed back Laxus's wrist, looking at him with a grin.

\- "Who's running ? This is my chance to seize the top !"

And he threw a fire punch at Laxus's face, hitting him square on, to which Laxus answered with another blow and as their joined hands began to either smoke or crackle with electricity, they began to punch rapidly at each other, their fists a blur as the hits rained down on each other. After some time, Laxus used their linked hands to threw Natsu to the ground, aiming another punch to the Dragon Slayer who quickly tried to kick his legs, Laxus simply jumping above the attack before slamming his heels on top of Natsu's head before throwing him away but as Natsu was thrown to the ground, Erza came from behind, using him as a footing to jump at a smirking Laxus. Now clad in her Black Wing Armor, she had to try and forget about Mystogan for now and focus on Laxus. She came and swung her sword down at him, which he dodged easily as they both came to a stop, staring at each other.

\- "Oh ? So you managed to get your mind back on track, huh ?" Said Laxus to a glaring Erza. "It doesn't really matter anyway. You have no chance to win."

\- "Just what are those things floating in the sky, Laxus ?!" Asked Erza, gripping tightly on her sword as she glared at her opponent who was smirking.

\- "The Hall of Thunder… I daresay you've heard of it ?" Erza did, and she didn't liked what that meant as she ran at Laxus, trying to land a hit on him but he was constantly dodging them.

\- "You're not planning to attack the town ?!" She asked in disbelief as Laxus simply smirked and shrugged his shoulder, which angered her greatly. "You swine !" She roared as she kicked at him, only for her feet to be caught effortlessly by Laxus.

\- "Two minutes to go." He simply informed, making Erza turn to Natsu.

\- "Natsu ! You have to destroy them all !"

\- "We can't destroy them ! I mean, we can, but if you destroy one, you get taken out with it !" Explained Natsu as Erza's eyes widened at the revelation, realizing that he was using Living Link Magic to protect them.

\- "That's right… Nobody can lay a finger on those Lachryma." He said as he then threw Erza away, the knight requipping while in mid-air.

 _ **REQUIP : LIGHTNING EMPEROR ARMOR !**_

\- "Hah… You think this will be enough to defend against my lightning ?" Said Laxus, looking at the lightning resistant armor while Natsu was throwing a tantrum once again.

\- "What are you going at it with Laxus like that for, huh ?! I'm going to take him out."

At that, Erza turned to Natsu, looking at him for a few seconds before smiling at him.

\- "I can trust you on this, right ?" She simply said, surprising Natsu and Laxus by turning toward the door as they both realized what she was going to do which made Laxus laugh loudly.

\- "Wait ? Don't tell me you're going to try to stop the Hall of Thunder ?! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA ! Useless ! Just destroying a single one could cost you your life ! There are 300 Lachrymas floating in the sky and you're out of time, too !"

\- "I'll destroy them all at once." She stated proudly, much to Natsu's shock and Laxus laughter. "I may die from it, but at least, the town will be saved." This last statement made Laxus shut his trap and grumble about her 'breaking the rules' as she began to exit the cathedral. "Make sure to stop Laxus, Natsu !"

\- "I can trust you too right, Erza ? And I don't mean on whether it's possible or not !" He shouted at the running mage who was hearing him alright. "I mean that you'll come out of this alive !"

Erza smiled at this, knowing that she would never waste her life after he saved her back at the Tower of Paradise. Seeing her leave made Laxus angry as he began to ran toward the door, ready to do everything he had to stop her. But…

 _ **FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR !**_

Turning around, Natsu unleashed his roar at Laxus, stopping him dead in his track as he got slightly burned by the wall of fire, Natsu standing in front of him, smoke and fire coming out of his body.

\- "I… Am going to defeat you."

\- "This little brat…" Seethed Laxus to himself. "Do you really think you can take me down by yourself, Natsu ?! You are nothing against me !"

\- "Alone, maybe. But what if he have friends ?"

 _ **ROCKET SPIKE STEALTH LIMIT BREAK ! RIDER SNEAKY ROCKET SPIKED KICK !**_

Out of nowhere, a large green mass covered in spikes fell from the sky straight at Laxus, forcing him to jump out of the way as the large spiked mace landed, creating a large crater as the ground began to crack all around it. The crater, at first, was empty but in an instant, a man appeared as if he had just stepped out of a mist, standing there in a white armor with an orange rocket on his right arm, a green spikes covered device on his left leg and a purple device shaped like a F-117 Nighthawk on the right.

\- "Gentaro !?"

\- "You !"

\- "Looks like I'm right on time." Stated Gentaro as he deactivated his Switches, looking at Laxus with a smile on his face. "After all, I can't leave a friend in a pinch like that."

\- "So you're here too, huh ?" Smirked Laxus. "I remember the two times we met. Only two times and you managed to give me the need to destroy you and your pitiful gadgets."

\- "Well, I wish you the best of luck." Said Gentaro who was now standing side by side with Natsu. "Would you mind me giving you a hand ?"

\- "Humpf… I would have liked to go one on one on him, but I guess that can wait for another time." Said Natsu, cheeks puffed in slight annoyance before lighting his fist ablaze. "Let's go !"

And the fight began once again, Natsu immediately throwing a burst of flames at Laxus who side-stepped out of the way, immediately countering with a large electric orb which got blocked by a white shield before throwing a round house kick with his right leg, grazing Laxus with the Chainsaw Module on it, forcing the lightning mage back just a little. Even in the middle of a fight, Laxus was dead set on his objectives.

\- "You've got to see it too, right, Natsu ?! Just what a sorry state this guild is in right now !" He asked the fire mage, blinding and repelling him with a burst of lightning. "I'm going to change this guild ! And to do that, I have to be Master !" Taking a few seconds, he glanced at the magical screen on the side, showing that only 1 minute and thirty seconds remained until the activation of the Hall of Thunder and he had yet to get an answer from Makarov. "What's the old man playing at ?! Does he not give a shit what happens to the town ?!"

\- "Is that worry I heard ?"

 _ **RIDER ROCKET PUNCH !**_

Laxus turned his head just in time to see a rocket heading his way and colliding with his head, sending him to the ground as Gentaro stood in front of him, with a smirking Natsu by his side.

\- "Don't get so worked up, Laxus. It's not like anything's going to happen." Said the smirking Salamander, which confused the blond mage. "What good does it do you to destroy the town ?"

\- "It doesn't." Answered Fourze even though Natsu already knew the answer. "He's getting all worked up because he would like to stop the Hall by himself. Am I right, Laxus ?"

 _ **CLAW ON ! CHAINSAW ON ! SCISSOR ON !**_

\- "Don't you worry. Erza will handle that." Said Natsu ad he and Gentaro began to rush Laxus, Modules and flames ready. "Not that easy to keep up an act, is it ?!"

\- "Don't you get so damn cocky with me !" Shouted Laxus, throwing lightning at the two comrades who each dodge and kept going at him. "Erza is all alone out there. There's no way she can destroy the Hall of Thunder."

\- "And that's where you're wrong." Said Gentaro, swinging both of his arms at Laxus who took a step back to the side, also dodging a kick from Natsu. "She's not alone. She have a whole guild of friends with her, just like I have a whole world of friends back home !"

\- "You and your talks about friend…" Seethed Laxus. "Friends are overrated ! And besides, don't act as if those friends of yours can help you from another world !"

\- "But they can ! They don't have to be here to help ! We might be in different worlds, but they will always be here !" He said, fist bumping on his chest. "Friends are the reason why we can surpass ourselves ! It's a power that beat space and time and that can make the impossible possible !" Laxus seethed as he glared at Gentaro who was standing there proudly, Natsu smiling at him, inspired by his speech. "You think that friends and this guild are worthless ? Then you're in for one hell of a wakeup call."

/- With Erza -/

\- "*pant, pant* 198… *pant, pant* 199… Still not enough… to take them all out… at once…"

Erza was currently standing in the middle of a street, panting heavily, surrounded by 200 swords of all kind. She was trying her hardest to get rid of the Hall of Thunder by herself. But she couldn't do it. She was struggling to get 200 swords out and she was 100 short to destroy them all. As the deadline was coming to an end, the Lachrymas were all starting to become unstable, electricity crackling dangerously from them as the Hall was about to get activated. Erza feared for the worse when she heard a voice in her head, a voice she knew very well.

\- "Hey ! Everyone, can you hear me ?! This is an emergency ! Look at the sky !"

\- "Warren ?!" Said Erza, looking around her to see where he was, realizing that he was using his telepathy as everyone around the town was slowly staring to wake up.

\- "Anyone who's fighting, give it a rest ! We have to take out those floating things in the sky with all the magic we have ! Not a single one is to be left ! That's Laxus spell that's about to attack the town ! There's no time to spare ! Everybody just do it !"

Soon, people began to talk among themselves, asking question about the situation. Hearing Erza answering Gray, they all realized that it meant that the girls had been saved making many of them sigh in relief. However…

\- "Warren, you bastard… You think I've forgotten what you did to me ?"

\- "Max !" exclaimed the telepath as he remembered that he was the one who had fought and beat max during the battles.

\- "I'm really sorry, okay… I was just frantic about saving the girls…" Said Warren in apology. And soon…

\- "Hey, that's right ! Are you hearing this, Alzack !"

\- "You too, Niggy ! Damn you !"

\- "Tono, I'm not forgiving you any time soon !"

\- "The infighting can wait !" Shouted Gray directly into Warren's ear, trying to stop them all.

\- "LIKE YOU CAN TALK !" Came the general answer for the ice mage, much to the poor telepath suffering who was trying to keep his telepathy active for now.

\- "CAN'T YOU ALL JUST STOP !?" This time, it was a small kid who piped up in the fight, calming everyone down.

\- "Romeo ?!" exclaimed Macao, shocked to hear his son. "What ? Where are you ?!"

\- "He's with us."

\- "Seriously, can't you all put aside your quarrels to focus on what's really important."

\- "Haruto ? Takeru ?" asked the mages, surprised to hear them. "You took part of the fight ?"

\- "In a way. We couldn't let Laxus and his henchmen fo as they pleased." Said Takeru.

\- "Anyway, we have almost no time left. We have to take care of those things in the sky right now." Added Haruto.

\- "Yeah well there's a lot of them and some of us have no magic to destroy something so far away." Said someone which made Haruto giggle slightly as he grabbed his Copy Ring.

\- "We kinda knew that but don't worry. We have called some reinforcements. They won't stay for a very long time, but this should be enough." As soon as he said that, many portals, similar to the Dimension Wall, appeared all around the city, next to mages and many Kamen Riders, all ready for the fight, stepped out of them. With those addition, they were all ready and it surprised the mages. "I kinda figured that you were ready to take most of them by yourself Erza, but you don't have to take this burden alone. Let's do this all together !"

\- "Alright." Agreed Erza with a smile as she looked up to the sky, pointing her sword upward. "Everyone in position ! Don't leave a single one !"

… _**60 ! 70 ! 80 ! 90 ! 100 ! READY, GO ! VORTEX FINISH !**_

 _ **ROBIN OMEGA DRIVE !**_

 _ **NOBUNAGA OMEGA SPARK !**_

 _ **KACHIDOKI CHARGE !**_

 _ **BUDOU SQUASH !**_

 _ **WATERMELON SQUASH !**_

 _ **WATER SHOOTING STRIKE ! SUI-SUI-SUI !**_

 _ **FLAME SHOOTING STRIKE ! HI-HI-HI !**_

 _ **LAND SHOOTING STRIKE ! DON-DON-DON !**_

 _ **HURRICANE SHOOTING STRIKE ! FU-FU-FU !**_

 _ **6 FALCO SABER STRIKE !**_

 _ **HISSATSU : FULL THROTTLE ! FULL FULL SPEED MIDNIGHT SHADOW TAIHOU !**_

 _ **HISSTASU : FULL THROTTLE ! KAKSARN !**_

 _ **MIGHTY BROTHERS CRITICAL FINISH !**_

 _ **BANG BANG CRITICAL FIRE !**_

 _ **TRIGGER ! MAXIMUM DRIVE !**_

 _ **TAKA, TORA, BATTA, GIN GIN GIN ! GIGA SCAN !**_

In an instant, magic and energy flew through the sky above Magnolia and reached the Lachrymas, destroying every single one of them in a flash, creating a large ring of explosion above them, which grabbed the curiosity of the citizen who thought that this was part of the Fairy Tail's preparation for Fantasia. But for the mages and Riders, they felt relieved and happy that such a threat was now gone, even if they all had to suffer from the Living Link Magic but they didn't mind : they had won this battle. And back at the cathedral, 6 words appeared, talking volumes about what happened outside.

 _Hall of Thunder : Out of order._

\- "See, Laxus ?" Said Gentaro to Laxus who was staring at the screen, slightly shaking in shock as many others screen appeared, displaying the names of the one who destroyed some Lachrymas and how many. In the list, they saw names like Erza, who took most of them, Gray, Lucy, Alzack, etc… But also names only Fourze recognized : W, OOO, Snipe, Mach, Beast, Zangetsu, Ryugen and Specter. "Just like I said : a friendship that can persist through space and time."

\- "You really think this guild needs changing so bad ? We're all part of the same group." Added Natsu. "How's a guy who doesn't try to be part of that group supposed to be the master, huh, Laxus ?! Give it up already. The guild isn't going to belong to you."

\- "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHH !" Apparently, Laxus had reached his breaking point, his power exploding all around him as lightning surrounded him like an aura, even coming out of his mouth.

\- "Oh, it will…" He said, awfully calm all of a sudden. "Yes… I should never have bothered trying to bargain… I should have just relied on this power of mine from the very beginning !" As he shouted that, his magic bursted even more. "This ultimate power is the true core of my identity !"

\- "Then I guess if I crush that power… You'll finally give this up, Laxus !"

 _ **FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FIST !**_

The powerful blow reached Laxus straight in the jaw but astonishingly, the blonde barely moved from the blow, as if he had been hit by a beach ball.

\- "You two are only the first…" He said before zapping Natsu point blank. "Come and try me, Fairy Tail ! I'll take everything you throw at me !"

Natsu was sent flying, carried all the way by a strong bolt, Gentaro looking at him fly away before becoming Laxus target, the two of them trying to exchange blows even if in the end, Laxus was proving to be too strong for Gentaro's basic State as he and Natsu got pummeled badly for a good minute, between punch, kick and lightning bolt. After a good minute of beating, the two of them were left panting at the bottom of a broken column, Laxus standing on top of it.

\- "You really are… tough…" Smirked Natsu as he fell to a knee.

"That guy really is dangerous… I don't know if this can work as effectively against him, but I have to try…" Thought Gentaro as he fished another Switch from his box. Meanwhile, standing on the pillar, Laxus lifted his fist as lightning covered his body.

\- "Resounding through the air, the roar of thunder…" Chanted the mage as he looked down at his opponent who had yet to move out of the way. "Plunge from the heavens and reap destruction !"

 _ **RAGING BOLT !**_

A large and powerful bolt then came out of nowhere, falling from the sky onto the mage and Rider who hadn't moved, Natsu because he couldn't, his body not responding and Gentaro because he had a way to survive this. At least he hoped so.

 _ **ELEK !**_

The bolt then struck the ground in a huge explosion of light and thunder, followed by Laxus who jumped back to the ground, laughing like a maniac.

\- "Hehehe… HAHAHAHAHAHA ! Natsu, who is the strongest man in the guild ?" He asked the smoking rubbles, not getting an answer which made him laugh even more. "HAHAHAHAHA ! Guess you can't answer when you've been blown to bits !"

\- "Weren't you guys supposed to be nakama ?" Asked a deep voice coming from the side, one Laxus recognized and, to be honest, was surprised to here and see here. "And now you're laughing about killing him… You really have lost it. Not that you have or anything. Taking this guy out is my job."

Gajeel was standing there, a few feet away, holding Natsu by the sash around his waist after he pulled him out of the way just in time.

\- "Oh look, a new victim." Laxus was looking at Gajeel with a crazed look in his eyes, as if he lost it completely. "Vanish… Disappear ! all who stand before me shall be reduced to nothing ! Just like that stupid 'friends are awesome' dumbass !"

\- "Who's a dumbass ?!" Laxus turned his head toward the crater, now devoid of any smoke, and he saw Gentaro standing here, in his Elek State as he walked over to Gajeel. "I guess you're here to even up the score with Laxus after what he did too you a few days ago ?"

\- "You're god damn right." Answered Gajeel as Natsu stood up, looking at his 'slayer brother'. "However, that guy has the strength of a monster. He's Makarov's own flesh and blood after all… We may not like it but we hardly have a choice… We have to take him together."

\- "I have no problem with that." Said Gentaro as Natsu shrieked at the proposition. "Screw that ! I4m gonna take Laxus out myself ! Hell, as if I could team up with you !"

\- "You may not like Gajeel, but look closely at Laxus." Asked Gentaro, Natsu turning to look at the blonde. "Does he look like the Laxus you know ?"

It would have been one hell of a lie to say yes and Natsu couldn't deny the fact that this wasn't Laxus. His eyes looked like as if they were made of lightning as he kept laughing like a maniac, repeating constantly words like 'vanish' or 'disappear'. He may have done bad thing until now, but at this point he wasn't even thinking straight.

\- "This is an enemy of the guild ! We have to stop him here and now, no matter what ! We are the only one here left to take care of him ! Do you realize what's going to happen if we don't stop him ?!"

Natsu stayed silent a few seconds, wondering about it for a moment before looking up at Gajeel with a grin splattered on his face.

\- "I thought there wasn't room for two dragons in this sky, hmm ?" He asked, reminding Gajeel of what he said back when they were enemies which made Gajeel grin too.

\- "Maybe not. But with all this damn thunder around, that sky ain't fit for flying."

\- "That's what I wanted to see !" Exclaimed Gentaro at the two. "That's what I call friend !"

\- "WE AREN'T FRIENDS !" shouted the two Slayer before turning toward Laxus, Gentaro doing the same. "This is a one-time thing, all right ?" Gajeel asked Natsu.

\- "Damn right, it is !"

\- "If you want to see it like this, please do." Added Gentaro as he brandished his rod as they all ran at Laxus.

\- "LET'S GO !"

The three fighters met with Laxus in a flurry of fire, metal, lighting and cosmic energy which collided violently against each other and it seemed like even if it was a 3 versus 1, the team of three wasn't dominating even though they did have a good teamwork going on. As they were fighting, Natsu got zapped by Laxus, sending him flying back onto Gajeel but as Natsu was airborne behind him, Gajeel got an idea.

\- "Inspire !"

 _ **FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR !**_

 _ **IRON DRAGON'S CLUB !**_

Using Natsu's roar like a propeller, Gajeel launched his metal arm forward with the speed and the strength of a missile, crushing stones were Laxus stood just a second before as he had jumped out of the way but Gajeel wasn't done.

 _ **IRON DRAGON'S SWORD !**_

Changing his leg into a large metallic blade, he tried to kick Laxus, the Lightning mage jumping even higher as the sword destroyed a pillar next to him. Pointing a hand at Gajeel, Laxus summoned his magic and shot a volley of lightning bullet at Gajeel, creating a cloud of smoke under him.

 _ **WINCH ON ! STAMPER ON ! SMOKE ON !**_

A hook then shot out of the smoke, wrapping around the pillar behind Laxus, Gentaro pulling on it to threw himself on the mage, right leg coming first with the Stamper Module aimed at Laxus. He dodged the kick which instead struck the pillar and immediately blocked the punch Laxus threw at him with Billy the Rod and even if the blow sent him to the ground, he still used the Smoke Module to blind Laxus and using his temporally blind state, Natsu had ran along the pillar until he was just above him.

 _ **FIRE DRAGON'S…**_

Laxus turned around, taken by surprise and aiming to zap Natsu before he could do anything but that's when the pillar, or rather the stamp left on it by Gentaro exploded with enough force to distract Laxus as Natsu could then continue what he was doing.

… _**BRILLIANT FLAME !**_

The powerful attack collided with Laxus, sending him rocketing toward the ground where Gajeel and Gentaro were already waiting for him.

 _ **IRON DRAGON'S LANCE : DEMON LOGS !**_

 _ **ELEK LIMIT BREAK ! RIDER TEN BILLION VOLT BREAK !**_

Laxus then got struck by a flurry of metal spear and lightning slashes, the combination sending him to the ground and without giving him the time to recover, they all got ready for one last assault.

 _ **FIRE DRAGON'S…**_

 _ **IRON DRAGON'S…**_

 _ **ELEK LAUNCHER GATLING LIMIT BREAK !**_

 _ **ROAR !**_

 _ **RIDER TEN BILLION VOLT SHOOT !**_

When the two roars, the lightning slash, rockets and bullets collided, it created a huge explosion that almost blew the cathedral's wall off, the three comrades shielding their eyes as they stood there, the dragon's panting as they waited for the smoke to disappear to see in what shape Laxus was and when they saw him, no one could believe what they saw.

\- "Is that all you can do ?" Laxus was standing there, upper body bare and globally in a pretty good shape for someone who just got struck by two Dragon Slayer's roar, a flurry of rockets and bullets and a lightning strike. They three partners shivered in fear and disbelief, looking at the guy standing in front of them. "Then this is the magic of Dragon Slayer… And thanks for the small meal, Kamen Rider…"

\- "The meal ?" Repeated Gentaro, wondering what he meant when realization struck him suddenly. "Wait ! Don't tell me he ate the Ten Billion Volt Shoot ?!"

\- "Impossible !" Shouted Gajeel, eyes wide in bewilderment. "What incredible power… Did he really used what I think…"

\- "It's simple." Began Laxus as looked at his opponent. "Grandfather always told me to shut up on this detail. But now I can show you how much special I am." As he said that, and much to Natsu, Gentaro and Gajeel shock, he confirmed what Gajeel was thinking as his canine got longer and sharper, just like Natsu's and Gajeel's as scales appeared on his arms.

 _ **LIGHTNING DRAGON'S…**_

\- "HE IS A DRAGON SLAYER ?!" Suddenly exclaimed Natsu as Laxus took a deep breath while the reality of the situation struck the three guys.

… _ **ROAR !**_

Just like for Natsu and Gajeel, Laxus unleashed a powerful stream of lightning at his three opponents, engulfing them in an explosive discharge of energy which burnt a wide furrow in the ground of the cathedral where Natsu, Gajeel and Gentaro now laid, heavily wounded by the attack. Gentaro, thanks to his Elek State, didn't suffered as much, but he still took a lot of damages. Gajeel even felt like he was paralyzed, unable to move his legs for now.

\- "You are still alive…" stated Laxus, looking at the guy in front of him. "I will finish it. You three, Erza, Mistgun, Gramps, the people in Magnolia and the guild… I will exterminate you all !"

As he roared that, magic exploded around him, light coming out of the ground around him making the tow Slayer shiver in fear.

\- "What is this monstruous power ?" Asked Gajeel.

\- "This is the same as when we fought Phantom Lord, when those shades got vaporized." Remembered Gentaro.

\- "Don't tell me… He's using Fairy Law !"

Indeed, this was exactly what Laxus was aiming at using the infamous Fairy Law spell used by his grandfather as he was currently gathering a huge amount of magic in between his hands. Natsu was begging him to stop, Gajeel sweating heavily as he could do nothing to stop him even is he wanted to. Gentaro was… growling ? And as Laxus was about to finish, someone else appeared.

\- "STOP THAT, LAXUS !"

Everybody turned to the entrance of the guild, Emu and Levy standing there, the Rider apparently suffering, probably due to him assisting in the destruction of the Hall of Thunder.

\- "Emu…" Muttered Gentaro while the two mages were more focused on the girl beside him.

\- "Levy !" Shouted Natsu.

\- "you fool… What are you doing here ?" asked Gajeel, angry and… worried ?

\- "Laxus ! Stop whatever you're doing !" Ordered Emu, Levy looking at the blonde with tears in her eyes. "Makarov… your grandfather is on death's door !"

This news shocked everyone, from Natsu to Gentaro, even Laxus was shocked, his pupils reappearing in his eyes as he listened to the news.

\- "On the death's door… the old man's… gonna die ?" Said Natsu to himself, eyes wide in shock as he took in the revelation while Levy began to beg Laxus.

\- "Please ! Just stop that ! Just go and see him ! Laxus !"

They all waited for Laxus's reaction, his face hidden as he looked down but when he look up, he still had the same crazed look in his eyes, if it wasn't even worse than before.

\- "Well that suits me just great !" He said with a wicked smile. "Looks like my chances of becoming master just went up again. BWAHAHAHAHAH ! Die Fairy Tail ! I'll build you up again from scratch ! A guild that'll never lose ! That'll make everyone tremble in fear ! I'll make the ultimate guild !"

Different reaction came after that. Levy fell to her knees, openly sobbing at own things turned while the Slayer glared at Laxus, knowing they had no way of stopping him while Emu had grabbed a Gashat ready to jump in and stop him. But…

\- "STOP KIDDING YOURSELF !"

Everyone turned to Gentaro who was now standing up, unmorphed, looking straight at Laxus. His pompadour was messed up, his clothes burned and tattered but he stood proud, eyes locked with Laxus's ones, who glared back at him.

\- "You can drop the act ! You don't have what it takes to use a spell like that !" To the outside world, this looked like Gentaro was doing the most stupidest thing to do right now : taunting Laxus. "I saw your face when you looked at the screen displaying the time left before the activation of the Hall of Thunder ! I saw genuine concern when you wondered about what the old man was waiting for ! You never had the intention of destroying the town ! What makes you think you have what it takes to kill all of its inhabitant ?!"

\- "Shut up !" Shouted Laxus, visibly disturbed by what Gentaro was saying. "Don't go telling me shit like that ! I can and I will do it !"

\- "Really ? Are you even ready for the consequences if your Fairy Law end up working ?" He asked, the ghost of a smile on his lips. "I knew a guy like that. Just like you're ready to do anything to become master, he would stop at nothing to save and avenge his friend. He even got as far as to kill me." This made people look at him as if he was crazy. "I'll explain that later but he did kill me that day because he thought it was the only way for him to get his friend back. And he did but at which price ? When he learned he teamed up with a Zodiarts, his friend stopped believing in him and he lost him once again, all the ones who were ready to be his friends wanted nothing to do with him anymore and he even lost the right to be a Kamen Rider. The point I'm trying to make here is that you're in the same kind of situation : you're ready to do anything, even kill, to get what you want but are you really ready to live with what you did ?"

\- "I'm more than ready, shit head ! This is my destiny !"

\- "Really ? You're fate is to be alone ? If this truly was the right thing to do, you'd have people following you but I feel some of them already have doubt, isn't it ?" A memory of Freed doubting his plan came to Laxus' mind, but he shook it off. "See ? But as I said, I don't think you even have what it takes to do it ! I'll show you what the strength of friendship look like and by the end of the day, you and I will be best buds !"

\- "I CAN DO IT ! I won't let anyone said otherwise !" roared Laxus who was reaching his breaking point. Around them, Levy, Emu, Natsu and Gajeel were wondering what Gentaro was playing at but they had no choice but to witness what was about to happen. "Now, DISAPPEAR !"

\- "COME ON ! DO IT IF YOU CAN !"

 _ **FAIRY LAW : ACTIVATE !**_

As Laxus slammed his hands together just like Makarov did back against Jose, a blinding light appeared all around him which quickly grew in intensity until it finally covered the whole city, taking the citizen and mages aback, some of them knowing what this light was. Once the light subsided, smoke slowly blew around, covering the streets of the town. For a moment, the only noises came from Laxus who was panting in the middle of the cathedral, a satisfied smile on his face.

\- "I've surpassed him…"

\- "Really ?"

Laxus' eyes shot open as he looked up, staring in shock at Gentaro, who was standing in front of him, arms crossed and smiling at him. But he wasn't the only one still standing. Through the smoke, he could ear, and soon see, Levy, Gajeel, Natsu, Emu, all of them in the same state as before. Basically, his Fairy Law did nothing.

\- "Why… Why are they not dead ?! What the fuck's going on ?! How can anyone survive an attack of that magnitude ?!"

\- "The guild members… The Riders… And all the townspeople are safe." Said Freed who was standing by the door, leaning on the door frame, panting and wounded but alive. "Not a single person has been harmed."

\- "That's just not possible !" shouted Laxus, not believing him. "My Fairy Law was perfect !"

\- "It's your heart, Laxus." Simply said Freed, which was enough to stop Laxus who stood there wide eyed as Gentaro took care of the rest.

\- "When I said that you didn't had what it takes, I was talking about having what it takes to wipe out this city and its inhabitants." Explained Gentaro. "Your power, your abilities, those aren't the only thing you inherited from Makarov, you also got a heart that cares for his comrades… for his friends. Your spell WAS perfect and it did destroyed those you truly consider as your enemies. This town just isn't part of it. Those are your true feeling, Laxus."

Laxus stayed silent for a moment, his brain processing what he just heard and needless to say, he wasn't pleased.

\- "No ! Anybody who gets in my way is an enemy ! They're enemies !"

\- "Give it up already Laxus." Asked Freed, trying to calm Laxus. "Just go to the master."

\- "I don't care what the hell happens to that old fart !" He shouted, shocking people around him. "I am myself ! I'm not his grandson ! I'm Laxus !"

\- "We all know that." Natsu said as he got up, taking Laxus by surprise. "Don't get all big-headed on us dumbass. So what if you're the old man's grandkid ? Does that make you so special ? So different ? Don't you get hung up over some stupid blood relation ! The guild is the only family we need !"

\- "How could you understand… ?" Seethed Laxus, sparks flying around him.

\- "Do we have to understand you to be your comrades ?" asked Natsu, his fist ablaze as he ran at Laxus. "We reach our hands out to one another to get past that ! LAXUS !"

\- "SHUT UP ! NATSU !" Roared Laxus as he also ran at Natsu, his fist crackling with electricity. "Just disappear already Natsu !"

\- "I'm gonna stop you here and now ! I won't let you have the guild even if I die ! The guild… is our home !"

Both of them threw their fists at the same time, but Laxus hit Natsu first, sending him flying to the ground, but the fire mage got up immediately and ran at him right after that.

\- "Why you… Why won't you just die ?!" He asked, punching and slamming Natsu to the ground, only for the Salamander to get up once again, much to the other people around shock who couldn't believe how much stamina the young man had.

\- "The guild doesn't belong to you…" Panted Natsu as he got up slowly. "Just think about it, Laxus…"

\- "SHUT UP !" Roared Laxus as he kicked Natsu and send him skidding on the ground, back into the furrow. "You're a hundred years to early to be lecturing me ! Got that ?!"

And just like before, Natsu got back up once again, his willpower alone enough to make him stand. Levy cried, almost begging Natsu to just stop, Gajeel looked at him, trying to get up too, Emu and Gentaro were transfixed by Natsu's ability to get up, which made them smile.

\- "You stupid kid…" Seethed Laxus, putting his hands above his head, creating some kind of weapon made of lightning. "I'll burn you so bad there won't be any ashes left of you !"

\- "Laxus stop ! If you use that magic on Natsu now, you'll kill him !"

 _ **LIGHTNING DRAGON'S HEAVENWARD HALBERD !**_

Laxus ignored Freed and threw a large halberd made of pure lightning at Natsu who couldn't move as his legs began to give up. But just as the attack was about to reach its target, it suddenly took a 90° turn to the right, much to everyone shock, now heading toward, and striking, Gajeel who had changed his arm into a pillar of iron.

\- "He turned himself into a lightning rod to protect Natsu ?" Said Emu in disbelief, Levy and Freed just as shocked while Gentaro smiled at him, knowing he was right about him having a good heart beneath that tough exterior. As for Natsu, he looked at Gajeel who simply uttered a 'Go !' to his brethren, giving Natsu the strength to gather all the magic he had left as he threw himself at Laxus, the latter sweating bullets as he could only look at the burning Salamander.

 _ **FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FIST ! CLAW ! WING ATTACK ! SWORD HORN ! CRUSHING FANG !**_

Natsu had began a pure onslaught on Laxus, each attack connecting and dealing a tremendous amount of damages on the Lightning Dragon Slayer, the Salamander attacks piercing through Laxus' defenses as if they were none.

\- "This magic…" began Levy, transfixed by the ongoing battle. "It smashed through dragon scales… Crushes dragon entrails… Reaps dragon souls… It's the ultimate Dragon Slayer Technique…"

 _ **DRAGON SLAYER'S SECRET ART : CRIMSON LOTUS : EXPLODING FLAME BLADE !**_

After pummeling Laxus, Natsu swiped his arms in a circular fashion, creating a powerful, and highly destructive, torrent of flames that barraged Laxus, sending him flying high before plummeting to the ground, leaving him in the rubbles, unmoving. Finally, after a long fratricidal battle, Laxus had been defeated by the joint effort of two Slayer and one Rider, Natsu roaring victoriously in the middle of the battlefield. Gentaro and Emu smiled, just like Gajeel while Levy and Freed were still shocked by what happened. However, this wasn't completely over.

\- "Well, that was one hell of a finish."

Everyone turned their head to the other side of the cathedral where stood Gunrilla with a platoon of Shocker Combatmen, forcing the Riders to their feet. Well Emu did, but Gentaro stopped him, showing that he would take care of them.

\- "Shocker. I wonder how you could survive this Fairy Law."

\- "We learned a lot while in this world, Fourze." Said Gunrilla. "It did took out moist of our soldiers, but this means that only the best are left."

\- "What are you… doing here ?" asked Natsu, panting , standing by Gentaro, glaring at the guys in front of him.

\- "Well, I can as well tell you the whole story." Gunrilla then told what happened before the battle. "A few days ago, we learned about Laxus and his… problem. So we got in contact with him and his group to see if we could give him a hand. But he refused and wiped out the messenger we had send with his guard. But it allowed us to scan this man and we discovered something interesting about him, Something we kind of want." Emu seemed to understand where this was heading to, so he cut Gunrilla.

\- "So you followed them discreetly, hoping that this fight could weaken Laxus enough so you could get your hands on whatever you are looking for."

\- "Exactly ! You aren't a doctor for nothing." Congratulated Gunrilla, clapping his metallic hands sarcastically. "Now, we'd like to get what we came here for."

\- "You can dream about it if you want." Said Gentaro as he plugged a red Switch in his Driver. "But we won't let you get away with a friend."

\- "You don't really have a saying in this, Rider." Said Gunrilla as he pulled out some kind of Lachryma crystals with a switch on it. "Learning about this thing about Laxus isn't the only thing we learned since we came here. So if you don't want to give him, we're going to take him."

With that, he pressed the button on the Lachryma and soon, a black mist displaying what looked like stars appeared around him as his body began to change and morph into something else. Gunrilla looked the same, gorilla like appearance with cannons all over, but this time, he was now much bigger with large fists adorned with big claws and a more natural appearance with fur on his shoulder and arms. Also, the cannons were now present in different form and in addition, 4 small spheres, on his shoulders and hips, linked to form some kind of Z displayed a constellation Gentaro never saw on a Zodiarts before.

\- "Caelum, huh ? Why not…"

\- "Attack !" He ordered, the Combatmen running toward Gentaro who simply smirked. He knew that the fact that they could use Lachryma to turn themselves into Hybrid wasn't a good news, but they'll have to check on this later.

 _ **3 ! 2 ! 1 !**_

\- "HENSHIN !"

 _ **FIRE ON !**_

Clad in the red armor of his Fire State, Gentaro began to take care of the Combatmen. However, this proved to be harder than it seemed. If the Combatmen themselves weren't that hard to fight, the fact that Gunrilla was constantly firing his numerous cannon at everyone, preventing the mages and Emu from intervening as well as forcing Gentaro to protect himself from the shots, which gave the Combatmen the opportunity to attack him without any problem. And if that wasn't enough, Gentaro also had to protect Laxus who Shocker was desperately trying to get their hands on. All in all, he wasn't having a great time but that was soon going to change as, unknowingly to anyone, a Switch was currently drinking in some magic from the unconscious mage beside him. As the Switch began to shine slightly, Gentaro finally noticed it while the Caelum Gunrilla was starting to gather up energy for an attack they all knew would be powerful. But Gentaro had an idea.

 _ **FIRE LIMIT BREAK ! RIDER EXPLODING SHOOT !**_

Gentaro plugged the Fire Switch inside the Hee-Hackgun and fired the powerful fire based attack… But not at Gunrilla as the latter finally shot his own bullet, a large purplish cannonball, toward the group as Gentaro jumped in the center of it, taking the blow for the others as it exploded, sending Gentaro crashing through 4 pillars before coming to a stop, the Rider getting up with some difficulty.

\- "Gentaro ! What are you doing ?" asked Emu, already running toward him but he was stopped by Fourze who gestured him to stop.

\- "Don't sweat it, Emu. I got it all covered." He said, unplugging the Fire Switch.

\- "And what about that shot. Where did you even aimed ?" asked Levy, not understanding what he was aiming at. But Gajeel seemed to know as he grinned.

\- "He aimed just where he needed to."

\- "WOOHOO ! That's what I call a meal !" Everyone turned toward the flames shot by Gentaro, only to see them all being sucked by Natsu, standing in the middle of the fire as he gulped down this one of a kind fire. "I'm fired up !"

\- "Say, Natsu. Would you mind giving me a hand against that guy over there ?" Asked Gentaro, pointing at Caelum behind him to which Natsu agreed immediately, a large grin plastered on his face. "Very well ! Then you'll need this, buddy !" He said, handing him the Fire Switch.

\- "Thanks. But what about you ?"

\- "Don't worry. A certain blonde give this little guy just the boost I needed." He said, showing the Elek Switch which looked slightly different, the upper part of the switch now grey, the same tint as Laxus eyes, the number 10 now a M-10 with a crackling orb of electricity behind it instead of a single bolt. Natsu nodded and charged the Fire Switch with his magic, which resulted in a change for this Switch, the top part now salmon colored, labeled M-20 and instead of a pin it had a dragon shaped switch, mouth open for now. As he did this, surprisingly, a red Meteor Driver with a burning red crystal instead of the black one, appeared on his waist as he plugged the new Fire Switch in the reserved spot, ready for the transformation, immediately activating the new Fire Switch by closing the dragon mouth on top of it.

 _ **3 ! 2 ! 1 !**_

\- "HENSHIN !"

 _ **COSMIC THUNDER ON !**_

 _ **DRAGON METEOR, READY ?**_

The Cosmic Thunder State looked a lot like the Elek State. The same golden colored and lightning design but the pads on his shoulders where replaced by disk that were literally filled with electricity, Billy the Rod now looking much like a large two handed sword as the eyes on his helmet were grey instead of blue, lightning bolt shaped spikes coming out of the helmet. As for Natsu, he was wearing the same armor as Meteor, but the black part was now red with flames design all over it, the blue armor on it now salmon and looking as if it was made of pure stone. The helmet was there, but only the blue part, slightly see-through and now red and flame-shaped, showing Natsu's shining eyes and grin as he cackle with excitement.

\- "That is so awesome !" He exclaimed, Fourze smiling at him.

\- "So, isn't space awesome ?"

\- "Oh yes, it is !" Answered Natsu as he bend forward, arms in front of him as Gentaro imitated him.

\- "UCHU KITAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA !" Shouted both friends as they stood in front of the large gorilla creature and his soldiers before rushing at them. With their new powers, they did small work of the Combatmen, Gentaro slashing at them with his large two handed Billy the Rod, each strike sending large lightning bolt all around, frying even more soldier while Natsu kept punching and kicking his way through the soldier easily, in a style quite close to his usual style, if it wasn't for the 'Hwatcha !' that came with each strike, something which weirded out his fellow mages but made a smirk appear on Gentaro's face. Soon, Gunrilla was the only one left and both of them ran at him as the Caelum Zodiarts fired at them, the two easily dodging the shots and unleashing the blows when they got close enough. Between Gentaro's thunder powered slashes and Natsu's flaming punches, Gunrilla was repelled farther and farther until he got send to the ground by a double kick from the two friends who decided that it was time to finish it all.

 _ **COSMIC THUNDER LIMIT BREAK !**_

 _ **DRAGON METEOR, LIMIT BREAK !**_

 _ **DRAGON RIDER THUNDER METEOR SHOWER !**_

Both of them channeled their power, Natsu into his fists, Gentaro in his sword and they both unleashed a barrage of electric slashes and flaming meteor-like bullet which fused together to create electricity clad meteor which then struck Gunrilla repeatedly, an unstoppable onslaught which began to pierce the creature armor and soon, with one last punch and slash, a much larger version of the lightning meteor shot toward the Zodiarts, piercing him like a nail through a piece of wood before the monster finally exploded, the same black mist burning away as the Switch flew toward Gentaro who, out of habit, pressed the button again to destroy it but it was still here, albeit inactive apparently. This was a mystery he was sure Sento will love to solve.

\- "Wow ! That was awesome !" Said Natsu as he gave the Fire Switch, back in his former shape, to Gentaro. "Now, everything should be good."

\- "Yes it is." Stated Gentaro, unmorphing as the Elek Switch changed back. "That was tough though."

\- "And instructive." Added Emu, eyes locked on the Lachryma Switch in Gentaro's hand as he and the others walked toward them. "It looks like Shocker can now create fully operating device with magic AND our world powers. This is not good."

\- "Yeah, but we'll have all the time to worry about that later." Said Levy, a small smile on her face. "Now that the town is saved, there is much to be done."

\- "She is right." Agreed Gentaro with a large smile. "It is now time to get ready. We have a parade to prepare !"

 **All right. It is done for the battle but we still have the Fantasia and some other things to see before going to the next big arc, one that might be a little bit longer to come since I still have some doubts about how I'll do it. But don't worry, everything will come at some point. As for now, let me know if you liked this chapter or not by leaving a review or a PM. Don't forget to follow the story to know when I'll update it and stay tuned for what will come next. Take care of you all. See ya !**

 **Next time : The Fantasia of goodbye. Whereabout of a son. The return of a dad. Here comes a new threat.**


	36. Chapter 36 : Fantasia and family matters

**Hello, everyone ! How are you today ? Fine I hope. Maybe some of you are already in vacation, something I envy greatly because since I have a job, I can't really go whenever I want. And it's quite painful to say the least. But I'm holding on. By the way, eve, if I'm not going on a vacation yet, I might take my time to write the chapters, which mean that during this summer, my updates might be a bit less frequent. I hope you can understand that. Anyway, enough about me and my problems. Let's get down to it !**

 **Chapter 36 : Fantasia and family matters.**

\- "It looks like thanks to Porlyusica, his life is no longer in immediate danger. Don't worry, the master's going to be just fine."

Cheers followed Erza's announcement, everyone glad that the old man was not in danger anymore. After Laxus' defeat and the destruction of what was left of Shocker in the town, everyone came back to the guild to get themselves healed. At first, there was a slight apprehension, some people fearing that the fight among themselves may have create tension between some of them, but luckily, that wasn't the case at all. It looked like destroying and getting fried by thunder Lachrymas was the kind of thing that made you forget about any kind of animosity you could feel against your friends. And speaking of friends, they made a whole new bunch of them, in the persons of the Riders that were called to help them in destroying the Hall of Thunder. They didn't stayed that long, the time limit pretty short with that much summoned people, but the mages at least had the opportunity to thank them for their help before they had to go back, the smirk on their face not going unnoticed by some mages. As for now, they were all focused on the master and his health, all relieved that he was going to make it.

\- "Thank goodness !" Sighed Lucy with a smile. "I was really worried for a while there…"

\- "Heh, the old man's not gonna go out that easy." Added Gray with a smirk.

\- "At least, Porlyusica managed to help him. I can't imagine what would have happen if she didn't came." Sighed Emu, earning a smile from Levy.

\- "Hey, you played a part too !" Said the small mage as Emu looked at her. "She may have saved him, but if you weren't there, it might have been too late even for her. We owe you one, great time." Many people cheered at that, thanks coming from all around, Emu rubbing his head sheepishly with a small smile on his face.

\- "It was nothing really. I was only doing my job as a doctor, that's all." He said. "But his years are clearly showing… His condition will only worsen if he got put under so much stress again. It would be nice for everyone to keep that in mind."

Soon, the discussion among the mages and Riders all began to turn around the upcoming Fantasia Parade, some of them doubtful about whether they could do it or not.

\- "Are we really going to do the Fantasia Parade with the guild in this state ?" asked Elfman, wondering about their current situation.

\- "Well, the master wants it to go ahead, so…" Answered Mirajane. "You could say it's in situations like this that we need it more than ever."

\- "Juvia is looking forward to seeing the Fantasia Parade as well !" Exclaimed the water made, ecstatic about it.

\- "You're going to be taking part, not watching." Revealed Cana, shocking Juvia.

\- "*Sigh* I fear we might be a few parts short for the parade." Sighed Mira, worried that the Fantasia Parade might not be as wonderful as they all hoped.

\- "Don't you worry." Said Sento, putting a hand on her shoulder. "We may have a way to fill in the blanks. Leave it to us." In the meantime, Juvia finally processed what Cana told her just now.

\- "Eh !? But Juvia only just joined the guild, so…"

\- "With how many of us are unable to move, they're getting anyone and everyone who can still move about to take part." Explained Haruto, the PlaMonsters playing on the table he was sitting at.

\- "What ?! You mean me, too ?!" asked Lucy, taken by surprise.

\- "Hey, it's not like THEY can take part like that, can they ?" Added Gentaro with a smirk, gesturing toward a bench put against a wall where Gajeel and Natsu both sat, literally covered in bandages, only half of Gajeel's face visible as well as his left shoulder while Natsu's left eye and hair were the only thing peeking through. Natsu, despite that, tried to speak, only for muffled sound to come out which meant that nobody could understand what he was saying. Well, almost everyone.

\- "Yeah, like hell. And how do you plan to do that then, huh ?" Asked Gajeel to Natsu.

\- "GNMHH ENGHH ANGHH ERNHG.."

\- "What's that got to do with anything ?"

\- "… How does he do it ?" asked Lucy, sweat dropping at the 'discussion' between the two Slayer.

\- "Dragon Slayer thing, maybe…" Theorized Gentaro, arms crossed. "Anyway, the most important part is that for the moment, our trouble are over and done."

Or was it ? The door of the guild suddenly opened and in walked someone not many people wanted to see.

\- "Laxus !"

Immediately, an uproar came to life among the mages, no one happy to see him come here as if nothing happened. However, they quickly got put to silence by Erza who stood there, glaring at Laxus who looked down at her. After a few seconds of silence, Erza finally broke it.

\- "He's in the medical office through there." She said, answering his question without he had to ask, walking past her, people glaring at him while getting out of his way. That is until one decided to jump in front of him despite his arm in cast, pointing at Laxus with his free hand.

\- "DNBFMGFDHFDMNFNDFGHDNDBDNDGHF !"

People stood there, blank-faced as they looked at a panting Natsu, no one understanding a single word of what he said to the Lightning mage, who was by the way looking at him with an unreadable expression.

\- " 'I'm not settling for that three-on-one crap ! Next time, you're going down for sure ! You better fight me again sometime, Laxus !'… he said" Translated Gajeel.

\- "… So much words in wo little mumbling…" Said Shinnosuke, genuinely impressed by how much a mumble could carry.

\- "Nest time ? But I though you won… didn't you ?" asked Lucy, not understanding.

\- "I can only agree with Natsu on this one. This can't really be called a victory." Began Gentaro, standing beside her. "You weren't there so you can't know Lucy, but… he is beyond powerful."

\- "He's a monster, you mean." Added Gajeel. "If he'd been around during the battle with Phantom… it gives me shivers just thinking about it."

After a while, Laxus simply walked pass Natsu, not saying a single word, much to the Salamander anger who turned around, only to see the blonde waving his hand at him in answer without turning around, sign that he understood and basically agreed. As he disappeared into the hallway toward the sick bay and following Erza's order, everyone began to get everything ready for Fantasia, the Rider leaving to finish their own preparation, some last minute changes in need. Meanwhile, Laxus stood in the infirmary, leaning on a wall, arms crossed and looking to the side, Makarov in his bed, awake and aware of his grandson presence. They stayed like that, in silence for a few minutes before Makarov finally sat on his bed.

\- "Laxus… Do you understand what you have done here ?" He began, his grandson looking anywhere but at him. "Look me in the eyes." Laxus did as he was told, looking at the old man, not saying a word as he finally began to say what he had to. "You know what this guild is ? It's a gathering place for comrades-in-arms. It's an agency for missions. And to some kids who don't have any family, this is also their home. It does not belong to you." Makarov marked a pause, looking to see if Laxus was listening and seeing that he was, he continued. "This guild was built upon the trust and honor of each individual member… and that is how we have formed stronger and firmer bonds than you'll find anywhere else. You have violated that honor and put your comrades' lives in danger. This is not a crime that I can forgive."

\- "I understand." Answered Laxus, looking down at his clenched fist. "I just… wanted to make this guild… stronger…"

\- "Honestly… You really are a clumsy sort of man…" sighed Makarov as he got out of bed, now standing in front of Laxus who was now just in front of him. "Let some of that tension out of your shoulders, would you ? If you do, you may find yourself seeing things you've missed up until now. Hearing words that you never heard before. Life is to be enjoyed, you know." He added, smiling at his grandson. "You know… watching you grow up was my reason for living. I don't need you to be strong, or smart… All I wanted was for you to be happy. That was enough for me."

Hearing those words was slowly starting to break Laxus, who was shaking as his emotion were beginning to take overflow. But this nice little moment was violently cut short when Makarov suddenly got back into his role of guild master.

\- "Laxus…" he began, fist clenched but voice unwavering, displaying all of his authority. "You are hereby excommunicated from this guild."

The news made Laxus' eyes go wide in surprise, but it soon softened. After all, he saw it coming and to be perfectly honest, he knew he deserved this for what he had done.

\- "Right… Thanks for everything." He said, turning around to leave the room, Makarov slightly shaking behind him as he came to an halt, a small smile on his face. "Gramps… You take care of yourself."

\- "Just go…" Managed to say Makarov, his back turned to the door to avoid seeing his grandson leaving, tears streaming down his face in sorrow. But he did what had to be done as a master, something that broke the grandfather's heart.

/- Later that night -/

\- "You have to be kidding me ! Why do you have to be the only one to get banned !?"

\- "Yeah. Didn't we commit the same crime !?"

After getting excommunicated, Laxus got back to the Raijinshu to explain the situation to them and needless to say, they were shocked. Not that Laxus had been excommunicated, but that he was the only one to be. The three of them took part into this mess and expected to be banned with Laxus. Evergreen and Bickslow were the two who reacted the most, Freed simply looking down, not saying anything.

\- "It's what gramps decided." Simply said Laxus as if this was a good enough reason and it was. Just not for the others.

\- "If so then I quit too !" Exclaimed Evergreen, not far from throwing a tantrum.

\- "What will I do if you're not here." Asked Bickslow, his voice wavering slightly, his discomfort boosted by the fact that his babies were missing. The one he controlled while an Inves weren't soul powered and his five totems, he normally used, souls included, were still missing.

\- "What an annoying bunch." Sighed Laxus with a grin. "I can't even say a single word about leaving ?"

\- "Why is it only you that takes all the blame ?" Asked Evergreen, calming down just a little bit.

\- "It's not like that. I don't have any regrets about being in the guild with you guys or changing."

\- "We'll ask the master for a favor !" Shouted Evergreen.

\- "I'm sure Natsu and Gray will object as well. We'll get them to say something on your behalf…"

Laxus said nothing, simply smiling as he turned on his heels, walking away, waving at his friends from behind.

\- "Stay healthy."

\- "Laxus !"

\- "Don't screw around ! What will happen to the Raijinshu ! Damn it…"

\- "Wait a second !" The four turned their head toward this new voice, only to see a white man heading their way, skidding to a stop right next to Laxus, a pair of wheels strapped to his leg. "Don't go anywhere yet."

\- "You… Gentaro, is it ?"

\- "You remember my name, at least." Smiled Gentaro, unmorphing. "I see you already said goodbye to your friends."

\- "What are YOU doing here ?!" Ask Evergreen with a shout, pointing at him. "Did you came here to rub our defeat in our faces ?"

\- "Not at all. I just came to say goodbye to him." He said, pointing at Laxus. "And also because there's still time to do as I said back at the cathedral." Laxus looked puzzled, not remembering what he was talking about, so Gentaro helped him. " I said that I'll show you what the strength of friendship look like and that by the end of the day, you and I will be best buds. I did the first part, I'm here for the second."

\- "I don't think we'll ever be 'best buds' as you say it." Said Laxus, the Raijinshu looking at him as if he was crazy.

\- "Then simply friends should be enough, right ?" Said Gentaro, his mind set on doing as he said. "What did Makarov said, already ? Oh yeah, ' Hearing words that you never heard before. '" Laxus' eyes widened, realizing that Gentaro probably heard everything his gramps said in the infirmary. "Well I'm here to make you hear those things. Here's the first one : would you like to be my friend ? I'm not here to convince you to stay, but to make sure that you'll have another friends to go to when you'll come back. So, what do you say ?"

As he finished, Gentaro extended his hand to Laxus who was looking at it, wondering what he should do, the Raijinshu curious as to what he would decide, all of them secretly he'd accept it. And he did, a small smile on his face as he grabbed Gentaro's hand who immediately did his famous handshake, surprising Laxus but as he saw the genuine smile on his face, he smiled back and turned to leave once again.

\- "And if you can, check out the Parade. I'm sure you'll like it a lot."

And with a simple nod, Laxus left them, the Raijinshu rooted on the spot, Freed the only one among them smiling as Gentaro turned to them.

\- "What about us, now ?" Asked Bickslow, arms crossed. "What are we going to do ? We go back to the guild ?"

\- "After what we did ? Forget it, they'll never forgive us." Pouted Evergreen slightly depressed as she thought about it.

\- "I'm sure there's nothing to worry about." Said Gentaro. "Do you REALLY think they won't ever forgive you ?" The Raijinshu said nothing, Freed smiling as he already knew that they wouldn't. "They may not forgive you right away, but from what I've learned, they don't seemed to be the rancorous kind. And besides, you should come back at least for Bickslow : he does have totems to get back. Guess I'll see you at the guild. Bye !"

With that, Gentaro left the three of them alone to process what he just told them, wondering about what they could do, but the longer they thought about it, the clearer it became that they'll have to go back to the guild at some point, hoping that Gentaro was right. But for now, they walked away, deciding to take some time to heal their injuries, waiting for the right moment to go back.

/- At night -/

The night had fell on the town but the sky was still shining, just not from the moon or any other celestial body, but from the fireworks of Fantasia as the Parade finally began, much to the citizen joy and wonder. Dancers, musicians, juggler… Every kind of performers where there, to entertain the audience as they walked along the streets, backing in the cheers and clapping from the crowd. Of course, the cars transporting the mages from Fairy attracting the most attention. On one of them stood the girls, clad in the same uniform with tight-high socks, skirts and corsets, waving flags with the name Fairy Tail on it, Lucy, Levy, Cana and Bisca smiling at the audience. On another one was Elfman, in a full body Take Over, displaying his strength and animalistic power to an impressed crowd. Next came a Gray and Juvia, sharing a car on which stood a huge and majestic castle made of ice with clear water spraying everywhere around it, the two mages wearing sumptuous clothes that made them look like a regal couple, a group of four persons in the audience being particularly amazed, composed of a dog looking man, a man with thick eyebrows, a girl with pink hair dressed like a gothic Lolita and a man with bluish silver hair. Next came Erza who was dancing in her armor, swords dancing all around her, the clean metal shining brightly, a masked man carrying staves in the audience particularly interested in the show, or rather the girl doing it. Despite his wounds, Natsu did try to do something on his own, walking behind Erza with brazier around him, trying to write things with the flames he was spitting, only managing to cough, to hurt to do anything. What came next however was one of the thing that made so many people come for Fantasia this year : the Riders. And they went to great length for the show as they had a car for each one of them, each decorated to match the theme of each Rider.

The first one was Gentaro's. His car had a space theme, him standing with in his Cosmic State in the middle of some sort of holographic solar system with stars twinkling all around and small planets revolving around him. The Foodroids were also there, progressing on roads similar to the one made by Rolling Gravity, but made of a crystal like matter as if they were standing on a comet tail. Gentaro, thanks to the Switching Lung, infused the Launcher Module with Fire and the Gatling with Elek, shooting to the sky, adding fire and lightning explosions to the fireworks, also sending a Cosmic Limit Break to the sky, creating galaxy shaped explosions.

Next came Haruto, or rather the Harutos. He had summoned all of his Dragon Mode, each one of them standing on a different platform with a magic ring of their color. They also had their respective Dragon Parts on and were using their magic to amaze people whose eyes shone in admiration. The PlaMonster also got their little show, flying around the crowd, mainly to play with the youngest of them.

After that, it was fruit time ! On a car full of huge fruits stood a scene were Kouta was standing in his Kiwami Arms, but not alone. While Kouta stood there, dancing with the weapon flying around him, he had invited some friends to do the show with him. Namely, Mitchy, Jonouchi, Zack and some friends from team Baron and Gaim were there, dancing while Oren and Takatora were doing a demonstration of power, fighting and switching Lockseed often, their skills earning the admiration of the crowd.

Then, it was time for some speed. Shinnosuke, in his Formula Type, was shooting huge blue blast to the sky with his Trailer Hou, creating large blue explosions that lit up the sky above the large car he was on, which looked like the Drive pit with the Tridoron behind him. As for the Shift Cars, they were having the time of their lives, every single one of them taking part in the festivities, slaloming between the audience, doing acrobatics and using their abilities to entertain everyone, but none could do better than Colorful Commercial and his holograms or Amazing Circus and the small fireworks he kept spewing.

After that, it was time for a little but of occult. Takeru was standing on a tall platform shaped after the monolith that stood in the Daitenku Temple and he was clad in his Grateful Damashii and he had used it to summon all of the Parka Ghost who were now flying around freely, not hesitating in using their strength to amaze the public : Beethoven was summoning music notes that were flying around, Newton used gravity to make some kids floats, Edison shot sparks around, etc. Even Yurusen played a part, trying to scare some people before flying away laughing out loud.

Next came the gamer on a set that was made of pixel-like platforms and like Kouta, he wasn't alone as his Rider friends had joined him. Poppy, Hiiro, Taiga and Kiriya were all there and they were all in a Level 1 form, jumping around on virtual blocks in what looked like a mock fight, using Energy Items to entertain the public who couldn't help but be fascinated by the show.

And lastly, there was Sento. He was standing on a platform with a lab of some sort all around, with pipes running along the walls of the platform. Using his intellect, he had created holographic projector which were displaying all around the platform his different Best Match and armors, he himself being in his Genius Form, FullBottle Buster in Cannon Mode in hands, loading different kind of FullBottle inside of it to create many colorful explosion into the sky.

A little bit to the side, away from the crowd, half-hidden by a tree, Laxus was looking at the Parade, his face in a scowl all the way, until his grandfather finally appeared, standing on top of a tall platform, wearing cat ears while doing some kind of silly dance. It brought a smile to Laxus' face as he closed his eyes, remembering something that happened a long time ago, back when he was still a kid, back when he loved Fantasia.

/- Flashback -/

\- "Gramps, aren't you participating this year ?" asked a young Laxus to his grandfather, talking about the upcoming Fantasia Parade.

\- "I'll be viewing from my seat." Answered the old man.

\- "I wonder if I'll be able to find you." Wondered the boy, his old man smiling at that.

\- "You don't need to worry about me."

\- "Ok then, during the parade, I'll do this !" Suddenly said Laxus, lifting a hand up, index pointing at the sky with the thumbs outstretched, forming a L.

\- "What the heck is that for ?" Asked Makarov, not understanding what Laxus meant by that.

\- "It's a message." Explained the boy. "Even if I can't find you, gramps, this is a proof that I'll always be watching you."

\- "Laxus…" Whispered Makarov, shaking slightly as he looked at his grandson with some pride as Laxus smiled broadly.

\- "Watch, ok. Gramps."

/- End of flashback -/

This brought a smile to Laxus face as he looked at his gramps dancing while grinning like an idiot as he turned around to leave the town, but as soon as he did, a chorus of 'Oh' stopped him as he turned around, only to see Makarov, a serious look on his face, a hand pointed upward, in the shape of an L which made Laxus gasp in surprise. But soon, every mage and Riders taking part of the parade did the same thing, all of them sending a message to Laxus, which made tears swell in his eyes as he cried openly, seeing his guild doing this form him, like a last message from his old man saying 'Even if I can't see you... Even if we're separated for a long time… I'll always be watching over you. I'll always… be watching over you.'

\- "Tha…Thank you." Finally muttered Laxus, fighting through his tears as he walked away, leaving the town and a parade which continued and lasted the whole night, to forget whatever tragedy the guild suffered in the same day. To turn the page and go on with their life.

/- Meanwhile, far from Magnolia -/

While the Harvest Festival was going at full blast back in Magnolia, some darker things were going on in a desertic place, namely a troglodyte fortress build straight out of mountain, standing in the middle of nowhere. On a balcony stood two birds, raven to be more precise, as a man with black hair walked up to them.

\- "Raven… Why are you so beautiful ?" He asked, grabbing one of the birds, the other flying away. "Ah ? Is it because they are loathed ?" Suddenly, the bird stiffen before whitening and flattening, falling down as it was now made of paper. "Beautiful things live short. Isn't that so, Gajeel ?"

That mysterious man looked behind him to none other than Gajeel who stood against a wall, arms crossed, still bandaged from his recent fight as he looked at the man with a glare.

\- "You never told me Laxus was a Dragon Slayer." He said, which only made the man laugh out loud as if Gajeel just told the best joke ever.

\- "BUWAHAHAHAHA ! He was a fake. Just a fake." Said the man as he turned around, showing his face. This was none other than Laxus' father, the one Makarov had to excommunicate from the guild many years ago. The now master of the dark guild Raven Tail, Ivan. However, this didn't seemed to shock Gajeel, who was more focused on what Ivan just said.

\- "A fake ? What do you mean, a fake ?"

\- "Since he was young, his body has been weak. Out of pity, I put Lachryma into his body." He said, his tone making it look like what he did was perfectly normal.

\- "You used Dragon Slayer Magic Lachryma ?!" Exclaimed the Iron Dragon, shocked that the Dragon Slayer magic can exist inside of Lachryma.

\- "It's rare, isn't it ?" Added Ivan. "Now that he's been banned, he'll probably come here. That suits me fine. You know Lachryma is worth a lot of money these days. An unbelievable amount at that."

\- "Ar…Are you going to take it out of him ?" Asked Gajeel, not feeling right with this. "If you do that, Laxus will…"

\- "Fuhahahaha ! It was too much power for that kid to begin with." Said Ivan, apparently not bothered by the idea of his son dying. "Papa will turn him back to what he used to be. He's just money now and that's all we need to start a war against Fairy Tail." He then walked to Gajeel and put his face just in front of his, his face serious as he glared at the Slayer. "You have to continue your infiltration just a bit longer."

At this, Gajeel simply grinned, the same kind of grin he had back in Phantom Lord, one that wasn't a good sign for his Fairies comrades. But as he turned to leave, he stopped to ask one last question.

\- "By the way, do you have a way to deal with those Riders ? I witnessed it with my very own eyes, they are damn powerful, and I'm sure they have yet to show everything they can do."

\- "Those Riders could be an hindrance, yes. But you don't have to worry about this. I'm already working on a way to get rid of those pests. I'll win this war, no matter what I have to do for that."

/- Later, Magnolia -/

Later that night, The guild was in the middle of a big party post-parade, spending times with each other drinking, eating and having a great time. But not everyone was in the mood. On the second floor, Gajeel was leaning on the railing, looking down at the ongoing party in silence. He looked all around the room, noticing Team Natsu drinking happily at a table, Riders scattered here and there, taking part of the show in any way they could, a group of mage on the scene playing songs to keep the party alive, etc. His eyes lingered a bit longer on the table where Levy and her team currently sat at, thinking about everything that happened those last few days ever, or more precisely ever since he joined that guild, shrugging it off, he grabbed his crutch and began to waddle away, only to be stopped by a cat-eared old man.

\- "Gajeel." The named Slayer turned around, facing Makarov who, all smile, just took out his helmet. "Will you take part in Fantasia's launch ?"

\- "I don't have a design." Simply answered Gajeel, walking away as Makarov sighed, taking off the rest of his costume.

\- "Looks like the Harvest Festival ended safely. You'll be helping out with the clean up tomorrow too."

Gajeel suddenly stopped and walked back to Makarov, stopping in front of the old man.

\- "Master." He began as he pulled out a small piece of paper he handed to Makarov. "Master Ivan. I've found your son's location."

\- "Good job." Said Makarov, suddenly dead serious. "Sorry about letting you take care of such a dangerous job."

\- "Doesn't look like he found out I was a double spy. More importantly, he is after Laxus' Lachryma."

\- "Even if we know where he is, what will we do. We won't let him do as he pleases."

\- "A double spy, heh ?" Gajeel suddenly came to a stop as he turned to the left, seeing Gentaro standing there, looking at him. "I knew you weren't such a bad guy."

\- "What are you doing here ?"

\- "Does it matter ? Do I need a reason to check on a friend ?" Asked Gentaro, making Gajeel raise an eyebrow.

\- "A friend, huh ? That's not really my style, sorry."

\- "Maybe you'll prefer the term brother in arms." Said Gentaro as he walked up to Gajeel, extending a hand to him. Gajeel stared at the hand, then at Gentaro. Back at the hand. Back at Gentaro. He then smirked.

\- "You won't stop bothering me until I accept, isn't it ?" He said with a grin, looking at the Rider.

\- "That's the idea. But do I really have to force you to accept it ?"

Gajeel knew the answer, and Gentaro too. With a sigh, Gajeel shook hands with him, following up with the usual handshake he had witnessed many times before. With that done, Gentaro got back to the others, Gajeel also heading down as the party kept going. Everything was good until the doors finally opened, making them stop as they saw who it was.

Evergreen, Bickslow and Freed were standing in the doorway, looking ill at ease and judging by the glares they received from everyone, it was understandable. However, and much to the Raijinshu surprise, the party restarted just as quickly as she stopped, people basically not bothered by their presence. In a way, they never really tried to befriend any of them, meaning that the others had no problem having fun without the three. The Raijinshu got the message : if they wanted to be part of the group, it would their job to open up to the rest and not the other way around. The first one to break the ice was Bickslow, but it was for a pretty good reason as he walked up straight toward Kouta who was currently with Team Natsu, meaning he also was Gray and Lucy who glared at him as he got closer.

\- "Okay… Hum… I don't know if this meant a lot coming from me, but I'm sorry about what happen. But I'm gonna be honest. I didn't came here in the first place to apologize but to ask this guy something." He said, pointing at Kouta. "I'd like to get my babies back, please."

\- "Hey, that's right !" Suddenly exclaimed Lucy as if she remembered something, grabbing the attention of everyone around her. "You promised you'd tell us what you did to get rid of his puppets ! So I think it's time you spill the beans !"

With everyone looking in his direction, Kouta sighed as he began his explanation with a demonstration, his body shining, forcing everyone to shield their eyes a few seconds before reopening them only to look at a completely different Kouta. He was now blonde and wore a silvery armor with a long white cape. Furthermore, he seemed to gave off a strange aura, something almost out of this world.

\- "What the hell is this ?" Asked Gray, eyes wide as he and everyone stared at Kouta who sighed, trying to break it to the others without shocking them too much.

\- "Well, how can I say this… I am…"

\- "HE IS A GOD !" Suddenly shouted Gentaro, much to Kouta's annoyance as everyone suddenly stared wide eyed at him, wondering if this could be the truth as it seemed pretty farfetched. Then again, they didn't knew a lot about the Riders stories.

\- "He… He's right or it's just a joke ?" Asked Erza, feeling nervous about what the truth could imply. Kouta sighed as he nodded.

\- "Well… Yeah, I'm a god, in a way." He revealed, everyone gasping around him and as he saw that some were about to begin to pray or whatever, he quickly began to explain. "Right now, I'm the Man of the Beginning. I got this abilities after eating the Forbidden Fruit which gave me God-like powers. I'm not a god in the first sense of the word."

\- "Still, I can't believe it." Said Lucy, eyes wide as she slightly tremble at the idea of sitting so close to someone so powerful. "If you got God-like powers, you could get rid of those Shocker guys easily, right ?"

\- "Yeah. Why don't you used those powers more often ? I'd love to fight you with those powers you got !" Said Natsu, a huge grin on his face.

\- "Well, I try not to use those powers in this world as it's not mine. I knew I could open cracks to Helheim since the Arms can be summoned here, but I try not to force them open with my powers. The last thing I want is for the Helheim to come and try to invade this world."

\- "It's all nice and all, but this doesn't explain where my babies are." Said Bickslow.

\- "But I just did. Helheim."

As soon as he said that, Kouta opened a crack and a few vines came out, throwing the totems at Bickslow who immediately got his control back on them, the 'babies' floating around him much to his joy, tears flowing through his vizor.

\- "My babies !"

\- "How did you managed to trap the body AND the souls, by the way ?" Asked Lucy.

\- "Well, one of my powers as the Man of the Beginning is mediumship, which allow me to communicate with souls. I used that power to stop them and make sure they'd follow their bodies in the crack. As strong as he is, I felt like Bickslow couldn't control souls when they were trapped in another world." As he said that, he turned back into Kouta, looking at Bickslow and his friends which had followed him. "I hope this can serve as a first step toward your reconciliation with the guild."

\- "We hope too, but we aren't stupid." Said Freed. "It's going to take some time and we'll need some time to think about everything that happened."

\- "Take all the time you need." Said Erza with a small smile. "I'm sure we can all be friend, just like we always were supposed to be."

With that, the three nodded and said goodbye, leaving the guild for now as the party kept going, a small smile on Kouta and Erza's lips, feeling like it won't be long before they finally come back.

/- One week later -/

One week has passed since the Harvest Festival came to a close and the town was finally back to its former self, the relaxed atmosphere had returned has people once again lived a normal life. But there was one thing that came to a shock to most of the mages and Rider : The excommunication of Laxus from the guild… They knew he had to be punished for what he did, but an excommunication was too much. Hell, Natsu had been whining about it only the day before. He mainly talked about the rematch he wanted to have against Laxus but he wasn't the only one who hated the fact that he had been excommunicated. Makarov for example tried to take responsibility by stepping down from his position which everybody tried to stop but it was the intervention of Freed, which had cut his hair really short, much to everyone shock, that convinced him to give up this idea, saying that should Laxus learn he had forsaken his position on his account, this would feel like a double punition he would have a hard time dealing with. And since we're talking about Freed, slowly but surely they all came to term and opened up to the rest of the guild, Evergreen currently trying to get Reedus to draw a picture of her and Bickslow teaming up with Happy to tease Lucy about an hypothetical relationship between her and Leo. However, everything wasn't that good for everyone, namely Sento, Kouta and Erza who had to dealt with the aftermath of the Harvest Festival.

Kouta immediately regretted talking about him being the Man of the Beginning as everyone came to him, asking every kind of questions, like 'What does it feel to be a God ?' or 'Have you ever done selfish things with your powers ?' but also, and mainly, requests like 'Make me a true fairy !', 'I want unlimited booze !' or 'Make all the girls clothes see-through !'. But a few DJ Gun shot later, no one bothered him anymore with those questions, much to his relief.

Sento was dealing with another kind of problem for which he could only blame himself for and this problem had taken the form of a demon in angel skin who was currently rambling while wiping glasses, talking actively about what Sento made her discover back during their fight. Sento had hoped she would have forgotten as she was a Smash at the time, but it was without taking into account the matchmaker in her. First, she talked for at least an hour about Lucy and Natsu being perfect for each other, how she always knew it and how the KeyDragon Best Match confirmed that. But the thing that was making her go crazy was the newly discovered Magic Match. She had said at first that if Elfman was the Gorilla FullBottle, then his future wife would be someone as strong as she's beautiful, like a Diamond, and Evergreen matched the description. And now, thanks to the Magic Match, they knew those affinities Elfman/Gorilla and Ever/Diamond were not only right, but that their magic, Fairy Dust and Beast Soul, were also a Best Match. Head in his hands, Sento could only stare at Mirajane who was muttering so fast that he could barely understand what she was saying, her jumping up and down in excitation not helping at all. And as he finally gave up, letting his head fall on the bar out of tiredness, for the first time in his life regretting one of his experiment.

The last one who had a problem dealing with what happened during the festival was Erza and she had a really good reason to be bothered by what she saw there. She discovered that Mystogan was Jellal, or at least, an exact copy of himself. But he swore that he wasn't Jellal. Not even the master knew a lot about him, leaving Erza to wonder about who he really was and how he could be related to Jellal in any way, and it was killing her. Not even her first place in the Miss Fairy Tail contest managed to help her.

Because yes, the contest hadn't been canceled despite everything that happened. The result were just pinned on the wall of the guild, showing that indeed, the Titania had won, followed by Lucy with Juvia in the third place. However, this result had led to someone despair.

\- "I STILL DON'T HAVE MY RENT !" Cried Lucy as she felt her heart break because she REALLY needed that money to pay her rent as the jobs she took before didn't came with a lot of money. "What am I going to do about this month's rent…?!"

\- "We could take a job." Proposed immediately Natsu, which made Lucy cry even more as relief washed over her.

\- "WAAAAAAH ! Natsu finally feels like working again ! Thank you !" She wept, remembering the shape Natsu was in the last time she proposed to him, too tired by the Etherion to do anything beside wobbling from side to side. Natsu looked at Lucy, smiling at her, happy to see that things seemed to be back to normal when she suddenly stopped and turned toward the door, the Dragon Slayer looking at the door too, trying to see what she had seen but, just like her, saw nothing.

\- "What's up, Lucy ?" He asked, trying to knew what happened to her.

\- "Nothing… It's just that… recently I can't seem to shake the feeling that I'm being watched by somebody."

\- "Really ?" Asked Natsu, feeling slightly worried that she might be right. As for Happy…

\- "Wait ! I think that's called…" He trailed off, looking at a dictionary. "Ah ! Here it is ! Self-consciousness…"

\- "That's not it, okay ?! I mean, I could just be imagining the whole thing, but…" She stared at the door, frowning until she shook it off, getting up from the table. "Anyway, I better go and get ready for that job."

\- "Okay ! We'll meet up tomorrow at noon, yeah ?" Asked Natsu, smiling at Lucy, the girl giving him his smile back.

\- "Sounds good. See ya !"

As she walked back to her house, following Strawberry Street, Lucy, as usual walking along the side of the river, a big smile on her face as she though about their job tomorrow and how fun it would be to go back on a job after so long, waving at the two man sailing in the channel, he happiness visible on her face when she felt something behind her, turning around to see a hooded man looking at her from an alley, making her realized, much to her own horror, that she was right. Someone was watching her ! She walked faster, getting away from him, looking behind her after some times, noticing that the man was following her, prompting her from literally running away until she reached a bridge were she stopped, seeing no one behind her anymore, sighing in relief before realizing that if he wasn't behind, it was because he was in front of her. She shouted, fearing for her life as she wondered who this could be. A stalker ? A pervert ? A kidnapper ? She had a lot of options in mind…

\- "It's me… Your father…"

… But not this one. Much to her shock and surprise, the man pulled his hood down, revealing none other than Jude Heartfilia, in a state that Lucy couldn't believe. His facial hair had grown into a beard he didn't shaved recently, his hair were longer and under the cloak, he wore the same costume, but now ragged and dirty. He was lightyears away from the memory Lucy had of him, which made her wonder what could have happen to him. And she would ask questions if she wasn't literally petrified by the sheer shock.

\- "F…Father ?!" she finally managed to say, her whole body shaking, not knowing if this was in fear or in worry. "What are you doing here ? I mean… Those clothes… What's going on ?" Her father looked down, as shaking as his daughter.

\- "Heartfilia Rails has been bought out…" He said, explaining his current situation to the blonde. "I've lost my company… My home… My money… Everything." Lucy simply stood there, mouth agape as she let his words sink in, eyes wide in shock, not believing that such a thing could happen. "I had used everything I owned as collateral, you see… Running a business… Really can turn a man into an utter fool."

\- "B…But the house ?!" Asked Lucy, worried about the house for a very good reason. "That's where Mama's grave…"

She stopped as her father handed her a piece of paper she grabbed with a shaky hand.

\- "I had it moved here." He said, Lucy looking at the paper with a sad look in her eyes, glued to the exact location of her mom's grave. "Though it should be sad… I actually feel like laughing." He said, a sad smile on his face. "All that fortune, gone in an instant. Everything I achieved in those long years, reduced to nothing in a single night. The money that I worked so hard to earn, I sacrificed my family in the process ! It's just… Funny ! It makes me laugh ! Ahahahah !"

Lucy looked down, but she couldn't help but feel like something was wrong.

\- "Wh… What are you here for ?"

\- "To see… My daughter's face. Lucy." He said with a smile, but Lucy wasn't really buying it.

\- "What, now you decide you want to see me ?!" She said through clenched teeth. "Besides, I thought I told you to stay away from Fairy Tail !"

\- "I don't have that kind of power anymore." He said, which was true given his current situation. "I just… came to see my daughter's face. That's all." Lucy said nothing, simply looking at her father with doubts in her eyes. "Please don't look like that… I've been in the wrong all this time, I admit that. I don't plan on sticking around here, either. I'm going to start working at a merchants guild in Acalypha, west from here. Start over from scratch."

\- "I see…" Simply said Lucy, looking down as a small smile finally graced her lips, believing that her father might be on the good tracks from now on. However…

\- "Well, then… Lucy… The truth is, I need a little money to get me going." Everything came crashing down as she opened wide eyes as she seemed to realize what her father really came to her for. "Just a hundred thousand Jewels or so will do. Could you just lend me that much ?"

\- "D… Don't be ridiculous…." She began, looking straight at her father, not knowing what to feel. "I don't have that kind of money…" This was the truth, but her father didn't seemed to believe her as he began to become louder.

\- "What do you mean ?! It's just a hundred thousand ! You're my own daughter ! You should easily be able to find a little sum like that !"

\- "What… Are you talking about ?"

\- "I need money !" Suddenly shouted Jude, his voice loudening even more. "I'm crawling to you in shame here ! Look at me ! I just need you to give me the money !"

Finally, here he was. The father Lucy hated and feared for so many years. The one that gave her the need to run away from her house. She looked down, shaking in anger as she tried to keep her nerves under control.

\- "I have no idea… What you're saying…."

\- "Why, of all the dirty little… Your own father…"

\- "GO AWAY !" Finally, Lucy had enough, motioning for her father to stop, not even looking at him. Realizing that she would never answered him, Jude pulled his hood back on and walked away without a single word to his daughter, which stood here, head hanging down, fists balled by her side, tears streaming down her face as she cried, her feelings overflowing after this rough encounter.

\- "He's the worst… The absolute worst…" She tried to dry her eyes before heading back home, trying to forget her father and focus on tomorrow's job, not noticing that someone else had witnessed the whole scene, looking sadly at Lucy as she disappeared into her apartment, prompting the onlooker to leave.

/- The next day, at noon -/

\- "Lucy ! It's time to get going !" Exclaimed Natsu as he walked toward Lucy, who smiled back, albeit half-heartedly, trying to sound and look happy. Her night had been a lot more complicated that she thought, her dreams plagued by what happened with her father, replaying their discussion or showing bad memories from the past, when she lived alone with him in their mansion.

\- "And what job are we doing exactly ?"

\- "This one." Answered Gray, showing a wanted poster with the photo of a man named Velveno, worth 2.000.000 Jewels. "Capturing the escaped convict Velveno."

\- "The reward comes to four hundred thousand for each of us… that should cover your rent, right Lucy." Said Erza, ignoring Natsu's excited shout about fighting with this Velveno who, according to him, had some incredible magic. "That should cover your rent, right Lucy ?"

\- "Uh-huh ! For about six months ! Let's do this !"

However, as soon as she said that, she heard people at a near table talking about something that grabbed her attention.

\- "Hey ! Did you hear the news about Acalypha ?"

\- "You mean about that merchant guild getting taken over by roms guerilla group ? Yeah…. Scary stuff…"

\- "No… About that group that took 'em over. I heard it was a dark guild, Naked Mummy…"

\- "Seriously ? But then… The army would be no match for them !"

 _"…I'm going to start working at a merchant guild in Acalypha…"_

Lucy's eyes widen as sweat began to run down her face as all those informations fell into place. Her father was probably in danger right now. She stood there, internally fighting about whether she should do something about it or not, her friends looking at her, waiting for her so they could go on their job. But despite what she felt, Lucy couldn't let her father fall in the hands of a dark guild and as such, she ran to the group which was talking about Acalypha's situation.

\- "Where exactly is Acalypha ?!" She asked, slamming her hands on the table, her mind settled as Natsu and the others looked at her go, not understanding what she was doing all of a sudden.

\- "Lucy ? Hey… where are you going ?" Asked Happy as he saw her ran to the door, dragging her suitcase behind her.

\- "Sorry ! There's something I have to do !" She answered, not even turning back. "He may be a good-for-nothing… But even so, I… I have to save him !"

She then left, leaving a dumbstruck Natsu and friends behind, Haruto walking toward them, looking at where Lucy had just disappeared.

\- "What happened ? Is there something wrong with her ?"

\- "I… I don't know." Said Erza, still shocked by Lucy's sudden behavior. "One minute, she's ready to go on a mission with us and the next she left in some kind of panic."

\- "Did she said anything that could help ? There has to be some sort of trigger to make her leave like that."

\- "Well, I think I heard her ask about Acalypha. Maybe she's headed there ?" Said Happy, Natsu immediately going after her.

\- "Let's not waste time, then. Let's go !"

They all ran outside, trying to see if they could reach Lucy before she left, to at least get an explanation about what happened to her while Haruto stood there, rubbing his chin.

\- "Acalypha, huh ?" He repeated. "What a coincidence."

/- Acalypha – Merchant guild Love and Lucky -/

\- "Why are they taking hostages ?!"

\- "Our master is inside ! Save him !"

A crowd was gathered in front of the large building that was the HQ of the merchant guild named Love and Lucky, asking questions to the knights posted outside to prevent anyone from going in.

\- "Everybody calm down !" Ordered a knight. "A request has been send to the closest legal guild. For your own safety, please go away !"

The situation was complicated, tension high and quite desperate. But Lucy was determined to do something. Hiding behind a pillar, she looked at the front of the guild, wondering about the current situation, a slight worry for her dad on her face when suddenly, something came out of the ground between her legs.

\- "Princess." It was Virgo, whose sudden appearance made Lucy shriek in surprise. "I've already cleared a path to the inside of the building."

\- "Thanks, Virgo." Congratulated Lucy.

\- "Do I have to be punished ?"

\- "Of course not !"

\- "But let me warn you…" Warned Virgo. "The building is full of mages. Do you really think the both of us will be enough ?"

\- "We'll see. Let's go !" And with that they dived right inside the tunnel, heading toward the guild where hostages were tied up, with tape over their mouth as the dark mages were currently emptying the chests.

\- "Such a merchant's guild !" Said a thug. "Did you think they'll have so much cash ?"

\- "A good thing we get straight to their bank."

\- "Shuddup !" said the leader, carrying a magic gun on his shoulder, shaking a little for apparently no reason. "There's no time to waste ! The cash should already be in the bags." The hostages, worried, began to mutter through their gags, creating a humming that quickly got to the leader who shot at the roof.

\- "Shuddup ! Or I shot your fucking head down, you moron !" However, a little kid, too scared to stay calm, began to sob and weep, much to the gangster annoyance who took this for a form of disrespect. "Huh ?! You wanna die ?! Then die, you jerk ! Don't screw with us !"

And with that, he shot at the boy, time almost slowing down as the bullets got closer to the boy. When they were about to reach him however…

\- "TAURUS !"

\- "MOOOOOH !"

Taurus appeared in front of the boy, swinging his axe around, stopping the bullets all at once, much to the shock of everyone else in the room as Lucy appeared out of nowhere, standing beside her spirit.

\- "Enough !" she said, pointing at the dark mages with her stamped hand, showing off her mark.

\- "A mage from a legal guild ?!" Shouted the leader, not expecting such a thing as Lucy summoned her spirits to take care of the dark guild. Everything was alright until the leader, who had yet to be taken out, stopped her in her assault.

\- "Don't you fucking move !" He said, his weapon pointed to the head of an hostages. "If you move just one finger, I'll smoke this fag !"

Lucy stayed there, not knowing what to do as she knew she and Cancer weren't fast enough to do something before he could react and pull the trigger. But luckily, she didn't had to as the man was suddenly electrocuted, falling to the ground, unconscious. Lucy looked behind him and saw a man wearing a silver and yellow jacket of some sort, with a dun in hand and a lightbulb on his face.

\- "Takeru ?! What are you doing here ?"

\- "Long story short, Makarov used his relation to help us found intel about Shocker or anything thaty could be lead us to them and I came here to get intel from a man who managed to escape them and stole some documents." He said, taping on his ribs, probably patting the documents in question that were under his armor. "But for now, I think the best thing to do would be to take care of those guys, right ?" He added, motioning to the rest of the dark mages who were about to attack them.

\- "Yes, indeed. Let's do this !"

In a matter of seconds, Lucy, her spirits and an Edison powered Ghost plowed through the remaining dark mages, saving the life of the hostages who immediately cheered and thanked them, Takeru standing there awkwardly while Lucy, despite her smile, was more busy looking around for something. Takeru unmorphed and walked up to her.

\- "So, is there a problem Lucy ? What are you doing here anyway ? I though you and Natsu said you'd go on a job, today ?"

\- "We did. I just… I heard about what was happening here and…"

\- "Ah, I see. You were worried for your father."

\- "Exactly ! And I… Wait…. How do you know that ?" She suddenly shrieked, turning toward the Rider with wide eyes, Takeru rubbing his neck sheepishly.

\- "Well, I was there when you talked, yesterday. I was just passing by and I witnessed the whole exchange, including the part about him coming to Acalypha, which I almost forgot to be honest." He explained, the blonde sighing as she realize she probably won't be able to escape questioning. "If you came here, I guess it's because you like him deep down, despite everything that happened last night."

\- "I don't like him ! But he's still my dad and I couldn't do nothing while knowing he was in danger." She explained, looking all around in distress, looking for her father who was nowhere to be found. "Where is he ? Is he safe, at least…. ? DAD !"

\- "Lucy ?"

Finally, she heard her father, but his voice wasn't coming from the crowd of hostages, but from the street, the old man carrying a backpack as ragged as his clothes, standing there as Lucy looked at him in surprise, realization settling in.

\- "Looks like he just arrived in town." Said Takeru as the father added his own comment.

\- "I told you I had no money, not even for a ticket train… So I walked all the way here."

"I was worried for nothing !" Mentally shouted Lucy, slack jawed as she realized her 'mistake'.

\- "What brings you in here ?" Asked Jude, surprised to see his daughter here.

\- "I…. I heard about this guild after you left, so…" Jude then looked toward Love and Lucky, seeing the soldiers and people talking about the robbery and their rescue.

\- "You worried about your father ?" He then asked, genuinely shocked that she could be worried about him after last night. But Lucy simply huffed and turned around.

\- "You just don't understand ! I…. I'm not yet ready to forgive you."

\- "… Yes. Obviously." Said Jude with a sad smile. "I still have a long way to go. But I had pretty much time to think. Sorry for yesterday. I have been uneasy. I wish I was… I'm really ashamed. But I'm going to change. Even without money, I succeeded to go this far. Who knows… Maybe I'm no good for nothing after all…" He then paused for a minute to gather his thought before adding something that reached Lucy.

\- "Look, this guild… This is where I first met your mother." Hearing about her mom made Lucy look up, not looking back at her father, but her eyes were still wide as saucer as she listened to his story, Takeru smiling at the exchange. "At that time, I thought I was free. Then your mother got pregnant… We had to leave. When we were leaving… We saw the name of the guild. The 'K' of Lucky was missing, which gave Lucy. It amused us, so we decided to call our child Lucy."

As he finished his story, Lucy stayed silent for a moment, Jude and Takeru waiting for a reaction on her part and when she did, it was by turning toward her father, a awkward smile on her face, as if she tried to look annoyed without succeeding.

\- "Funny. The name of a baby mustn't be decided on a funny thing."

\- "You're right. I'm really sorry." Answered her father, a smile on his face and before she could add something, she was stopped by a stampede that came toward her, led by a pink haired young man.

\- "LUCY ! Are you okay ?!" shouted Natsu as he ran to her, Happy flying behind with Gray and Erza following him, just as worried. And seeing her friends surprised the blonde.

\- "HEEEEEE !?"

\- "Amazing. You just came here and took care of the matter ?" Asked Erza, probably talking about the attack on Love and Lucky.

\- "No… In fact…" began Lucy, hesitating as she glanced at her father who simply nod at her, her daughter smiling at him before turning around, waving at him. "Take good care of you. Dad."

With that, Lucy joined her friend, leaving her father smiling at her as he turned around, a satisfied smile on his face.

\- "Leila… I was so stupid…" He said, looking at the sky, thinking about how his late wife must have felt, seeing the kind of man he became over the last years. "You must despise me."

\- "Don't worry, she's not." Suddenly said Takeru, grabbing his attention. "I was there when you met Lucy, last night. When I saw the relation between the two of you, I decided to visit your wife's grave. Believe it or not, but I have a great bond with the afterworld. I talked to her a bit and she don't despise you. She's just disappointed. But you can trust me. If you keep going on this track you are in and make sure to mend your relation with Lucy, she'll forgive you. Just remember : no matter where you are, she'll always be watching over you."

With that, Takeru left Jude and walked back to the station, boarding a train as he left Acalypha, sitting down in a booth, all alone, as he pulled the document he had with him, looking through it. A lot of those papers were filled with schemas and equations he couldn't understand, but some of them looked more like orders from their higher ups and even letters exchanged with another group he didn't knew about. It was a name that came back a lot in the most recent letters and document. A name that the Rider knew nothing about, but that was well known among the mages of this world. A name that could make shake in fear even the strongest mages. A name in two words :

Oracion Seis.

 **And there, It's done ! I hope you liked it ! Don't be a ghost reader, please : leave a review to let me know about everything you liked or didn't liked so I can use it to improve my story. Anyway, i hope you had a great time reading this. See ya !**

 **Next time : Alliance against alliance. The mysterious shy girl. The power of Oracion Seis.**


	37. Chapter 37 : Oracion Seis

**Hi, guys ! Here I am for another chapter which will begin a new arc, the Oracion Seis. I hope you're all enjoying your summer and that you'll enjoy this chapter just as much, because I personally am currently suffering from a bad sunburn caused by an almost full-day outside in the sun, added to the muscular pain I feel after rowing for 22 km. My arms are basically dead right now and it hurt even when I'm at my computer, writing the last part of this chapter. I hope you won't ever feel the same kind of pain.**

 **EDIT : I realized i messed up with the names at some points during the delegations meeting. I corrected them.**

 **Anyway, let's go !**

 **Chapter 37 : Oracion Seis**

A few days after the hostage situation in Acalypha, Lucy and her team was back to doing missions like they always do. Lucy's financial situation was as dire as it was before and she really needed money, no matter the job. Even those kind of jobs.

\- "Hello and welcome ! Have you decided on your order ?"

Lucy was currently in a restaurant called 8Island, acting as a server and wearing the outfit needed for the job, a quite skimpy maid outfit, as she talked to the customer, notepad in hand to take the orders.

\- "Blue sky Bolognese and a holy soda for me, please !" said one of the patrons.

\- "I'll have the beastman curry !" said another one, Lucy scribbling the order on her notepad, with a sweet smile on her face.

\- "Would you like to dessert with that ?"

\- "Let's see… Yes, I'll have this Ruby Parfait."

\- "Same for me."

\- "Thank you very much !" She said with a smile, walking toward the kitchen when she suddenly came to a stop, as if she just realized what she was doing. "Wait… What the hell am I doing ?!" She suddenly shouted, throwing the pad to the ground.

\- "Come on, Lucy… This is a job too, you know." Chided Natsu, wearing a server outfit too, his scarf still present as he carried food to a table.

\- "What part of this looks like a mage's job to you ?!" She asked, also looking down at her outfit which she found really embarrassing.

\- "The chefs at this restaurant make magical food, after all !" explained Happy, wearing a small tuxedo too.

\- "Yup. And we're here to help you out, remember ?" Added Natsu… While munching on the food he was carrying.

\- "No eating the customer's food !" Scolded Lucy.

\- "A waiter's uniform isn't bad as a change once in a while !" Added Gray who was there too, his comment about uniform being quite ironic given his current attire, wearing just the bowtie and his boxer.

\- "Try wearing it, then !"

\- "And whose rent are we working to pay off here again ?" Asked Gray, squinted eyes as he looked at her accusingly, which made her look down inn shame before looking back at the last member of their team. "And besides..., check it out…"

\- "May I have your order ?" asked Erza to the customer, the uniform looking even more skimpier on her as she half-sat on the customer's table, her voice sweeter than usual.

\- "SOME people are really getting into this."

\- "Isn't she ALWAYS getting into this kind of jobs ?" Muttered Lucy before sighing in defeat. "I guess I'll do my best…"

When the end of the day came, the mages all gathered in the back room to talk with their current boss, the chef which was none other than the old man Yajima.

\- "You young 'uns these days sure are hard workers, eh ? There'll always be a position for you here !"

\- "Thank you." Said Erza, who was still wearing her uniform while everyone else was back to their civilians clothes, showing that she might like the uniform a bit too much. "Today was an educational experience."

\- "Man, now I know how Mira-chan must feel…" sighed Gray, completely tired.

\- "Whew, I'm stuffed !" Said Natsu, his belly all bloated as he sighed happily, Lucy pointing an accusing finger at him.

\- "Just how much of this place's food did you eat ?!"

\- "By the way, Yajima-san… How did things go at the council ?" Asked Erza, which made Gray and Natsu gasp in shock.

\- "What ? Didn't you guys know ?" Asked Lucy. "Yajima-san used to be one of the councilors…"

\- "Well, I'm not a member any more, you know…" Began Yajima. "When Sieg… Or should I say Jellal ?" When Erza confirmed it to be Jellal, he continued. "When that Jellal and Ultear betrayed us… Well, it was a historic failure on our parts, you see… I heart right now, they're all very busy laying the groundwork for setting up a whole new magic council. We caused you kids a whole lot of trouble too, didn't we ? I must apologize."

\- "Oh, no…" Reassured Erza with a small smile. "I heard that you in particular were against the firing of the Etherion to the very end? You have nothing to be ashamed of…"

\- "Nah, I just don't think I'm cut out for politics, anyways…" He said with a smile. "Cooking is so much more fun !" His comment made the mages laugh slightly before he suddenly got serious again. "By the way, Natsu-kun, Gray-kun… A lot of things are going to change at the council. Without me around, there won't be anybody to stand up for Fairy Tail when they get into trouble any more. So I'd suggest you keep that in mind."

\- "Absolutely !" Said the two friendly rivals at the same time, understanding what that meant. But as they got up to leave, he had one last thing to say.

\- "By the way, you should advise your Riders friends to be on their guards." The mages turned around, wondering what he meant by that. "Since most of the council is going to change, they could be contacted to do some things for them. Even when I was part of it, we often told themselves that their powers could maybe be learned or copied to give ourselves a better chances against dark guild and such."

\- "Don't tell me you thing the new council could end up working with Shocker ?" Asked Lucy, the sheer idea of the council working for such an organization making her blood run cold.

\- "I don't think they will work with Shocker given we have proof they worked with dark guild, but they could be quite persistent in making the Riders work with or for them. Just make sure they are aware of that and to be on their guard, no matter what."

The mages nod and finally left the place, leaving Yajima behind, the old man thinking back to what happen after the Etherion shot, wondering if Ultear was still alive and if she was, where she could be right now. And the answer won't please him at all.

/- Somewhere, in the sky -/

While the mages were heading back home, a flying ship sailed through the cloud, propelled via magic. Onboard, there was a woman, standing on the main deck, her black hair tied in two ponytail, her naked back showing a tattoo forming some sort of heart, symbol of the dark guild named Grimoire Heart, a crystal ball sliding on her arms.

\- "The Oracion Seis ? I see… So they're going to make their move…" she said to herself, looking through the windows of the main deck, the woman revealing herself to be none other than the one Yajima was wondering about, Ultear, turning to look at a man hidden in the shadow, sitting on some kind of demonic looking throne. "Master Hades. How will you respond to this ?"

\- "Ignore them." Simply said the man after a few seconds of silence, joined by two shadowed figures. "If they try to start something, the lawful folks will hardly be able to ignore it. We should take that opportunity to advance our search for the keys to Zeref's seal. But we should still keep an eye on what they are up to as this could allow us to see what this Shocker organization have in store."

\- "The weirdos that contacted us ? Why should we bother keeping tabs on them ?" asked one of the shadows.

\- "They have been part of many operations that all failed." Said the other one. "That is not a record that should interest us."

\- "Yes, that is true." Admitted Hades. "But they showed that they could give quite the boost to mages using their 'technology' and besides, they have never been teamed up with a group as strong as Oracion Seis before. So we'll look at how things will go. And who know. Maybe they'll at least succeed in eliminating a few of the guilds that stand in our way."

\- "Fairy Tail… for instance ?" Asked Ultear with a smirk and judging by the one appearing on Hades face, this was exactly the one he was mainly thinking about. This only meant one thing, things weren't going to be as easy as it seemed for our dear fairies.

/- At Fairy Tail -/

\- "What exactly is this ?"

Back at Fairy Tail, the mages were all standing in front of a large chart drawn by Reedus which was displaying the organization of the dark guilds of Fiore. They were all looking at it, except for the Riders who were on a table close by, looking at the documents Takeru brought back from Acalypha.

\- "That is an organization chart of the dark guild we've come up with." Said Mirajane. "They seem to be awfully active recently. So I think we need to work on strengthening inter-guild relations."

\- "What's that big circle for ?" Asked Elfman, pointing at a large circle in the middle of the chart to which most of the guild were linked to.

\- "Ah, Juvia knows that." Said the water mage. "That's the most powerful force amongst all the dark guilds : the Balam Alliance. It's a massive force made up of three individual dark guilds. Each of these has a number of lesser guilds under its control, and thus the three of them keep the underworld in check."

Looking at the chart, Lucy saw a name she hadn't heard or said in a long time.

\- "Eisenwald ! Isn't that the guild Erigor belonged to ?"

\- "That guild was under the control of the Oracion Seis…" Casually noted Gray, the name making the Riders shot their heads up, turning to look at the chart for the first time. "So was Ghoul Spirit which was annihilated by the Raijinshu."

\- "All those guilds that Juvia and Gajeel-kun destroyed when we were part of Phantom were under the Oracion Seis as well !" She said in a sing-song voice, looking proud as she smiled at Gray.

\- "I heard that there were only six members in this guild." Said Erza, arms crossed. "If such a small guild is supporting a third of the underworld, they must be a group of really strong mages."

\- "About those Oracion Seis…" Came the voice of Makarov who was standing by the door, a serious look on his face. "We're going to take them down !"

Everyone gasped in shock, not expecting such a development, everyone looking at the master as if he was crazy. Save for one person.

\- "Oh ! Welcome back, master !" said Mirajane with a smile.

\- "What kind of reaction is that ?!" Shouted Lucy, not understanding how she could be so calm with what Makarov just announced.

\- "So, master… what exactly is this about ?" asked Erza, everyone listened attentively, including the riders who had yet to manifest themselves.

\- "At the regular meeting a few days ago, the Oracion Seis came up on the agenda." Began Makarov. "Seems they're up to something. It was decided that this development cannot be ignored and so a guild must be sent to eliminate them."

\- "And you just had to go draw the losing card as usual, huh ?" Deduced Gray, he and the mages feeling ill at ease at the idea of facing such a guild by themselves.

\- "Not quite… The enemy is simply too large for that. If we went alone, then we would eventually end up as the sole target of the Balam Alliance's wrath. As such… We're going to form an alliance of our own." This news shocked the mages who weren't expecting such a development. "Fairy Tail, Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale and Cait Shelter. Each of these guilds is to select a number of members, and those members will join forces to defeat the enemy."

Ruckus ensued as people began to voice their opinion about this situation, the most part wondering what Oracion Seis could be doing currently to make the masters agreed on such a plan. Some where on the other hand motivated by the idea of dealing with them, Natsu being the loudest of them. In the back, the Riders all stood, looking at each other with a serious expression on their face. They seemed to be silently discussing about what to do and with a collective nod, they followed after Makarov. Things had to be said and discussed about.

/- Later -/

After the announcement of the alliance, Makarov gave the name of the ones he would be sending to represent his guild and help in taking down the Oracion Seis. People weren't surprise that he would choose Natsu, Gray and Erza. The fourth member however was… a little bit unexpected as it was…

\- "Why the heck am I included in this grand strategy, anyway ?!" Asked Lucy, holding her head in her hands, wondering why the master would choose her out of everyone else to go on a mission like this one.

\- "I think this is a pain as well, don't you start complaining." Asked Gray, frowning, as he sat next to her in the carriage that was bringing them to meet the others representative.

\- "This is the master's decision." Said Erza with a smile. "Do we not have a duty to live up to his expectations ?"

\- "But what about Gajeel or Juvia ?! They'd be much better suited for a battle like this !" Advocated Lucy.

\- "They are both busy with other work." Said Gray. "In the end, it will be the same old group as always…"

\- "That could be for the best." Smirked Erza. "This is our first strategy meeting with the delegates from the other guilds. It's important that we have good relations within our own delegation."

\- "There it is !" Suddenly said Happy, looking through the window. "That's the meeting point !"

The meeting point was a villa in the middle of the wood, belonging to none other than the master of Blue Pegasus, Bob. And as soon as they arrived there, the light died out and a spotlight shone from the roof onto three man standing in the middle of the room.

\- "Ladies and gentlemen of Fairy Tail… It is a pleasure to finally meet you." Said one of the men, followed by his colleagues.

\- "We are the delegation from Blue Pegasus…" Said the second.

\- "The Trimens." Said the last one as they finally revealed their faces.

\- "Hundred night Hibiki."

\- "Holy night Eve."

\- "Empty night Ren."

\- "Th… They're cool…" Lucy couldn't help but say, turning to look at the two men that came with them, one leaning on a pillar, sick as hell, and the other in underwear wondering where his clothes were. "Unlike ours…"

But if the Trimens were cool, they didn't seemed to understand what this meeting was about. They had immediately gone to Erza and Lucy, pulling them to a side of the room where a couch and a coffee table had been set, all under the incredulous stare of Natsu and Gray who were starting to feel annoyed.

\- "I look forward to your cooperation." Said Erza with a smile, her mind still on the quest at hands. "Let us work together and…"

\- "So cute !" Suddenly cut Eve, a small blush on his face as stars seemed to twinkle around it. "Your face is simply marvelous ! To tell the truth… I have always admired you…"

While Erza stared wide eyed at Eve, not knowing where this was coming from, Lucy also had to deal with one of them, namely Ren. Sitting next to her, looking away, he slid a glass toward her without even looking at the blonde.

\- "It's… not as though I made it for you or anything, all right ?" He said nonchalantly, the same twinkling and blush on his face as Lucy jumped in her skin as she realized what this meant.

"A tsundere !" She mentally shouted as she look at him as Hibiki took place in front of them., joined by the two others.

\- "Now… You must be tired from your long journey." He began with a wink. "Let us spend this night of rest together…"

\- "Forever ~!" They chanted all together, the girls looking at them as if they were aliens, but alas, this was only the beginning.

\- "My friends…" Came another voice, far too sweet to be natural, from the second floor. "I think that is quite enough of that, yes ?"

\- "Wh…What the ?! What is this sickly-sweet voice ?!" asked Lucy, already fearing what this newcomer might be.

\- "Ichiya-sama…" Said Ren as something weird happened to Erza.

\- "Ichiya ?" She said, literally shaking in… apprehension ? "To… To think that you would be participating…"

\- "It has been a while, my dear Erza-san !" Said the man named Ichiya who was finally visible on the stairs. "I have longed to see you, my honey ! Worry not… Ichiya is here for you !"

\- "My honey !?" repeated Lucy and Happy in shock as Era just stood there, mouth gaping and shaking like a leaf in a storm.

\- "So you were the lover of Ichiya-sama…" Said the Trimens at the same time, bowing slightly in apology. "We must apologize for our conduct…"

\- "I vigorously deny everything." She said, pointing at them, apparently not liking the idea of being that man 'lover'.

\- "Clear all that away !" Ordered Ichiya to the Trimens. "we're not here to mess about !"

\- "Yes, aniki !" They shouted as they pulled everything away as they were told, their seduction act long gone.

\- "Weren't they calling him 'Ichiya-sama' a moment ago ?" Asked Lucy, amazed by their inconsistency.

\- "I have heard all about you people… Erza-san, Lucy-san and the other two." While Gray and Natsu stood there, hurt by his lack of recognition to them, Ichiya turned to Lucy, sniffed deeply before literally spinning toward her. "Ah, such wonderful perfume !"

\- "I'm really creeped out…" Said Lucy, shivering as the man looked at her intently. Behind her, Erza looked down, almost ashamed.

\- "I'm sorry… I have trouble dealing with this guy as well." She said. "Though he IS admittedly a great mage."

\- "They are stupid, you mean." Muttered Natsu, arms crossed as he glared at them, their little seduction game not pleasing him at all. As for Gray, his reaction wasn't even hidden.

\- "Insufferable dandies of Blue Pegasus…" He began, grabbing everyone's attention. "Could I trouble you to keep those hands of your off our lovely ladies here ?"

The Trimens and Ichiya looked at him, not saying anything, as if they were analyzing him and after a few seconds…

\- "Oh, you men can just run off home." Said Ichiya pretty naturally.

\- "It has been a pleasure !" Said the Trimens as they bowed.

\- "Whoa, whoa !" Stopped Gray, not believing those guys. "Are you Pegasus punks trying to pick a fight, sending over this bunch of womanizing creeps ?"

\- "Are you sure you want to try ?" asked Ren with a smirk.

\- "We are powerful mages, you know." Added Eve with the same smile on his face. Things were slowly starting to become dangerous and Erza knew she had to put an end to it.

\- "Enough ! All of you, stop this right now !"

\- "Erza… Your perfume is glorious as always…"

\- "Don't come near me !" All desire to settle things down disappeared as Erza, feeling Ichiya behind her, way to close for comfort, punched him hard, sending him flying through the hall and straight to the door where he was stopped dead in his track by another man.

\- "Interesting manner of greeting us you have there." Said the man, his voice quite familiar to Gray and as the guy put Ichiya, whose head was encased in ice, down, it was revealed to be a well-known Ice Mage. "Would you be the delegates from Fairy Tail ?"

\- "Lyon ?!"

\- "Gray ?!"

The two formers 'classmates' looked at each other, not expecting the other to be here. Lyon then threw Ichiya back at the Fairy Tail mages, Gray and Lucy dodging the man by stepping out of the way.

\- "Hey ! What are you playing at ?!" Asked Gray, bothered by this uncalled throw

\- "Well, you did it to me first, right ?"

\- "What do you all think you are doing to our boss ?!" Shouted Ren, he and his friends not liking seeing their boss being thrown around like that.

\- "It's terrible !" Cried Eve.

\- "Could all of you men perhaps just leave ?" Asked Hibiki, only to be cut by another voice, feminine this time.

\- "Oh ? We're not all men, you know." Said the voice as the carpet of the hall began to move and lift from the ground.

 _ **DOLL ATTACK : CARPET DOLL !**_

The carpet then became alive, a mouth and eyes appearing on it as it 'attacked' Lucy, the blonde diving out of the way before she realized that she knew this magic, looking behind her to see a woman behind the carpet which was falling back to its former state.

\- "Wait… I know this magic !"

\- "Oh ? I see you haven't forgotten me…" Said the girl, who was none other than Sherry who had changed her style a lot since Galuna Island. "It's time for you to forget all about the past me ! I have been reborn for the sake of love !"

\- "Love ? Looks like she didn't changed much." Muttered Lucy as she got up, the tension rose up even more between the different delegations. Things were about to end up really nasty if it wasn't for the last newcomer whose booming voice shut everyone up.

\- "ENOUGH !" Said the man, tall and muscled garbed in what looked like tribal clothes with a staff in his hand. "We are here to form an alliance… and defeat the Oracion Seis. This is no time to be fighting amongst ourselves."

\- "Jura-san…" Said Lyon, a look of pure admiration and respect on his face as he look at the approaching man while the other person in the room stood in surprise.

\- "Jura ?!" Repeated Erza, eyes wide.

\- "This man is…"

\- "The ace of Lamia Scale…"

\- "Rock Iron Jura." Said the Trimens in their usual echoed speech.

\- "Who is he, again ?" asked Natsu, not knowing the name.

\- "He's one of the Ten Wizard Saint !" Said Happy, making Natsu's eyes go wide as he realized what that meant in term of strength.

\- "One of the Ten Wizard…" Repeated Lucy, gaping in awe. "I can't believe it. That's impressive !"

\- "Looks like all the guilds took this situation pretty seriously." Said a voice the Fairies knew pretty well as a young man walked into the building a small smile on his face.

\- "Emu !?" Exclaimed 3 of the 4 Fairies, Erza being the exception while the other delegation looked at the newcomer with attention.

\- "This perfume… I guess he is one of them." Said Ichiya.

\- "One of those famous Kamen Rider." Added Jura, turning to face Emu. "I didn't knew you were that concerned by our problems, being from another world."

\- "Well, we're not the kind to just stay put when bad people are plotting." Said Emu with a smile before becoming serious suddenly. "But we are here because we'll lend you a hand."

\- "Lending us a hand ?" Repeated Hibiki. "Are you looking down on us that much ?"

\- "That's not it." Cut Erza, her and the Fairy Tail delegation looking more serious as they already know the real reason Emu was here. "It's Shocker, isn't it ?"

\- "Yes." Confirmed Emu, earning nods from their guildmates and curious stares from the others, prompting Emu from explaining his situation to them. "We came to this world because our enemy, an organization called Shocker came here. They already did a number of things, teaming up with bad people and dark guild. We recently acquired intel about what they were doing and even though we have yet to analyze everything, we learned that they managed to make a deal with Oracion Seis. Meaning that this operation also concerns us."

\- "You say us, but I only see you." Said Lyon. "Where are the others ?"

\- "On their way. They had to stay behind a little to discuss with Makarov and since we didn't wanted to let you all go without knowing we'd be here, I volunteered to join you before the rest." Explained Emu, the mages looking at each other, feeling like what was already a difficult mission could become much harder if enemies from another world got involved.

\- "Well, then. It's a pleasure to meet you and I hope our collaboration will go without trouble." Said Jura, extending a hand to Emu who shook it with a smile.

\- "The pleasure is all mine."

\- "Alright. Three of the guilds are now assembled." Began Jura, turning his attention back to the delegations. "All that remains is the delegation from Cait Shelter."

\- "You say 'delegation'." Added Ichiya. "But from what I hear, they are only sending a single mage !"

\- "A single mage !?" Snapped Gray. "Those assholes are only gonna give us one mage to help out in this stupidly dangerous mission ?!"

\- "W…Wait… Don't tell me it's going to be some stupidly powerful person… ?!" Asked Lucy, already anxious at the idea of how strong this mage could be when footsteps could be heard getting closer to them. Turning their head, they only saw someone falling to the ground after tripping on the carpet but they quickly saw what kind of person it was and that made them gape in shock.

\- "U…Um… I'm sorry I'm so late. I'm here from Cait Shelter. My name is Wendy. Pleased to be working with you all !" The one send by Cait Shelter was a small girl who had to be 12 years old at best. She had long dark blue hair and brown eyes, wearing a small yellow and blue striped dress with some feather-like accessories on her arms and ankles. Her mark was located on her right shoulder and she simply stood there shyly, hands behind her back as she blushed in embarrassment from the look she got, mainly shocked one as everyone was surprised to see a child coming on such a mission. Among them, two had slightly different reaction. The first was Natsu who repeated her name, as if he already knew her from somewhere and the other being Emu who couldn't help but feel that this little girl was special.

\- "… All the guilds are now assembled."

\- "Whoa, whoa, hold it !" Gray jumped in, stopping Jura who seemed to have gone over the shock a bit too fast for comfort.

\- "An offensive endeavor of this scale and they send us a single child… ?" Said Sherry, feeling like something wasn't right. "What is Cait Shelter playing at ?"

\- "Alone ? I think not, you tawdry woman." Said another voice, coming from behind Wendy, the girl turning around in surprise.

\- "Carla ! You followed me here ?!"

Everyone look behind Wendy to see that Carla was… A cat. A white cat with brown eyes wearing a bow on her tail and she wore clothes, namely a top with a bow tie and a skirt. She had on her face a strict expression, showing her seriousness as well as pretty much aloof.

\- "But of course. I would worry to no end if you were to go off alone."

\- "A cat !?" Emu looked down at his rings, then at Wendy and Carla, a smile gracing his lips as he seemed to understand something. Meanwhile, people were surprise to see that feline, but none more than Happy… who had hearts in his eyes. Emu couldn't hold back a giggle which drew Gray's attention.

\- "What's the problem, man ?"

\- "Nothing. I just feel like things could become quite interesting."

\- "I… I… can't actually fight at all, but…" Began Wendy, her voice wavering, her shyness overtaking her. "I know a lot of supports magic that should be useful to you all… So please don't leave me out completely~ !" She said at last, hands balled in little fists, as if she had gathered everything she had to speak a tad bit louder.

\- "Honestly… It's that kind of timidity of yours that makes people look down on you !" Chided Carla. Apparently, this wasn't the first time her timidity got the better of her.

\- "My apologies…" Began Erza with a sweet smile, trying to ease the girl down a little. "We were a little taken aback, but I'm sure nobody meant you any insult. We look forward to working with you, Wendy."

\- "Wow… It's Erza-san…" Said Wendy, eyes shining admiratively as she squatted down to be at Carla's level. "It's really her, Carla !"

\- "She's more agreeable than I had expected." Admitted Carla before noticing the other cat in the room looking at her.

\- "D… Do you know me ? I'm Happy, the Nekomander !" He asked, only for Carla to look away, arms crossed showing her annoyance and disdain. But of course… "Ahh, she's so shy… How cute…"

\- "She's going to grow up to be a real beauty." Said Ren.

\- "She's cute enough right now." Corrected Eve.

\- "Please, young lady… This way…" Said Hibiki, already next to Wendy, inviting her to sit on the couch from before.

\- "Gentlemen, please. Now is not the time." Asked Emu, freeing the embarrassed Wendy from the Trimens grasp.

\- "Hmph… At least there are people here with manners, unless these uncouth men." Said Carla, standing beside a shy but relieved Wendy.

\- "Th…Thank you, Mister. Nice to meet you !" She said with a bow to Emu who smiled and squat down to be at her level.

\- "It's nothing. And call me Emu." He said, looking at the now smiling girl.

\- "This girl… This glorious perfume… She is something special."

\- "You have noticed it too, Ichiya-dono ?" Said Jura, also having noticed something special about Wendy. "There is something different about her magic… And it seems like Erza-dono has realized it also."

While Erza, Ichiya and Jura were looking at the young girl, Natsu was also staring at her but for another reason.

\- "What's up, Natsu ?" Asked Gray, intrigued by the sudden stillness of his fire breathing comrade.

\- "Wendy… I feel like I might have heard that name before somewhere… Hmmmmm." Natsu closed his eyes, trying his hardest to remember, which made him literally shaking until he finally turned to Gray. "Could you remember it for me ?"

\- "The fuck is that ?!"

Glancing back at Wendy, Natsu saw her looking at him at the same moment, the girl smiling at him, his mind still wondering where he had heard that name before but that's when Ichiya jumped in, making them all go back on the main subject : their mission.

\- "Now, then… Since everyone has finally arrived… I shall proceed to the explanation of our strategy ! But first, I must visit the perfume of the lavatory." He said, leaving to the bathroom.

\- "… The perfume of the lavatory ?" Repeated Emu, weirded out. "Is this guy sane ? Mentally, I mean."

\- "No, he's not/Yes, he is." Said the Fairies and Trimens respectively at the same time, both group glaring at each other but soon after that, Ichiya came back and explained once again the plan.

\- "Sorry for this. As I was saying, north of our current location lies the Warth Woodlands. It is there that a mighty magic was sealed away in ancient times. Its name… 'Nirvana'." Emu listened but also squinted his eyes. He was feeling like something changed in Ichiya but he said nothing, only observing for now. About Nirvana, no one in the group knew about it, not even Jura, except for the Trimens.

\- "We know that its destructive power was so great that the people back then saw fit to seal it away…" Began Ren.

\- "But we don't exactly know what kind of magic it was." Added Eve.

\- "But since the Oracion Seis have gathered in the Warth Woodlands… We should assume that Nirvana is their goal." Ended Hibiki.

\- "In order to prevent them from obtaining it… we must defeat them now !" Finished Ichiya. "We have 12 mages and…" He turned to Emu, his sentence trailing.

\- "7." Said Emu, knowing what he was in need of.

\- "… 7 Kamen Riders, making 19 persons, while they have 6. But we would do well not to underestimate them. Each of those six mages is extremely powerful."

As soon as he said that, Hibiki used his magic to make 6 square appear out of thin air, each one of them showing the face of someone : a blonde man with shades, a man with maroon hair and tan skin, a white haired woman, a man with a weird geometrical face, a young, slightly effeminate man with black and white hair and a tan skinned man with tattoo on his face, which Hibiki introduced in that order.

\- "Racer, whose name appear to indicate that he use speed-related magic. Cobra who uses poisonous snakes. Angel, a woman who is said to be able to see into your heart. Hoteye of the heavenly eyes. Not much is known about the fifth one, but he is known as Midnight an then there is their leader Brain. Each one of these mages has enough power to annihilate a guild single-handedly. We must take full advantage of our numerical superiority."

\- "Erm… You probably shouldn't bother counting me at all…" Said Lucy, standing to the side, fearing the idea of facing those guys. Next to her, Wendy was in the same position.

\- "I'm no good at fighting either…" She said timidly, Carla already scolding her for her lack of confidence. But luckily, the plan wasn't just taking the Oracion Seis head on.

\- "Worry not." Reassured Ichiya. "Our strategy is not limited to simple combat. The important point is that we locate their base of operations."

\- "Their base ?" Repeated Emu.

\- "We have yet to confirm this for certain…" Added Ren. "But we believe they have established a temporary base of operations in the Woodlands. If at all possible, we want to get all six of them together at that base."

\- "That's great and all, but what do we do once they are gathered there ?" asked Emu as Hibiki suddenly pointed upward.

\- "We use our guild's might Pegasus airship, the Christina… To destroy their base and them along with it !"

\- "A Magical bomber !?" Half-shouted Sherry, as shocked by the plan than her comrades. As for Lucy, she seemed… peeved.

\- "You're breaking out a bomber craft against humans ?"

\- "That is the nature of the enemy we face." Said Jura, understanding how she felt but also knowing what should be done. "Now, take heed… If combat does ensue, nobody is to face an enemy alone. You must always do battle in groups of at least two." A judicious advice, if only everyone followed it.

\- "Right ! I'm all pumped now !" Said Natsu before literally rushing outside, as if he didn't heard the plan, which was probably the case. "I'm gonna take all six of them on by myself !"

\- "I suppose we should go after him." Said Erza, following after him with a worried Lucy and Gray who had to let a comment about Natsu's stupidity out. But they weren't the only one who left the place. Lyon, not wanting to be outdone by Fairy Tail, followed after them with Sherry despite Jura's warning, then the Trimens ran after them. Wendy stood there a moment, all shaking and wondering if she should follow, and Carla decided for her.

\- "Wendy, it's time to go !" She said, grabbing Wendy by her hand and pulling her toward the exit. Emu followed after them but soon after he had left the building, he heard his phone ringing, prompting him into stopping to answer as it was his colleagues. Looks like he'll meet the others later. Meanwhile, only Ichiya and Jura were left in the villa, looking at the exit where they had all disappeared, sighing but saying nothing despite that.

\- "Well, it seems the time has come to put this strategy into action." Said Jura, walking to the door. "Let us move out as well."

\- "Just before we do that, Jura-san…" Interrupted Ichiya, who had a question for the Lamia Scale's ace. "I have heard that you are a member of the Ten Wizards Saints… But would that mean that your strength rivals that of master Makarov ?"

\- "Do not be absurd !" Said Jura, turning around in offense. "The Wizard Saints are merely a position granted by the council. I am but the least of the ten… I may bear the same title, but I could not hope to begin to compare to master Makarov."

\- "Oh ? Well, that is quite the relief." Said Ichiya, strangely relieved by such a revelation. "If you were as powerful as Makarov, I would have been quite troubled…"

Jura looked at Ichiya, wondering what he meant and why as a strange smell reached him, a cloud surrounding him as he began to feel weak, trying his best not to breathe in that smell.

\- "Wh… What is this smell… ?!" He asked, holding his breath as much as he could.

\- "A magical perfume with the ability to remove the opponent's ability to fight… apparently." Answered Ichiya, a tube filled with said perfume in his hand.

\- "Ichiya-dono ! What is the meaning of this ?!" He asked, troubled and worried by such a turn of event. But the shock only grew when Ichiya suddenly lunged at him, stabbing him in the stomach, blooding seeping out of the wound and his mouth as Ichiya smiled and began to disappear, only to be replaced by two little blue beings, looking almost exactly the same except for their smiles and color of clothes.

\- "Whew ! We're back !" They said at the same time before the first one continued. "That Ichiya thinks of nothing but perverted stuff !"

\- "Nothing else at all !" Added the other one. "What a horrible man !"

Jura stood in shock, a hand on his wounds as he wondered what on earth those things were when they suddenly ran toward a woman clad in a white feather-made jacket, gloves and stockings. One he recognized as the one from the images shown by Hibiki : Angel of the Oracion Seis.

\- "Wh… What on…"

\- "Wondering about that filthy old man ?" Angel asked, cutting Jura. "I copied him, that's all. And as a result, I know your entire little strategy."

As he realized what that meant, it was already a little too late, Jura falling to the ground defeated by the combination of the perfume and stab wound as Angel looked down at him with a smirk. "There we go ! Two down, eleven to go. I won't let you interfere, little children of the light… If you try, then you will meet with an angel's judgement."

/- Meanwhile -/

The mages, ignoring everything about what happened at the villa were about to reach the Woodlands, Wendy trailing behind as Carla kept dragging her. Lucy, however, realized that someone was missing.

\- "Hey ! Where's Emu ?" She asked, not seeing a single white blouse among them.

\- "I saw him stopping a little but after we left the villa." Said Happy who was standing by Carla. "He answered a call on his phone. I'm sure he'll meet with us soon."

Lucy nodded but she couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right. She had a really bad feeling about it and not only because she felt stressed at the idea of facing a group as powerful as the Oracion Seis. Suddenly, a deep rumbling reached them all as a shadow loomed over them, prompting them to look at the sky, only to find a large horse-shaped aircraft, wings deployed and cannons at the ready.

\- "Ladies and gentlemen, the anti-demon assault ship : Christina !" Introduced the Trimens, the other looking at the ship with 'oooh' and 'aaah', eyes wide in admiration, which quickly switched to shock and stupefaction as explosion set the ship ablaze which then came crashing down, now nothing more than a large wooden fireball as it plummeted toward the forest. And the mages didn't have the luxury to realized what happened as silhouette began to appear though the smoke lifted by the crash. 6 persons stood there, looking at the mages who immediately recognized them as the ones they came to stop : the Oracion Seis has arrived.

\- "Some maggots, have gathered." Said their leader, Brain, pulling down the hood of his jacket.

\- "Your way of thinking is too predictable." Said Angel with a haughty smile.

\- "We've already beaten Jura and Ichiya." Said the two twins by her side, shocking the mages, and mainly the ones from Lamia and Pegasus.

\- "Are you trembling ? I heard it." Said Cobra with a nasty grin.

\- "We prefer to finish our job as quick as possible. But you guys are in the way." Added Racer.

\- "Money makes a person stronger, right ?" Suddenly said Hoteye. "Let me tell you something good, in this world money is everyth-"

\- "Just up, Hoteye." Cut Cobra, interrupting the man before he could say anything else that wasn't useful. The only one among the Oracion that said nothing was Midnight, who was sleeping on a flying carpet. If the alliance globally stood their ground, Gray and Natsu didn't as they rushed at them, trying to finish it. However, they had no idea what they were facing. With one word from his leader, Racer suddenly shot toward Natsu and Gray, his blinding speed taking the two by surprise as they were knocked to the ground in an instant.

\- "Natsu ! Gray !" Shouted Lucy, whose voice had a strange echo, the blonde turning her head only to face with another Lucy, one who pulled out her whip to attack the original who had no idea what was happening as Angel smiled. Sherry and Lyon also tried to attack, only to be stopped by Hoteye whose magic made the ground swell like a wave, knocking both of them down. Meanwhile, Racer kept running, taking care of the Trimens while Erza attacked Cobra. Getting up, Natsu noticed that Midnight was still sleeping, and he didn't liked that.

\- "Why is that bastard sleeping ?!" He asked, not believing that guy as he spat flames at him. "Wake up !"

But the flames missed Midnight, or rather they literally bend around, completely missing the guy, much to Natsu's surprise.

\- "Quit it. It'd be scary to wake him up." Advised Racer who suddenly appeared behind him, sending him to the ground with a strong punch. One after the other, the mages all got pummeled by Hoteye, Angel and Racer, the only one still fighting being Erza, who had yet to land a blow on Cobra who had amazing abilities when it came to dodging. Now requipped into the Flight Armor, she had to deal with Cobra, but also Racer and Hoteye but she stood her ground, just like they expected her to. But alas, with so many enemies, she couldn't be aware of everything.

\- "I can ear your movements." Said Cobra as Erza felt something on her arm, as she just got bitten by Cubelios, Cobra's snake. "Cubelios' poison won't kill you straight away… You'll suffocate in pain."

And with that, Erza fell and joined the rest of the alliance, everyone vanquished by the Oracion Seis.

\- "You trash, should all vanish." Said Brain as he gathered a Dark Magic with horror-stricken faces in his hand, gathering into a large swirl above him, the atmosphere wavering as he did so. He was about to unleash it on the defeated mages when he noticed the only one who hadn't been defeated, the only one who was hiding behind a rock the entire time. "Wendy…"

\- "Hmm ? What's that, Brain ? An acquaintance ?" Asked Racer, he and his comrades wondering why their boss just stopped his spell.

\- "It's definitely her. The Sky sorceress…" He said as a smile came to his face. "Looks like I've picked up someone valuable. Come…" He said as a mass so dark smoke flew toward Wendy. The mages on the ground could only watch, powerless as the smoke got closer to her when suddenly…

 _ **MIGHTY ACTION X !**_

A wave of pixelated light appeared out of nowhere, covering the ground, trees and everything else as blocks appeared here and there, one blocking the smoke from reaching Wendy as the Oracion Seis, the representative from Lamia Scale, Blue Pegasus and Cait Shelter where surprised, unlike the Fairy Tail team who smirked despite their pain.

\- "I don't know who she is or what you want to do with her. Said the savior as he walked to stood in front of Wendy. "But as a Kamen Rider, and also as a pediatrician, I can't let you harm a child."

\- "Emu !" Exclaimed Happy who was… well, happy, to see a friendly face in such a situation.

\- "You certainly took your time !" Complained Carla while Wendy seemed really happy.

\- "Mister ! You saved me !" She said with a big smile which Emu gave back to her. In front of him, the Oracion Seis were looking at him, intrigued.

\- "So here is one of those famous Kamen Riders." Said Brain with a smirk. "I have to say, you're younger than I expected, young man. It a pleasure to meet you." Sarcasm was flooding from his mouth as he said that and Emu knew it.

\- "I am Emu Hojo. Pediatrician, surgeon and, in a completely different context, the genius gamer M. But I guess you heard much of me as Kamen Rider Ex-Aid. It's a displeasure to meet you."

\- "Don't go thinking to highly of yourselves." Advised Angel. "Even with or without Kamen Riders, this won't change the fact that light is fated to be destroyed."

\- "If so, then I'll change this fate with my own hands. DAI HENSHIN !"

 _ **GASHAT ! GACHAN ! LEVEL UP ! MIGHTY JUMP ! MIGHTY KICK ! MIGHTY, MIGHTY ACTION X !**_

To the one who never witnessed a Rider transformation, what happened came as a shock as Emu was now clad in his pink and black armor, ready for the fight. The Oracion Seis squinted their eyes, except for Brain who seemed to be awfully calm.

\- "Your colorful getup won't help you." He said. "You might not know it, but we kind of figured that a Kamen Rider might come, so we hired ourselves some friends to help us." With that, he lifted his staff and out of nowhere, a full regiment of Shocker soldiers appeared, making the Rider frown as well as the Fairies, the others frowning as they looked at the newcomers.

\- "What the hell are those guys ?" Asked Eve from the ground, still suffering from his wounds.

\- "Those are soldiers from that Shocker organization." Said Gray. "Looks like they truly do work together with Oracion Seis."

\- "It doesn't matter how much help you'll have." Said Emu as he took a step forward as the Shocker soldiers ran at him, only to be stopped by a flurry of bullets of varying size and color hitting the ground by their feet, coming from a whole squad that arrived on bikes and car. "A guild as powerful as yours, there was no way we'd hold ourselves back this time." Added Emu as he was joined by his friends, already transformed. "And we'll clear this with No Continues !"

\- "I have to agree !" Said Fourze. "Let's settle this man-to-man !"

\- "He's right." Added Gaim. "After all, this is our stage now !"

\- "New kind of magic and potentially new hybrids. That's exciting !" Smiled Build. "So, shall we begin the experiment ?"

\- "We won't let you do as you please." Added Ghost. "As long as we're here, we're gonna let our lives burn bright !"

\- "You criminals have to pay for your crimes." Stated Drive. "I'll take you all for a ride."

\- "I think the message is quite clear." Finished Wizard, noticing something when he had walked past Wendy. "Now, it's Showtime !"

Like a single wave, the soldiers ran at the Riders who did the same, more focused on reaching the Oracion Seis who didn't moved even if they seemed like they had lost their smiles looking at the Riders plowing through the soldiers. As it seemed like they were about to get reached, Brain decided that it was enough. Following his orders, Hoteye liquified the earth underneath the Riders, making them lose their footing before they got all swiped by the torrent of mud, Brain using this opportunity to do what he was aiming for in the beginning. He then sent hand of smoke at Wendy, this time effectively catching her.

\- "No, Wendy !" Shouted Emu from the earth he was currently stuck in.

The young girl tried to get out of the smoke, trying to grab Carla who was running after her. But if she did caught a cat paw, it wasn't Carla's, but Happy. And in a flash, the smoke, along with Happy and Wendy, disappeared.

\- "Wendy !" Shouted Carla in despair.

\- "Happy !" Shouted Natsu, fearing for his friend safety.

\- "I no longer have business with you scum…" Said Brain. "Leave my sight !"

He then shot a huge beam of dark magic covered in horrified faces at the mages and Riders, the blast coming at them from all around but luckily, they were saved just in time by a returning mage.

 _ **IRON ROCK WALL !**_

Jura came and used his magic to bend the earth around the wounded and Riders, creating a solid dome of earth that took all the blow from the attack.

\- "Jura-sama !" Exclaimed Sherry who, just like everyone, was truly happy to see the bald mage. However, this situation wasn't all good as the Oracion Seis were now nowhere to be found, having used the attack as a diversion to leave with their prisoners.

\- "We got owned. They were too strong." Said Ren, teeth clenched.

\- "Wendy…" Whispered Carla, looking at where the Oracion Seis were a seconds before.

\- "We're sorry." The Riders stood there, untransformed and self-disappointment clearly showing on their faces. "We were so caught up in Shocker that we failed to protect Wendy."

\- "Don't sweat it." Said Gray as he got up. "We all got owned and in fact, if you didn't came here sooner, we'd probably be already dead."

\- "Thank god you're safe, Jura-san." Said Lyon as he walked to the bald mage.

\- "You're wrong. I was in critical condition…" He said, motioning to his wound. "For now, Ichiya's pain relieving perfume is suppressing it temporally." He said, turning to look at a blood covered Ichiya, the true Ichiya.

\- "So Oracion Seis ran away in fear at the sight of our arrival…" He said in his usual sickly sweet voice before grabbing and opening a small vial. "Come everyone bathe in my pain relieving perfume."

As the perfume flew around, the mages could feel the pain fading, making them almost as good as new. However, some people weren't in the mood for settling down.

\- "Damn it. They got Wendy and Happy." Seethed Natsu as he immediately ran away. "Where are they ?! UGHA !" And he was stopped in his track by Carla, who had grabbed him by his scarf, the cat actually flying thanks to a pair of wings that sprouted on her back, surprising the mages and Riders.

\- "This magic is called Era." She said with a proud smile. "Well… I don't blame you for being surprised."

\- "You're the same as Happy." Bluntly said Natsu from the ground, making the cat look at him with a scowl.

\- "Anyway, you have to calm down Natsu." Said Kouta. "Even if they have Wendy and Happy and we're worried about them, we can't just charge in blindly. They already beat you so it wouldn't be wise. And besides, we have another problem."

\- "Please hold on, Erza !" Shouted Lucy at Erza who was sitting against a tree, holding her arm in pain as the poison from Cobra's snake was slowly killing her, the pain relieving perfume not working at all on her. Erza, however, didn't looked alarmed, she even looked determined. Without warning, she took Lucy's belt, making her lose her short much for most of the boys enjoyment, which Erza then attached to her arm as she bit into a tissue.

\- "I'm still going to fight." She said as she threw a sword to the ground and held her arm out. "Cut my arm off !" Of course, everyone was shocked that she could ask such a thing and the only one who dared to do it was Lyon who had grabbed the sword but as he was about to cut the arm in two, he was stopped by Emu.

\- "Hey ! Don't you think it's a little too soon to think about an amputation ?" He said with a frown, his medical senses coming back. "I'm a doctor and as such, I'm sure there is a way to cure her."

\- "There is. Wendy can save her." Said Carla, grabbing everyone's attention. "She can not only counteract magic, but she also has her pain relieving healing which can counteract fevers."

\- "Wait, healing… Could it be lost magic ?" Asked Sherry.

\- "Could it be related to the Sky Sorceress they said ?" Asked Lucy.

\- "Let me guess." Haruto jumped in with a smile. "She's a Dragon slayer, isn't it ?"

This made everyone gasp, imagining what this could mean if this was proved to be true. And Carla confirmed it, looking at Haruto with a frown.

\- "How did you know ?"

\- "When I walked by her, I could feel WizarDragon react, and judging by the fact that my Hurricane Rings reacted to, I'd say she is the Air or Wind Dragon Slayer. Am I right ?"

\- "Well, her true title is Sky Dragon Slayer. But I guess Air and Wind could work to in a way." Said Carla. "But we have to work together to find and save Wendy if we want to save Erza."

\- "I agree on that, but Erza might not survive long enough." Revealed Emu, shocking everyone by his revelation. "We have to do something here and now to at least make sure she'll survive long enough to be healed by Wendy."

\- "Can't you do anything ?" Said Hibiki. "I thought you were a doctor."

\- "I am, but without material, I can't do anything against a poisoning." He explained. "And besides, this is surely magic made poison and ordinary healing might not work."

\- "We'd love to help, but I'm afraid Mad Doctor isn't made to heal people from magic poison." Said Belt-san, his intervention taking by surprise the one who didn't knew about him.

\- "Same for me." Added Gentaro. "Medical might not work."

\- "But maybe we can make them." Suddenly said Sento, deep in though. "We proved that our powers and magic could fuse and as such work better on and against mage and magic in general. If we infused the Medical Switch and Mad Doctor with Magic, even without any kind of affinity, this could give them the affinity they need to cure or at least slow the poison down."

 _ **3 ! 2 ! 1 !**_

 _ **DRIVE : TYPE SPEED !**_

Both transformed, they gave the previously mentioned Switch and Shift Car to the mages who immediately tried to infused their magic inside them. And it did worked, the Shift Car and Switch barely changing, the Switch now different in color as Mad Doctor looked like a medieval cart of some sort with the same color scheme.

 _ **TIRE KOUKAN : MAD HEALER !**_

 _ **HEALER ON !**_

The new Mad Healer looked the same as the old one but with crystal, like Lachrymas, all over it instead of the needles as the Healer Switch took the shape of some sort of wand with a crystal on the tip. Both Riders used their new toys at the same time on Erza who was heavily panting as lights came out of the crystals on the two, bathing Erza in said light as her panting became less erratic and the sweat on her body disappeared greatly.

\- "Is she healed ?" Asked Lucy, impressed by how better she was looking right now.

\- "No, the poison is still here." Said Emu. "But she's in a better shape and it should take longer for the poison to kill her. We should have enough time to save Wendy."

\- "Right. For now, our priority is to save Wendy." Said Carla. "And even though we don't know where we're going, we know Wendy is important to them."

\- "Which means they won't do anything to her for now." Concluded Shinnosuke, tightening his tie as everyone gathered in a circle. "We have all one goal : to rescue Wendy, and Happy at the same time, to save Erza."

\- "Alright !" Finished Natsu, his fist joining the other's. "Let's go !"

As their shout echoed through the forest, they all just entered the right mindset to go to Wendy and Happy's rescue, and to fulfil the mission they came her for : taking down Oracion Seis.

 **Alright, here we are ! I hope you liked that chapter. If you have anything to say about it or the story, in good or in bad, let me know through a constructive review or private message as usual. See ya !**

 **Next time : The war begin. Deadman rising. Warning : high speed on frozen road.**


	38. Chapter 38 : Revival and frozen road

**Hiya guys ! I hope everything is good for you. I'd like to excuse myself for the time that passed since the last updates but as I said, since it's summer time and I'm not feeling like working as I usually do, I took a little bit more time for myself. This is going to be probably the same for a few chapter after this one, don't you worry if the updates aren't as frequent for now. Anyway, let's get down to it.**

 **Chapter 38 : Revival and frozen road.**

Somewhere in the middle of the Warth Woodlands, hidden by the trees, stood a hole in which many rivers became waterfalls, the water surrounding a small island where stood a small village, or at least what was left of it. Ruined huts made of woods, stone and daub stood there, ghosts of a past times when people used to live here, a time when this place was the capital of the ancients. The place was deserted, except for a cave on the wall of the chasm, where the member of the Oracion Seis were gathered, with their two prisoners.

\- "Kyaa !" Cried Wendy as she got thrown to the ground against a wall by Brain, along with Happy who stood up to the dark mage.

\- "Hey ! Don't be so violent ! She's still a child !" Scolded Happy, only to be shut up by Brain who grabbed him by his face and threw him to the ground once again, knocking him out. In the meantime, the other mages present were looking at the girl with curiosity.

\- "Who is this girl ?" Asked Racer.

\- "Is she linked to Nirvana ?" Wondered Cobra.

\- "It doesn't seem." Answered Angel.

\- "Alright ! We might sell it to gain money…" Began Hoteye, as focused on money as ever.

\- "Zzzzz" Slept Midnight.

\- "She can use the magic of the skies… Curative Magic." Explained Brain as Wendy looked at him defiantly, sitting against the wall while holding Happy close to her. As for the others, they seemed surprise by that revelation.

\- "Curative Magic ? The lost magic ?" Asked Racer to confirm this was what he was thinking, Angel being the same as Hoteye kept talking money and Cobra frowned, his mind racing as he tried to see what Brain meant. And when he understood, he gasped in shock.

\- "Wait ! You want to say that she… ?!"

\- "Exactly !" Confirmed Brain. "She will resuscitate…"

\- "I will never make anything evil !" Shouted Wendy defiantly, not wanting to revive anyone for them.

\- "Oh, but there is no doubt that you will resuscitate it." Stated Brain much to Wendy's frustration who could only imagine what they would do to make her do it. As for Brain, he turned to Racer. "Racer, bring him here."

\- "Alright. But it's far… It'll take some time." As Brain said that it was fine, he left to go look for whatever Brain wanted.

\- "I see already… Then there will be a tie with the Nirvana." Said Cobra with a satisfied grin on his face, his snake Cubellios as always by his side.

\- "Cobra, Hoteye, Angel. You continue with the search for Nirvana." Ordered Brain. "I believe that is does not serve as anything if that person revives. In case of any unexpected event, Midnight and I will remain here."

The three of them agreed to the plan and left the cave, leaving Wendy alone with Brain and a sleeping Midnight. She was feeling tensed, not knowing what was waiting for her in the near future, but that didn't stopped her from asking a question.

\- "What the heck… What kind of magic… is this Nirvana ?"

\- "It is a magic… That exchanges the light and the darkness." Simply explained Brain with a smirk. "As soon as we get our hands on it, your little friends won't be able to do anything to stop us."

\- "Don't jump to conclusion to quickly, my dear partner. There's always things you can't underestimate."

Brain lost his smile, turning to look at a man who just entered the cave, Wendy following Brain's gaze to see who just entered. It was an old man with long white hair and wearing a white suit with a bow tie, wore under a black cape with a high collar. He simply stood there, hands on a cane, looking at Brain.

\- "I guess you're saying this because of those Kamen Rider, isn't it ?" Asked Brain, to which the newcomer simply nod. "I know that they are strong and shouldn't be underestimated, but once we'll have Nirvana, they won't be able to stop us."

\- "I hope so." Said the old man. "If everything goes according to the plan, either Nirvana will work on them, which I doubt will happen, or they'll be too busy trying to save their friends to stop us. But as I said, they shouldn't be underestimated. The Kamen Riders proved to be quite 'odds defying' people."

Brain nodded, the message clear as Wendy looked at the interaction between the two, not knowing what they meant but realizing that whatever this was, this wasn't good for them.

/- Somewhere in the woodlands -/

While the Oracion Seis were plotting to get their hands on whatever Nirvana was, the mood wasn't the best with Lucy, Hibiki, Takeru, Kouta and Emu. They stayed behind while the others left of look for Wendy and Happy, the five of them protecting Erza, the poison in her body slowly taking its toll on her despite the double healing from magic boosted Medical Switch and Mad Doctor. Both Emu and Lucy checked on her while Kouta and Takeru kept guard, ready to fight at any given opportunity while Hibiki was using his unique form of magic to gathered informations on the situation.

\- "Boys… Hurry, please…" Prayed Lucy as she looked at the pained Erza, Emu checking on her vitals and doing anything he could to slow down the poison as much as he could.

\- "If you're that worried, you could have followed the others to look for Wendy, you know." Said Takeru, Yurusen hovering around him. "? Why are you not with them ?"

\- "I could not leave Erza like that." She said with a small smile. "And besides… I'm not exactly the strongest among us."

\- "That modesty !" Suddenly said Hibiki. "I have heard rumors of how you beat a three meters tall gorilla. And you also took care of a whole herd of Vulcans all by yourselves."

\- "You are exaggerating." Said Lucy with a sweat drop, this habits of misinterpreting what she truly did becoming annoying.

\- "Don't sell yourself short, Lucy." Said Kouta, Lockseed in hand. "People might exaggerate the facts, but you're still a strong mage on your own." This made Lucy smiled as Emu looked at Hibiki.

\- "And you ? Why aren't you with them ?"

\- "Well, I cannot leave two women like that." The boys and Lucy rolled their eyes at his explanation as he kept going, more seriously this time. "My magic is such that I can gather information about this place. Happy and Wendy disappeared here. If they cannot return to this place, there's no point, right ?"

Silence fell on the group after that, everyone focusing on their own things, whether it was guarding, researching or healing, as they waited for their friends to come back, hopefully really soon.

/- Meanwhile -/

Among the groups that were scattered in the woodlands looking for Wendy and Happy, there were the one made of Natsu, Gray, Carla and Haruto. They were of course looking for their two missing friends, but there were others things Natsu wanted to clarified.

\- "What does she eat ?" He asked Carla.

\- "Air." Simply answered the flying cat.

\- "Is it delicious ?"

\- "Yes…"

\- "Isn't that the same as breathing ?" wondered Gray as Haruto chuckled beside him.

\- "She probably only eat air when she want to and not all the time." He said, Gray looking convinced as he turned back to Carla.

\- "Based on your fighting style, you and that kid may be get along fine." She said, Natsu looking at her, not understanding what she meant. "You're also a Dragon Slayer, aren't you ? The Dragon taught that child the lost dragon magic disappeared 7 years ago. By any chance, would you know where the dragons are ?"

Natsu was too shocked to answer, his mind racing, prompting Haruto to take the lead for now.

\- "Did her dragon disappeared on the 7th day of the 7th month ?" Carla confirmed that and it made Haruto think. "Three dragons that disappeared the same day of the same year, it can't be a simple coincidence."

\- "HAAAAGH !" Natsu, too lost in his thought, got put to a brutal stop by a root he had ran into, knocking him to the ground but without calming him at all. "I got it ! Laxus !" He suddenly said, as if he had a revelation, only to be shot down by Gray.

\- "Laxus is not a Dragon Slayer. The old man told us, remember ?"

\- "Wh…What is this ?!"

Carla had come to a stop suddenly, prompting the guys to look at what she saw and needless to say, they were surprised. In front of them stood a few trees, but unlike every other trees around them, those were pitch black.

\- "What is this ? Is that one of this Nirvana's effect ?" Asked Haruto, having a bad feeling about this.

\- "Not an effect. More like a side-effect because of excessive magic that cause the ground to die." The mages and Rider looked to their left, only to find men walking toward them, standing a few meters away. However, what began as a few men quickly became a whole army, or rather, looking at the mark they all had on them, a dark guild, and in a matter of seconds, the group was completely surrounded. And the cherry on the cake was the massive presence of Shocker soldiers among them.

\- "A dark guild. Probably one of those Oracion Seis manage." Said Gray.

\- "Our enemies… Is it not supposed to be those six alone ?" Asked Carla, her voice quivering in fear as the boys were getting ready.

\- "I know you're worried for Wendy, but those guys could tell us where are the Oracion Seis." Said Natsu, grinning as he set his fists on fire. "We're gonna make them talk !"

\- "Do not even dream of it, dirty boys…" said their leader. "Naked Mummy is going to take you down !"

\- "Damned mages of Fairy Tail… So they even understand the situation we're in ?!" Said Carla, teeth clenched and shaking.

\- "They does." Simply said Haruto as calmly as usual, Carla looking at him with skepticism. "We know Wendy is at their base and beating those men should give us the opportunity to learn where their base is. No need to succumb to despair."

 _ **DRIVER ON !**_

Seeing the Driver appear on Haruto made Carla gasp in surprise as she look up at him.

\- "Who are you to be this confident ?"

\- "Me ?" He asked as the standby sequence of his Driver began. "The Magician of Hope. HENSHIN !"

 _ **FLAME, PLEASE : HI-HI, HI-HI-HI !**_

As Haruto transformed under Carla's wide eyes, the dark guild and Shocker began their assault, Haruto joining Natsu and Gray in the fight. They weren't the only one stuck in a fight however. Gentaro, who currently was with Eve and Ren, was facing their own problem, just like the last group, made of Lamia Scale, Sento and Shinnosuke. They all had basically the same plan : beat up their enemies to learn where the Oracion Seis were hiding and then save their friends. But they will have to be particularly fast as things were about to take a turn for the worse pretty soon.

Back in the cave where we left Wendy and Happy, once again conscious, Brain was smiling as he saw that Racer was back, carrying a large cross shaped coffin wrapped in chains.

\- "That thing is heavy as hell ! This is the fastest that I could do…"

\- "It doesn't matter. This man is worth the wait." Reassured Brain as he began to unlock the coffin, turning to Wendy. "Wendy, four your own safety, you have to cure this man."

\- "I… I will not do it !" She stated, not wanting to revive whoever was in that thing.

\- "Oh, really ? You will do nothing at all ?" Asked Brain, almost amused by her reaction. "You're going to treat it. Otherwise, you won't have much time to live."

As soon as he said that, the coffin opened and the man inside was revealed to Happy and Wendy, the cat instantly recognizing him. The blue hair. The red tattoo on his right eye. Wearing what was left of the suit he wore when he fought Natsu on top of that forsaken tower. The dead man Wendy had to revive was none other than one of the worst mage that ever existed in the cat opinion. The one who was ready to sacrifice Erza to revive Zeref.

This was Jellal.

If Happy was already shocked, Wendy reaction shocked him the most. She was saying his name with wide eyes, body shaking and tears threatening to fall. She knew him. And personally judging by her reaction.

\- "Here is Jellal." Introduced Brain, a sick smile on his face. "Once, he sneaked in a discussion with the Emperor. In short, he know where Nirvana is located. He is in this state because of the Etherion that poured in large quantities from the Tower of Paradise. All you have to do… is to save his life."

\- "It can't be… you mean it's THAT Jellal ?" Asked Happy who was hoping that this might be another Jellal but alas, it was not.

\- "You know him, Happy ?" Asked Wendy, her voice quivering slightly.

\- "Oh, I know him all right ! He tried to kill Erza ! He even manipulated the council into firing the Etherion !"

\- "This man is a ghost possessed by a ghost… A pitiful idealist." Said Brain as he looked down at Wendy. "However… You owe him a debt."

\- "You mustn't !" Said Happy, not knowing what was this debt he was talking about, but he had to make sure Wendy didn't brought him back to life. But things were more complicated than it seemed for the young mage who seemed to be struggling, the temptation being pretty great.

\- "Hurry up and revive him." Ordered Brain who summoned a knife and proceed to stab Jellal in the arm, which immediately made the young girl react.

\- "Stooooop !" She cried, only to get knocked to the ground by Brain's staff.

\- "Heal him. It should be simple enough for you."

\- "Jellal is a really bad guy !" Repeated Happy who was starting to fear that she might do as she was told by Brain. "And if you bring him back, they'll get Nirvana as well !"

\- "Even so… He was the one who saved me…" Began Wendy as she clenched her fists, tears falling down from her face. "I loved him…" This wasn't something Happy was expecting but he could now understand why she seemed to be looking up at him so much. "I…I've heard rumors about him doing bad things, but I don't believe it…"

\- "What are you talking about ?!" Countered Happy. "We saw it with our own…"

\- "Somebody must have been controlling him ! Jellal would never do those things !" She said, not wanting to believe that her savior could be a bad guy. She then looked at Brain. "Please ! Give me time to think this over !"

\- "Very well." Agreed Brain after a short silence. "Five minutes."

As Wendy looked at Jellal, behind her, Happy was starting to fear the worst. She looked like she could really revive Jellal and that was something that could cost them the victory. Wherever the others where, they'd better come here and quickly.

Speaking about the others, they had been pretty busy. They had all taken care of the dark guilds that came to stop them, not without any pain nor difficulty, like Natsu and Gray proved it by their panting and wounded bodies. They were tired, but along Haruto, who was also panting, they had taken care of the member of Naked Mummy and the Shocker Combatmen that were with them.

\- "I thought these guys were supposed to be weaklings ?!" Said Natsu, not expecting to be that tired.

\- "Yeah, they were tougher than I thought…" Admitted Gray.

\- "Well, of course they were tough ! You were facing an entire guild !" Shouted Carla from the tree she was hiding behind. "Honestly, what were you thinking ?!"

\- "In all honesty, they tried to fought by sending mages AND Shocker soldiers at each one of us, that made things a tad bit difficult to handle." Added Haruto as Natsu walked to the dark guild leader.

\- "You ! Tell me where your base is !"

\- "Like I'd say that, dumbass… *BAM*"

\- "You !" Asked Natsu to another mage after knocking the first out for not answering, going from mage to mage until they finally learned where the group was located, a deserted village to the west. The other groups also learned about the location, bar Ichiya who, all alone, weren't able to defend himself from his opponent. That's when people began to go their separate ways. For instance, with the Lamia Scale…

\- "Leon, Sherry, you two head west." Instructed Jura to his comrades, who immediately asked what he intended to do. "I feel a powerful magical force approaching. I will stay here and meet it head-on."

\- "I'm staying too." Announced Sento. "Who know what could be following this magical force. We can't let you alone when Shocker could be there too."

\- "As such, we'll go with Lyon and Sherry." Said Belt-san, Shinnosuke nodding in agreement as they split as announced. While each group tried to reach the village, one of them was already there. Standing on top of the cliff surrounding the deserted village was Natsu's group looking down at the ruined village under them.

\- "So this is the place, huh ?" Said Haruto. "We should be as discreet as possible. If we could avoid confrontation, we…"

\- "HAPPY ! WENDY !" Shouted Natsu, not listening to Haruto's advice at all, much to the Rider and cat annoyance. And he quickly realized that this wasn't a good idea. As soon as Natsu had shouted in the hole, Racer came at them in a flash, pushing the three men away.

\- "Natsu, Haruto ! Leave this guy to me ! You head on down below !" Said Gray as his partners nodded, turning to Carla for help only to find her knocked out by Racer. Seeing that they couldn't descend alone, Gray, after making Racer trip by freezing the tree he was on, created a ramp of ice to allow Natsu and Haruto to go down, leaving him alone with Racer.

\- "Why you… You just stopped me in my tracks." Groaned Racer as Gray smirked at him.

\- "Really ? Looked like you just slipped up."

Back down, Natsu and Haruto just landed in the deserted village, immediately going to find Happy and Wendy. As they called them, they heard Happy's voice, calling at them from the inside of a cave, prompting them to follow the voice and enter the cave, only to freeze in the entrance. In front of them, not accounting a still sleeping Midnight, stood a smirking Brain, a tearful Happy and Wendy, the latter apologizing for what she did and finally, the reason why she was apologizing.

Jellal, up and alive, standing in the middle of the cave.

Natsu's eyes were wide in shock and horror, clearly remembering the guy. Haruto, who was there at the Tower of Paradise, was in the same state while Carla was shocked and a tad bit disappointed.

\- "I'm so… sorry." She sobbed, rubbing the tears off her eyes. "I owe this man… A huge… debt…" She said, trying to justify the reason why she revived him.

\- "Wendy ! Did you use your healing magic ?! What were you thinking ?! If you use that power recklessly…" Carla didn't have the time to finish her sentence that Wendy fell to the ground, unconscious and tired. However, Natsu was too enraged to care about that for now.

\- "Wh… What are you doing here… ?!" He said as his body covered in flames and he rushed forward, straight at Jellal. "JELLAL !"

The blue haired man barely glanced at him at repelled him effortlessly with a powerful magical explosion, sending him flying away from him.

 _ **BIND, PLEASE !**_

Chains of fire shot from a magic circle toward Jellal, to try and restrain him, only to be shattered effortlessly as Haruto got shot just like Natsu, back to the entrance of the cave.

\- "I see your power is as impressive as ever. Jellal." Admired Brain, but Jellal reaction wasn't the one they were waiting for as he swiped a hand at him, the ground collapsing under him and making Brain fall into a large hole. After that, he left the cave without a word, leaving a terrified Happy and Carla behind.

\- "JELLAL ! Where is he ?!" Asked Natsu, looking everywhere as he got out of the pile of stone he was under.

\- "He left." Simply said Carla as Haruto came back.

\- "I know how you feel Natsu, but our priority is to get Wendy to Erza so she can heal her from the poison. We'll take care of Jellal later." He said, keeping for himself the fact that, when Jellal walked past him outside, he couldn't help but feel something weird coming from him, as if something was off.

\- "… All right, fine." He grumbled. "Happy, let's go !"

\- "Aye !"

 _ **HURRICANE, PLEASE : FU-FU-FU, FU-FU-FU !**_

The three of them then left the cave, leaving Brain alone in his hole to rethink about what just happened.

\- "This, I did not account for…" Grumbled Brain from the bottom of the hole. "No… I suppose it is my own fault for not preparing any restraints… Still, he never used to possess this level of hostility toward me, I am sure of it… Was he able to overhear our discussion of Nirvana in his unconscious state ?" Suddenly, realization struck his mind as he felt the pieces falling into places, his fury rising to dangerous level. "Damn you, Jellal ! Do you intend to keep Nirvana for yourself alone ?! You shall not ! It belong to us ! I will never surrender it to anyone !" He then looked up and shouted as loudly as possible. "Cobra ! Can you hear me ?! Jellal has fled ! Go after him ! Wherever he is headed is where lies Nirvana !"

Hidden somewhere in some bushes, Cobra smirked.

\- "Gotcha. Loud and clear. And I'm hearing Jellal's footsteps as well."

While Cobra was heading out to follow Jellal, back with Gray, things were pretty complicated. He was still facing off with Racer and he was struggling. His opponent speed was a lot to deal with. Barely dodging a kick that would have nailed him to the tree he had been throw onto, he looked as he watched his opponent jumped at a blinding speed from tree to tree.

\- "His speed is insane… Damn it…"

\- "My codename is Racer." Said the guy, standing on a branch in front of Gray. "Faster than anybody, faster than anything. Running is what I do." They stared at each other until they noticed three forms flying just above them. A pink haired man carried by a blue flying cat, a man in green and black armor floating next to him and a young girl carried by a white flying cat. The sight made Gray smiled and Racer gasp in shock.

\- "They got her !" Stated happily Gray.

\- "Impossible !" Shouted Racer. "Brain was inside there, wasn't he ?! How did they… ?! UGH ! You're not getting away !"

Before Gray could warn his friends, Racer ran up the tree he was on and jumped at the flying mages and Rider who, taken by surprise, got all thrown to the ground. Upon crashing on the floor, Haruto used his wind to immediately shot toward Wendy and catch her before she touched the ground, thus saving her from a pretty bad crash. As soon as he got her, he paid no mind to Racer, knowing what was urgent and joined with Natsu as they ran away, to reach Erza to get her healed. Of course, Racer wasn't going to let them go, but he had no choice on that matter.

 _ **ICE MAKE : RAMPART !**_

Racer got forced to come to a stop as he crashed head first into a wall of ice, courtesy of Gray whose wall wasn't just a wall but a real… Well, rampart, that literally cut that part of the woodlands in two, with him and Racer on one side, Natsu and the other on the other side.

\- "Gray…"

\- "Go on ahead…" He said, panting slightly from the magic he used to create that gigantic wall. "Like I said, I'm gonna handle this guy."

\- "You sure ? You surely used too much magic with that technique just now !" Said Natsu, slightly worried for his icy rival.

\- "Just get a move on already, dumbass." He said , his mind already dead set. "I'll stop that guy even if I die ! Now go ! Erza's waiting !"

\- "Natsu." Began Haruto, noticing the Fire Mage struggle. "We don't have choice for now. We can only trust Gray on this one."

\- "….HAAAAHH!" Finally shouted Natsu as he began running. "I'll save Erza, no matter what ! And don't you dare die, ice princess ! If you do, I'll kill you !"

\- "Damn right you will…" Smirked Gray as Racer slowly stood up.

\- "Why, you… That's twice you've stopped me in my tracks."

\- "I'll stop you as many times as I have to. Ice can stop anything, even life, in its tracks." Racer seethed as Gray kept going, his smirk ever so present on his face. "And you're always gonna be a step behind. Stuck there staring at the Fairy's tail."

While Gray and Racer were stuck together, Natsu and Haruto were running in the woods, trying to reach Erza, the Slayer carrying the unconscious flying cats while Haruto was carrying Wendy. As they ran, Natsu's mind was on Jellal.

\- "Jellal… That asshole… What's he doing in a place like this ?!"

\- "I don't know… But I'm pretty sure this have to do with Nirvana." Said Haruto. "He probably have a role to play in this, but I don't know which one yet."

\- _"Natsu. Haruto. Can you hear me ?"_ Came a voice from out of nowhere, prompting the two to stop.

\- "What the hell ? Where is this coming from ?" Asked Natsu, looking all around.

\- "That voice… Is that you, Hibiki ?"

\- _"Yes it's me."_ Answered the guy, talking to them telepathically from where he was, with Erza and the others. _"Thank goodness… I was getting worried because I wasn't getting through to anyone. What's the situation with Wendy ?"_

\- "We've got her with us." Answered Natsu, much to Hibiki relief.

\- _"Thank goodness ! Excellent work."_ He said. _"I'm going to upload a map to lead you to where we are. Please hurry back."_

\- "What do you mean by upload a…" Before Haruto could finish his sentence, he and Natsu suddenly knew. They didn't knew how, but somehow, they knew where Erza was. Following that newfound instinct, or rather the map Hibiki provided them with, they ran away, straight toward Erza, hoping it wasn't to late for her.

/- Back with Gray -/

While Natsu and Haruto were finally on their way to Hibiki, Lucy, Erza and the Riders with them, Gray was still alone with a Racer that was pretty much pissed off.

\- "You stopped me in my tracks, not once, but twice." Stated Racer. "At this rate, my name will be forever sullied. If I felt like it, I could catch up with that brat right now… ." All of a sudden, he disappeared and reappeared behind Gray. "But I won't be satisfied now until I've killed you."

 _"When did he… ?!"_ Gray turned around but when he did, Racer was already back to where he first stood.

\- "It shouldn't be any trouble to kill you and then catch up."

\- "Not happening !" stated Gray as Racer lifted his hand.

\- "Dead Grand Prix… Begin !"

He then swipe his hand down, a rumbling that Gray was pretty familiar with filling the air and out of nowhere, magical motorcycles came out of nowhere, bumping into him at high speed from everywhere. Racer was on one of them, joining in beating up Gray who suddenly had an idea Racer wasn't really expecting. He jumped onto one of those bike and raced after Racer who seemed pretty amused by how things were turning out.

\- "How amusing… You mean to challenge me in a race ?" Asked Racer with a smile as he looked behind him at Gray.

\- "I don't bother with rules, so you'd better be ready."

And with that, the race truly began.

 _ **ICE MAKE : LANCE !**_

Gray, while driving, managed to summon ice spears that shot at Racer who expertly dodged them all by slaloming between the trees, none of the spears reaching its target. Racer countered it with an attack of his own, namely tires that rolled and bounced on the road in front of Gray, forcing him to take a sharp turn to avoid them. But as soon as he dodged them, Racer was next to him, repeatedly kicking him as they entered a large hollow tree laying in the middle of the forest. They were driving on the walls and roof of the circular tunnel, going after each other again and again. A compartment opened on Racer's bike and a flurry of magic bullets rained down on Gray, making him lose control of his vehicle but Gray wasn't going to let that bastard get away so easily, immediately continuing the chase as he shot out of the tree. He was doing this for Erza… There was no way he could lose !

/- A few moments before -/

After splitting from Jura and Sento, the two others members of Lamia Scale and Shinnosuke had been walking west, trying to reach the old village were Oracion Seis was located and they had yet to reached it. They had been attacked a few times by small group of either Shocker soldier or Dark Guilds on the way but nothing they couldn't handle.

\- "Come on ! Where is that damn village ?!" Pouted Sherry who was starting to be tired of walking almost aimlessly for a good 15 minutes. Suddenly, Belt-san seemed to gasp slightly.

\- "What's wrong, Belt-san ?" Asked Shinnosuke, currently in Technic Type, shooting behind him at some Shockers soldiers who tried to sneak up on them.

\- "I just felt a strong power coming from where we are currently heading to." Said Krim, his face showing concern. "I don't know exactly what it is, but I feel like I've already seen that energy somewhere else."

\- "Then maybe we should quickly find Wendy and bring her back to Erza." Said Lyon. "If this mysterious power you felt comes from an opponent, this could become a true hindrance soon. We better quicken the pace."

As soon as he said that, they resumed walking until they had to stop again after hearing a loud crack coming west from where they were, prompting them to look, only to see the top of what looked like a large wall of ice.

\- "What the hell is that ?" Asked Sherry, taken aback by the sheer size of this wall that they could see despite the height of the surrounding trees.

\- "Is that Gray ?" Wondered Lyon, only to be confirmed by Krim.

\- "Judging by the shape and global structure, I can confirm this is coming from Gray."

\- "Then he's surely busy fighting one of those Oracion Seis." Concluded Shinnosuke. "This probably asked him a lot of strength to do it and he's not the kind of guy to hold back if the opponent is strong."

\- "I repeat what I first said : we have to hurry !" They were about to run when they were once again forced to a stop by a strange noise that came from nearby.

\- "What is that ? It sounds like…"

\- "Engines ?" Ended Shinnosuke, localizing the noise coming from a hollow tree trunk on their right. Suddenly, a bike came out of the tree, driven by someone they easily identified.

\- "Isn't that Racer, from Oracion Seis ?" Asked Sherry, shocked by what he was doing here as she got into position, Shinnosuke immediately opening fire on the dark mage who managed to dodge everything while a second bike shot out of the tree, with a well-known driver.

\- "Gray ?!" Exclaimed Lyon, looking at his former classmates who just noticed him.

\- "Lyon ! Great timing ! Jump on !" Seeing that Lyon was confused and not moving, Gray insisted. "Just get on, all right ?!"

Lyon did as he was told, jumping onto the bike with Gray, leaving Sherry and Shinnosuke behind. While the Rider stayed silent, Sherry was fuming.

\- "Are they for real ?! Did they really dumped us like that without even an explanation ?" She was seething, not liking the idea of being left out. "They better come back with an excuse or I'll make them pay !"

\- "Or we could catch up."

 _ **DRIVE : TYPE WILD !**_

\- "And how do you plan to do it ? They have magic bikes in case you didn't notice !"

Shinnosuke said nothing as a rumbling noise could be heard coming from behind them, prompting Sherry to turn around to see Tridoron coming to them and drifting to a stop just next to them, Sherry shrieking as she saw the car stop only a meter away from them.

\- "I hope you have no problem with fast vehicle." Asked Shinnosuke as he got in the car. "Because things are about to get bumpy."

 _ **DORON TRIDORON : TYPE WILD !**_

As the two of them got ready, Gray and Lyon were chasing down Racer and Lyon still had question.

\- "What on Earth are you playing at ?! Where's Wendy ?" Asked Lyon, eyes locked on Racer but still focused on the main objective.

\- "Don't worry ! She's with Natsu and Haruto !" He said, reassuring Lyon. "Anyway, I was wondering if you could take that guy out for me. It's a pain to drive and use magic at the same time."

\- "Oh ?" Simply said Lyon as a smirk appeared on his face. "If that's what you're after, then just sit back and watch. I'll show you how a real magic-smith works !" Gray rolled his eyes at the comment as Lyon got into position… using both hands, just like him.

\- "You're… using both hands ?!" Gray was surprised as the last time he saw Lyon, he was swearing that his one-handed creation were superior. But judging by his smile, Lyon now knew better.

\- "That's how Ur taught us to do it, right ?"

 _ **ICE MAKE : EAGLE !**_

Lyon created a flock of ice birds that flew at Racer who, due to this magic being 'alive' couldn't dodge them all, forcing him to take a few damages, but otherwise, he managed to stay on the tracks as Gray and Lyon were slowly but surely closing the gap. The fight kept going for a little while, Racer summoning another batch of motorcycles, which forced Gray and Lyon to forget Racer for a while to take care of those assaulting machines. They were starting to lose Racer when suddenly, a much deeper rumble grabbed their attention, as well as Racer's. Looking behind them, they heard the rumbling coming closer along with characteristic noises of breaking wood and… human shouts ?

\- "This voice… was that…"

\- "Yes… this was Sherry…" Confirmed Lyon, not letting Gray finish his question. "But the hell is she doing ?"

\- "I don't know. Unless…"

*rooooOOOAAAARR* And suddenly, a large vehicle appeared out of nowhere, jumping from a root and about to land on two suddenly frightened mages.

\- "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH !" Gray immediately hit the brakes, making them both stop dead in their tracks, and almost falling of the bike as well as the large vehicle landed exactly where they were before, crushing the magic bikes under its wheels as Racer gaped at what just happened before speeding up again, now chased by a car, being followed by two awestruck mages. "Shinnosuke ?!"

Indeed, Shinnosuke was at the wheel, eyes focused on the Oracion Seis in front of him, a small smirk under his helmet. If that Racer loved racing, he just found someone who did too. Hands firmly holding the wheel, foot to the floor, Shinnosuke knew what he was doing but alas, his 'copilot' had no way to know that. Sherry didn't wanted to be left behind so she boarded the car with Shinnosuke, but if she knew how it would turn out, she may have stayed behind. She was currently holding onto dear life in anyway she could, screaming as she saw the trees passing by way to fast and way to close to the car for comfort. Racer wasn't liking any of this. If a part of him was curious about this mysterious vehicle that was chasing him, he was also pissed that it only managed to ruined the ongoing challenge. He reached for the back, sending another bunch of tires at the car.

\- "Tires ? Is he really that focused on racing ?" Said Shinnosuke, almost amused by the situation as the tires only bounced off Tridoron.

\- "Now's not the time for jokes !" Shouted Sherry, tears in her eyes. "Put an end to this so I can get out of that thing !"

\- "I have to agree with Sherry on the part about finishing it, Shinnosuke." Advised Krim. "Besides, if he attack with tires, he should know we can do that too."

As Racer saw his tires bounced off without doing any damages, he saw that some of the car's tires were currently replaced by others, one orange with fire designs, one green and spiky and a shuriken shaped purple one. Soon, the tires began shooting fireball, spikes and shuriken at him, the attack forcing him to take a sharp turn to dodge the attack, which put him in another kind of pinch.

 _ **ICE MAKE : EAGLE / LANCE !**_

Gray and Lyon, who had used the Tridoron to cover themselves, had jumped on the occasion to finally put an end to that race. The eagles and spears of ice managed to destroy the bike Racer was on, forcing him to jump away, straight at Gray and Lyon and, like a missile, he destroyed the bike they were on, sending them to the ground. But this wasn't over.

 _ **ICE MAKE : APE / HAMMER !**_

Despite still stumbling, they both tried to attack Racer, using either a large monkey made of ice or a massive hammer, both attack missing due to Racer extreme speed.

\- "God damn it ! I can't hit him !" Gray said, frustrated as Lyon tried to stay calm.

\- "Calm down ! He's at four o'clock ! If we concentrate, we should be able to get him !"

\- "Concentrate, huh…" Repeated Gray as he and Lyon stripped of their clothes, standing topless and ready to strike. "Let's do this, Lyon !"

 _ **ICE GEYSER / SNOW DRAGON !**_

A sudden mass of icy spikes exploded from the ground under Racer as a large ice dragon lunged at him, jaws opened widely, only to miss as Racer suddenly got even faster, much to the surprise and horror of the mages, even though Lyon seemed to notice something as Racer came back to struck them once again. As they got back up, seething in frustration, Racer stood a good distance away, a smirk on his lips.

\- "You punks couldn't hit me if you spent your whole lives trying." He taunted. "Nobody can keep up with my speed. Now then… Time to finish you… OOF !"

Out of nowhere, a red blur came and delivered a strong punch to Racer, sending him flying and colliding with a tree, much to everyone shock. In the middle of the small clearing stood a Speed Type Drive, casually stretching his legs.

\- "Looks like I won't need my whole life to land a hit on you." Said Shinnosuke, countering the taunts. "If you think you're fast, I suggest you to get ready. Because I'm taking you for a ride." If this wasn't enough to make Racer angry, what came next from Lyon made him snapped.

\- "Listen up, guys. I've found his weakness." This confused Racer and Shinnosuke greatly, not that either of them really cared, the first because he didn't believed him, and the second because he felt like he was already faster than Racer. But Gray listened to the plan Lyon whispered to him, Gray looking neutral until the end where he seemed shocked.

\- "What ?"

\- "You heard me. So I don't need you !" And in a surprising turn of event, Lyon summoned a pillar of ice in which he trapped Gray, the pillar high enough to end up taller than the surrounding tree. Sherry gasped in shock, Shinnosuke looked confused, but he was pretty sure he had good reason to do this as Racer had a hard time understanding why he did such a thing. "Just stay there and watch."

\- "Fighting amongst yourselves ?" Asked Racer, trying yo understand the why of the situation.

\- "I hope you got a really good reason to do this, Lyon. That is no time for jokes." Added Shinnosuke, feeling like he must have a plan and only playing along.

\- "Don't get me wrong, okay ? I'm not this guy's pal or anything." Smirked Lyon, which made Shinnosuke raise an eyebrow, now sure that Lyon had a plan. "We happened to study under the same master. That's all."

\- "But, Lyon…"

\- "No complaining, Sherry ! Lamia Scale is taking the glory here ! Let's do this !"

\- "Dear… Your overconfidence is about to lose you this battle !" Sai Racer as he ran at the three. "Though no matter… It's not like you had any chance in the first place !"

 _ **WOOD DOLL !**_

\- "Too slow !" Sherry barely had the time to take control of a nearby tree that Racer had already knocked her down, breaking down the doll before going after Lyon who was starting to get away. "Slow, slow, slow !"

\- "Your fatal weakness is that you have no offensive ability." Said Lyon, smirking at his opponent. "It doesn't matter how fast you are if you don't have the power to take your opponent down."

 _ **ICE MAKE : HEDGEHOG !**_

Using his magic, Lyon created around him a spiky cocoon of ice, forcing Racer to a stop as he was about to impale himself of the spikes.

\- "What's wrong ?" Taunted Lyon as he ran again, his spikes still present around him. "Use that speed you're so proud of and come get me !"

\- "By all means." Simply said Racer as he dashed at Lyon like a rocket, plowing through his hedgehog as if it was weak glass, shattering it as he landed a powerful punch to Lyon's guts. "You really thought I'd use my full power from the get-go against a nobody like you ?"

As Lyon, despite his wounds and the unstopping onslaught he suffered from Racer, kept running away, he left behind a confused Sherry as well as a thoughtful Shinnosuke.

\- "How far is he going to take this ?" Asked Sherry, laying on the ground as Shinnosuke hummed.

\- "I have a strange feeling about that man's magic." Said Krim. "It feels like I've already felt something similar pretty often in the past."

\- "Me too." Agreed Shinnosuke as he looked up, his brain shifting into Top Gear until he finally realized. "Wait, I know ! It's the Donyori !"

\- "But of course !" Exclaimed Krim, a smile on his little face. "Why didn't I thought about this before. And if he's trying to lead him away from here…"

\- "What are you talking about ?" Asked Sherry, not understanding why they were so ecstatic all of a sudden. "And what is that Donyori thing ?"

\- "We'll explain later. For now, someone need help."

While they were talking, Lyon was being manhandled by Racer and after a long race, he finally got pinned to the ground by Racer, who was holding a blade against his throat.

\- "You said I had no power to take my opponent down ? All that I need is a simple knife." He began to say. "With the speed I possess, I can slice your throat open before you have the chance to cast a single spell. You got all overconfident but you picked the wrong opponent. I'm an Oracion Seis. Six demons. Six prayers. Six pillars that can never fall. Those who seek to disturb those pillars find only death."

 _ **SP, SP, SPEED !**_

Once again, a red blur came out of nowhere and kicked Racer off Lyon, sending him rolling on the ground as Shinnosuke stood there, next to Lyon who looked at him with a slight frown.

\- "it seems like this guy need to learn a thing or two about REAL speed." Said Shinnosuke, stressing out the 'real' which made Lyon's eyes widen as the Rider looked at him. "Do I need to make him run a bit more ?"

\- "…Yeah." Chuckled Lyon as he realized that Shinnosuke understood the trick. "I'd say… Something like a few hundred meters more."

\- "All right. Consider it done." And with that, Shinnosuke ran at Racer who met him halfway. The Oracion Seis gritted his teeth as he got pushed back by Shinnosuke, irritated that he was as fast as he was. This was probably due to the fact that, as a Rider, he wasn't completely affected by his magic. The Rider never let Racer breathe for a moment, always going after him every time he tried to put some distance between them. They kept fighting for a few minutes, not missing an occasion to land a hit on the other but at some point, Shinnosuke stopped, taking Racer by surprise.

\- "What the hell are you doing ? Are you tired of fighting, already ?"

\- "The birds…" Racer frown, not understanding what he meant by 'the birds'. "They gave the true nature of your magic away when I saw them flying excessively fast."

\- "Your magic doesn't allow you to increase your own speed." Explained Lyon as he joined Shinnosuke, holding his sides. "It slows down the sensation of time for your opponent…. Or rather, for everyone within a specific radius."

\- "And since your magic is limited in term of range, when someone saw you from outside the range, you appear to be way much slower."

As Shinnosuke said that, Racer suddenly gasped and turned his head toward the ice tower that stood in the middle of the forest, Gray standing on top of it, aiming an ice bow at him.

\- "Y… You separated me from him on purpose ?!" Gasped Racer in shock as he finally understand why they did all that. "But from that distance… He can't possibly hit me !"

\- "He will." Stated Lyon. "When the members of Fairy Tail are trying to accomplish something they really care about… They're unstoppable."

\- "I won't let that end like this !" Shouted Racer as he immediately ran away, trying to hide out of Gray's sight and he would have done it if it wasn't for Shinnosuke.

 _ **HISSATSU ! FULL THROTTLE : SPEED !**_

Before Racer could get out of the way, Tires appeared around him and closed on him, making him shot toward Shinnosuke who, using a Tridoron drifting around them, kicked repeatedly the Oracion Seis while bouncing off Tridoron. Racer, realizing that he was basically trapped, could only stares between two kick at Gray, who was readying his attack.

 _ **ICE MAKE : SUPER FREEZE ARROW !**_

At the exact same time as Shinnosuke dealt the last kick and skid to a stop, a large and powerful ice-made arrow shot by Gray collided with Racer, demolishing him as he got sent crashing through many trees and tumbling on the ground, the Oracion Seis crying in pain along the way. After some time, he finally stopped shouting, the group of mages and Rider sighing in relief. But alas, this wasn't the end.

\- "Ha… Ha… Ha… Don't think… This is the end." Racer, clothes tattered and breath short, stood a few meters away. "I still have… One card to play…" And with that, appeared two things that made the Rider gasp in shock. Next to Racer just appeared a Viral Core and in his hand, he was clutching a red and white Break Gunner.

\- "Oh my god. Don't tell me he's…"

 _ **BREAK UP !**_

After inserting the Viral Core in the Break Gunner, Racer transformed just like Chase did in the past and the result was also pretty familiar. The armor he wore was an almost exact copy of the one Chase had when he was still working with the Roidmudes. In this version, the black parts were now white and the purple had switched red. It also looked less like it was made of scraps like Chase, the gray pipes were nowhere to be seen. The main difference was on the head since there was no helmet, just a pair of goggles that looked like yellow car headlights.

\- "… He did." Finished Shinnosuke, already feeling like this was going to end up pretty badly. "It's going to be complicated."

Of course, a fast mage combining his powers with the same kind of power as Drive, or rather Chaser, he was bound to be fast. And fast he was. Just like Shinnosuke feared, his speed was such that they could barely see him move as he rushed at them to beat them up once again. Even Shinnosuke's Speed Type wasn't fast enough to keep up, the Rider being thrown around just like the others. However, as they got back up, one of them said something that made Shinnosuke frown.

\- "And I thought he was fast before. Now this is just ridiculous." Said Lyon as he tried to dodge the shots coming from the Break Gunner Racer was still holding, grinning like a maniac.

\- "It's not just that." Added Gray, gritting his teeth as he struggled to keep standing. "I feel like my body got heavier. What the hell is happening ?"

\- "That's the Donyori !" Exclaimed Shinnosuke as the others looked at him, trying to understand. "The Donyori, or Heavy Acceleration, is a phenomenon the Roidmudes can trigger that distorts time for everything and everyone inside it. That is why you feel so heavy. But since I'm immune to it, if he is still faster than me, that means that his speed isn't due to the fact that you're slowed down."

\- "So you're telling me he is horribly fast AND can slow down everything ?!" Summarized Sherry. "That's cheating !"

\- "I already said it before." Cut Racer, smiling widely. "There's no way you can beat me !"

\- "Oh, but we will, don't you worry about it." Assured Shinnosuke grabbing the Formula Shift Car.

 _ **DRIVE : TYPE FORMULA !**_

Thanks to the high speed of the Formula Type, Shinnosuke managed to catch up with Racer who sneered at him as they fought. On their sides, the mages tried to help him by shooting at him with their ice spell, or trying to catch him with a Wood Doll. But if their attack kept their original speed, this didn't bothered Racer who suddenly got even faster, dodging the attacks and starting to get the upper hand on Drive who had to use a little help.

 _ **TIRE KOUKAN : FORMULA 01**_

As the orange tires appeared on his arms, Shinnosuke got the speed boost he needed to catch up with Racer once again. Given the current situation, there wasn't much the mages could do to help Shinnosuke, both him and the Oracion Seis way too fast for them. This pained them to be unable to do anything to help him and judging by how things were going for Drive, he needed help. Gray and Lyon were about to jump in when a honking could be heard, getting closer to them. Turning their head, they saw a white ice resurfacer coming their way, coming to a stop n a log next to the group, honking repeatedly.

\- "Hum, Shinnosuke. I think one of your Shift Car want something." Said Gray pointing at the Shift Car as Shinnosuke answered without looking at him, too busy dealing with Racer to do it.

\- "I don't know what he want, but I can't use him when I'm in Formula Type." Answered Shinnosuke, Krim suggesting another possibility to Road Winter's presence here.

\- "Or maybe he's here for someone else."

The realization made Shinnosuke stall for a second, Allowing Racer to open fire on him, the shots exploding and sending him crashing on a tree as the Oracion Seis suddenly sped up, pushing around the mages to, basically, kidnap Road Winter who honked his displeasure.

\- "I see. This little thing came here thinking he could be used by a mage, isn't it ?" Road kept honking, answering the question. "Well guess what, I won't let you even try this."

As the group glared at him, another honking could be heard coming from close by but this time, much to the mages surprise, it was a blue trailer that rolled his way toward Shinnosuke.

\- "Well, he's slow. Maybe he's affected by Racer ?" Theorized Sherry, disappointed by the truck speed, making Shinnosuke stop her.

\- "No, he's not. He have always been this slow, his speed hasn't…" He stopped there as his brain suddenly shifted into top gear. What he just said, the ice spells that weren't slowed down, the speed of the Shift Car and Trailer-Hou. He finally got it. He had an idea on how to win some time and maybe get rid of Racer. He smirked under his helmet and grabbed the Trailer-Hou. "We have to distract him long enough to get Road Winter back. Apparently, my _car_ aren't affected. I'll take care of it." With that, he immediately shot at Racer, trying to hit him, the mage easily dodging the shots. Lyon and Gray, having enough, rushed to help him but Sherry stayed behind. She noticed that he had glanced at her when insisted on the 'car' just then.

 _"He said 'my car aren't affected'. Shouldn't it be 'my CARS aren't affected '? Unless… he made that mistake on purpose !"_

With the boys, the situation was dire. Shinnosuke was using his Trailer-Hou, loaded with Jacky and Sparner, to shot a blue energy stream at a Racer who kept dodging while toying with the ice mages who tried to hit him one way or another. After some time, Racer deemed he had enough fun and decide to finish this.

\- "You were a nice distraction and I have to say, those powers are pretty sick." He said, looking at himself. "But now, I have a girl to get back. So long, sucker ! *nnneeAOOOWWW* OOF !"

Out of nowhere, the Tridoron had moved by itself and rammed into Racer, taking him by surprise and sending him crashing into a tree ad he dropped Road Winter that Shinnosuke immediately caught.

\- "What the… what happened ?!" Asked Lyon, taken aback by what just happened.

\- "When I saw Trailer-Hou coming my way at its usual speed, I understood something about his 'Donyori'. It doesn't work on non-living things. Which meant that Tridoron could move as fast as it usually do. And since it's a machine, I figured it could be remote controlled by one with the right kind of magic." He said, glancing at a smirking Sherry, who successfully understood Shinnosuke's message and took control of the Tridoron to take Racer by surprise. Shinnosuke then turned to Gray. "Gray, you know how this works, right ?" He said, handing him Road Winter. "Go and take him for a ride !"

Gray took a look at the Shift Car before grabbing it. Seeing what was about to happen and not wanting to take any risks, Racer tried to reach him before it was too late, only to be stopped by a blue energy shot coming from the Trailer-Hou and a snow dragon crashing onto him as Gray infused his magic inside the Road Winter. The Shift Car was now dark blue with white headlights and wheels, with icicles on the roof and doors and a snowflakes on the hood. As the Shift Car transformed, a dark blue and white Shift Brace in which he plugged the newly created Shift Car.

 _ **TIRE TYPE : FROZEN WINTER !**_

The armor parts appeared around Gray and closed on him, forming a dark blue version of the Technic Type equipped with the Road Winter Tire. However, besides the change in color and the icicles jutting out of his shoulder, forearms and legs, the main difference concerned the Frostreamer who was literally embed into the armor, the design on it looking more like a realistic snowflake and the tire part normally around the neck was nowhere to be seen. On his head, the helmet was open on the top, letting the hair out and his eyes were protected by white colored headlights shaped goggles. Gray smirked, feeling the power he received form the armor as racer glared at him.

\- "Don't you go think this will change anything !" He roared, running at Gray. "You're still doomed !"

Without even moving, Gray activated the new Frostreamer, sending a blindingly fast gust of icy wind in front of him, instantly freezing everything caught in the blast, much to everyone shock, even Gray who couldn't fought the grin that split his face.

\- "I don't think we're that doomed." Said Gray while taking the same half-crouched stance as Shinnosuke before starting a fight. "And as a good friend usually say : Let me take you for a ride."

With a cry, Racer ran at Gray who came to meet him just as fast, the collision creating a shockwave that sent a blast of cold air all around as they kept exchanging blows. At first, they thought that Gray and Racer were now evenly matched in term of speed, but soon they were proved wrong. The chilly aura coming out of Gray's armor was enough to make the Oracion Seis slower, which meant that not only Gray was faster than him, but Shinnosuke was once again faster than the guy. He then joined Gray to take care of Racer, soon joined by Lyon, taking advantage of the fact that Racer was too busy with the two 'Riders' to notice him. At three against one, Racer was slowly losing the fight, between the ice powered blows from Gray and Lyon and the air powered ones from Shinnosuke. It took a strong blow from the three guys at the same time to finally send Racer stumbling to the ground, given them the opportunity they needed to take care of the finish.

\- "Tch. As if I'm going to let you do what you want, you little…" Racer was about to do… Whatever to stop them, but he was stopped by the Tridoron, once again controlled by Sherry, the non-stopping attacks preventing him from doing anything nor escape, Sherry overdoing herself to make sure he couldn't escape.

 _ **HISSATSU ! ICE MAKE : FROZEN WINTER BLAST !**_

 _ **HISSATSU ! FULL THROTTLE : FULL FULL FORMULA TAIHOU !**_

 _ **ICE MAKE : SNOW DRAGON !**_

While Lyon summoned his dragon made of ice and Shinnosuke loaded his Trailer-Hou with two Shift Cars, Gray was charging up magic and freezing air on the Frostreamer before unleashing a powerful blast of ice and freezing wind that fused with the Trailer-Hou shot and the ice dragon, the combined power of the attacks exploding on Racer who could only shout in pain as he was sent hurling through trees and stone, his transformation undoing itself as the group of heroes sighed in relief, gathering next to a tree to recover a little from the battle.

\- "Well, that does it." Said Shinnosuke, toying with Road Winter. "This was one hell of a fight, topped by an impressive transformation."

\- "I almost forgot how weird and impressive it is to just use one of those armors." Said Gray with a grin. "Anyway, we finally did it."

\- "Ugh… And we have to deal with five more guys like that ?" Asked Lyon, laying on the ground, already thinking of what they still had to do.

\- "You two… I really thought you'd fallen out for a moment there !" Said Sherry, squatting down next to Lyon, her comment making Gray smirk.

\- "Hey, that's my fellow student for ya."

Smiles and light laughter filled the air as the tension fell down now that the fight was over, much to the group joy. But was it really over.

\- "I'M NOT DONE YET !" No, it wasn't. A beaten and bleeding Racer was running to them, vest opened, revealing a handful of small tubes strapped to his shirt. "As a member of the Oracion Seis, I cannot allow myself to suffer defeat !"

\- "Are those… explosives Lachryma ?!" Recognized Sherry, which made Shinnosuke gasp in horror.

\- "Don't tell me he's… going for a suicide bombing ?!"

Racer was aiming for Gray who could barely move but before anyone could do anything to protect the ice mage, his fellow student dived at Racer, tackling him away from Gray and off a cliff.

\- "Lyon/Lyon-sama !" Shouted the three others, horrified by what they were witnessing, unable to take their eyes off their comrade and friend who had a smile on his face.

\- "Honestly… You just can't do anything without-*KABOOM*"

The explosion shook the whole forest, the deflagration reaching the ears of everyone, even if no one seemed worried despite the catastrophe that just happened and that brought tears to many eyes. Among the one who heard the explosion, one of them also felt something else. This was Brain, who felt a sharp pain in his head.

\- "Racer is… dead…" He said slowly, not believing it. "One of the six Demons has fallen… ?" He then stumbled, holding himself on some kind of altar, knocking down the things that were on it. "It seems I underestimated these enemies."

\- "So it would seem." Said the same old man as before, standing to the side. "I have learn not to underestimate the Kamen Rider, and you probably should do the same about those mages. It looks like they can be quite… unpredictable."

\- "…Indeed." Agreed Brain as he clenched his fist, looking at someone else. "To think they would force me to wake him up… Midnight !" He began, the sleeping man slowly waking up. "ELIMINATE EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM !"

\- "Very well. Father."

 **Here we are. I hope you liked it. As always, I'm inviting you to review or comment or anything to tell me if you liked the chapter or not and if you have any kind of constructive remarks for what will come next. See ya !**

 **Next time : Nirvana is unleashed. The chaos is spreading. A matter of angel, spirits and ghosts.**


	39. Chapter 39 : Switching light & darkness

**Hi guys ! I hope this holyday-induced delay isn't bothering you, just know that it should be the case for the next chapter too and maybe after that I'll be able to go back to a faster rhythm, normally. Thank you all for the messages and support, I love reading and seeing them, it gives me the strength to continue. Anyway, here's the new chapter of this fic I have so much fun writing.**

 **Enjoy !**

 **Chapter 39 : Nirvana, switching light and darkness**

In any world, the aftermath of a battle could be quite difficult to live through. Wounds, destruction …, there were a lot to take in during those moments. But the death of a fellow comrade was probably the worst of them all. And our friends were currently dealing with those feelings. Staring out at the smoke the came out of the forest below them, Gray, Shinnosuke and Sherry were frozen in shock, fearing the worst for Lyon who had tackled a suicide-bomber Racer, sending them both off the cliff they were next to, the two of them disappearing when the explosive lachryma, well, exploded.

\- "N…No… Lyon-sama…" Cried Sherry, mouth hiding behind her hands as tears filled her eyes, shaken by the horror she had witnessed.

\- "Lyon…" Said Gray, small tears pooling in the corner of his eyes, not moving before he finally took off, climbing down the cliff thanks to an ice made staircase. "There's no way in hell he'd die ! We're gonna look for him ! Come on !"

\- "He's right ! I won't believe in his death unless I see his body by myself !" Stated Shinnosuke, following Gray as Krim agreed, a determined look on his digital face.

\- "You're right ! But we have to be quick in case he require medical assistance ! Shift Cars, let's go !" Following his order, all of the Shift Cars, even the slower one, sped up toward the woods to try and find Lyon, led by the People Saver trio, leaving a weeping and paralyzed Sherry behind on the cliff, all alone as she mourned Lyon, trying to find someone to blame for his death, the kind of thought that will soon be her downfall.

/- Meanwhile -/

Jura and Sento where alone in a part of the woods, on their guard after the Wizard Saint felt something getting close to them. Sento had already prepared two FullBottles, waiting for the right moment to use it.

\- "I know that you are there. Show yourself !" Asked Jura, talking to seemingly no one until a voice answered him, coming from behind a group of tree.

\- "As expected of a Wizard Saint."

Suddenly, the ground became liquid under their feet, and I rose into two waves that tried to bury them both, which would have been the case if it wasn't for Jura's reflexes and magic, turning the ground solid once again and forming stones pillars that he then shot at Hoteye, who was standing in front of them, not bothered at all as he turned the pillar to liquid earth as they came closer to him, making the attack miss him completely.

\- "My magic makes the ground soft; yours make it as hard as iron. The question is… which is stronger ?" Asked Hoteye.

\- "The quality of the magic itself is immaterial." Answered Jura, scowling at his opponent. "He who has the strongest conviction will always prevail."

\- "Not true." Countered Hoteye, smiling at Jura. "No matter the age, the one who come out on top… are the rich, you see."

\- "Those are both interesting theories." Said Sento, his scientific instinct coming back to him. "But I think there are better times to answer them. And besides, when money and determination are both well balanced, it's how much you know your power that allowed you to came out on top." As eh said that, he had turned the lever of his Driver, the Snap Ride Builder appearing behind and in front of him. "HENSHIN !"

 _ **TOKI O KAKERU KATCH**_ _ **Ū**_ _ **! TURTLEWATCH ! YEAH !**_

Clad in the white and green watch and turtle themed armor, Sento ran at Hoteye who didn't seemed bothered, softening the ground and sending torrent of earth at the Rider whose right shoulder pad, shaped like a turtle shell, shone and formed a green energy shield that he used to pierce through the earth, keeping up with the run until he end up being surrounded by large wave of earth, Jura shouting at him.

\- "Sento ! Get out of there !"

\- "Alas, he can't. Looks like it will be a one on one sooner than I expected it." Said Hoteye as Sento grinned under his helmet, the watches on his left arm shining as he suddenly blinked and disappear, only to reappear exactly where he was standing a few seconds before, out of harm way, jumping above the crumbling waves, Drill Crusher in hand as he dived toward Hoteye, only to land on yet another wall of earth making him go back to Jura who seemed impressed by what he just saw.

\- "An armor granting great shield and teleportation, huh ? This is quite impressive."

\- "It's more jumping a few seconds back in time rather than teleporting, Watch is more about slight time manipulation. But either way, I agree. I am quite impressive." Said Sento, letting his vain side come back for a moment.

\- "Well, looks like it's going to be more interesting than what I first though." Admitted Hoteye, smiling as always. "Let us see who among us are the richest."

/- Back with Erza -/

While a group was looking for a lost friend which they hoped was still alive and another one fought against the weirdest of the Oracion Seis, back with Erza's group, things weren't good at all. Erza's condition was worsening as the minutes passed, Lucy looking even more worried as before, Emu starting to feel really helpless, just like Kouta and Takeru who were starting to fear the worst while Hibiki, worried as well even if he wasn't showing it, was still busy gathering information about this place. If Wendy didn't came here and now, they could say good bye to the great Titania. But since fate decided to be less cruel than usual…

\- "WE'RE HERE !"

\- "Natsu !" Happily gasped Lucy, a big smile on her face as she saw her fiery friends walk out of a bush, carrying two out cold Exceeds, followed by Haruto who was carrying the little Wendy. "You did it !"

\- "Of course I did ! By the way…" Natsu then turned to Hibiki. "What the hell was that ?! All of a sudden I had that map in my head and…"

\- "That can wait, Natsu." Skidded Haruto, putting Wendy down. "We have more pressing matters. Wendy. Wake up."

His calls and little tap on her cheeks managed to wake her up, the girl slowly opening her eyes, taking in her surroundings.

\- "Wh… Where am I ?"

\- "You in hell~, little girl~…" Ghosted Yurusen, appearing in front of her face all of a sudden.

\- "KYAAA ! G..GHOST !"

\- "Yurusen ! Could you please don't do that !" Scolded Takeru, the small ghost grumbling as he left the girl alone. She managed to calm down but when her eyes fell on Natsu and Haruto, which she recognized thanks to his Driver and Rings, she suddenly stumbled away, shaking in fear as she remembered what she did.

\- "I… I'm so sorry… I…" She stuttered, protecting her head in fear of a scolding which never came, the others wondering why she was apologizing for.

\- "That doesn't matter, right now !" Shouted Natsu as he got to his knees and bowed at her, much to her shock. "Erza got bitten by a venomous snake ! You have to save her !"

\- "Poison ?" Said the girl, now more confused than afraid.

\- "We need her strength to fight against Oracion Seis." Explained Hibiki, which was pretty much obvious

\- "Please… You have to save Erza !" Pleaded Lucy, to which the young mage answered positively.

\- "B…But of course ! I'll do it !" She said, suddenly much more confident than before, walking to the redhead and immediately working her magic on her, under Emu's curious staring, wanting to see how she did her healing. While Erza got healed, the light on Wendy's hands surrounding her, the others waited for her to wake up, not knowing that somewhere else, things were about to take a turn for the worse.

/- Somewhere in the middle of the woods -/

After waking up and taking clothes from a mage he met by sheer luck, Jellal had walked quietly in the forest, heading seemingly nowhere but looking like he knew exactly where he was going. But he wasn't alone. He didn't knew it, but following Brain's order, Cobra had been keeping an eye on him from afar, the mage currently hiding behind a stone column of some sort as he watched his target walking.

 _"What's up with this guy ?"_ He wondered, looking at Jellal. _"I can't hear his inner voice… If I could just hear it, there wouldn't be any need to follow him like this…"_ As he complained to himself, he finally noticed that his target just came to a stop. And when he looked where he had stopped, he was shocked. Jellal was standing in front of a huge tree who had several chains coming out his trunk, tied to the several stone pillars scattered around the tree. "What is this place ?! There was a place like this hidden in the woodlands ?!" As he looked at it, he began to realize what this could mean, a smile appearing slowly on his face. "It couldn't be… Just like Brain said… This is where… Nirvana…" His doubts became reality when Jellal did something to the tree, the chains shattering as the tree exploded into a large pillar of light that shone through the whole woodlands. _"We've finally found it ! Our future… It's right here…!"_

/- Meanwhile -/

\- "There… All done !" Said Wendy as she wiped her brows. "There's no more poison left in Erza-san's body."

Far from imagining what was happening on the other side of the woods, the group of Riders and Mages all cheered at the great news, high-fiving and or hugging each other. As Natsu kneeled beside her and hold his hand out for a high five, Wendy stayed a few seconds not moving before giving him what he wanted.

\- "Thank you, Wendy !" He thanked her with the biggest and warmest of his smile, which she shyly gave back, a small embarrassed blush on her face.

\- "She may not open her eyes for a while yet… But she'll be okay now."

\- "May I say something ?" Said Carla, grabbing everyone's attention as she stood there, her arms crossed. "I would request that you don't force Wendy to use her Sky Magic any further." The others said nothing, the Riders raising an eyebrow in confusion. "As you can see, using this magic takes up large quantities of Wendy's magical power."

\- "No, don't worry about me !" Sighed Wendy. "I just..."

\- "We won't force her. But if she decide to fight by herself, we won't stop her either, you know." Said Kouta, earning a glare from Carla. "She's a Dragon Slayer, I'm pretty sure she can defend herself easily."

\- "Anyway." Cut in Takeru to avoid any kind of conflict, seeing that Carla was about to add something. "Now that Erza is healed, we only have to wait for her to wake up and then, we'll counterattack."

\- "Yeah !" Agreed Lucy confidently. "Time to take down the Oracion Seis !"

\- "Yeah ! We're not letting the have…"

And as soon as Happy said that, a pillar of black light suddenly shot from the middle of the forest, tendrils of darkness seeping out of the forest and into the pillar, much to every mages shock inside the forest. Even the Oracion Seis were shocked.

\- "Th… There's no doubt about it…"

\- "Congratulations." Said Midnight with a smile. "Now, I will proceed to eliminate every last one of those guild mages before midnight falls. You should head for that light." He advised, Brain nodding.

\- "Yes… I guess it's to go and see what Nirvana really is about." He said as he walked out of the cave, followed by the long haired old man.

\- "Is that… Nirvana ?" Asked Emu, shocked to see it so soon.

\- "The Oracion Seis beat us to it already ?!" Said Lucy, not believing it. And while they were all shocked, Natsu was fuming, looking at the pillar that reached for the sky.

\- "That light… Jellal is there !" He groaned, his whole body igniting as Lucy and the Riders gasped in shock.

\- "Jellal ? You mean that monster ?! How could he be here !? What does this mean, Natsu ?!" Takeru, who had met the man himself, stood there, trying to get answer from Natsu as the Fire Mage ran away.

\- "We can't let Erza meet up with that guy again ! No matter what ! I'm going… To take him out !" He said as he ran away, leaving his friend behind as he disappeared between the trees.

\- "I'm going after him." Stated Haruto as he began to ran after him, trying to catch up with him. The others could only look at each other, wondering what they should do. In the meantime, another group witnessed the activation of Nirvana.

\- "What do you guys think this light is ?"

Gentaro, who was currently with Eve and Ren, pointed at the dark pillar that couldn't be missed, sticking out like a sore thumb in the blue sky.

\- "Take a look." Said Ren, pointing at a tree who was pitch black, with black tendrils seeping out of it and into the pillar. "Something seems to be flowing out of that creepy looking black tree. It looks like it's being sucked in by that light."

\- "What the hell does that mean ?" Asked Eve before gasping in realization. "Wait ! What if that place is where Nirvana is hidden ?!"

\- "Then this mean that someone found it already." Stated Gentaro, passing a hand in his hair. "And I don't know why by I have that gut feeling that it wasn't found by our alliance."

\- "Hibiki ! What's going on ?! Do you read me ?! Hibiki ! Shit, our telepathy is blocked !" Said Ren, feeling his frustration rising.

\- "Well, I think we better split up." Said Eve. "I'm going to carry on the mission to rescue Wendy-chan !"

\- "And I'll go to try heading toward that light." Said Ren, turning toward the pillar. "And you, Gentaro ?"

\- "I think it's better if I stay with you for now." Said Fourze, taking out the Nuggegyroika and plugging the Gyro Switch inside, freeing the four Tsunuggets, one of them following Eve. "Take one of those with you, Eve. If something happen to you, I'll know it and I'll be able to track you down. The three others are going to try and found the others to see what situation they are in."

\- "Very well. I guess there's no time to waste, now. Be careful, okay ?" Asked Ren to Eve, who nodded in answer.

\- "Don't worry, I'll be fine. Good luck !"

With that, the little group split and ran in different direction. Just like everybody else, Sento and Jura witnessed the pillar's apparition, wondering what this was.

\- "What on Earth… ?!" Began Jura.

\- "Don't tell me this is…"

\- "That's Nirvana… You see." Confirmed Hoteye, interrupting Build, the revelation making the two allies snap back to him, worry showing on their faces. "Please, do not worry. Nirvana itself has yet to be activated. The seal has been removed, that is all. Still… the scent of money is in the air… Ahahahah !"

As Hoteye was starting to laugh in his hands, Jura and Sento were stuck in a dilemma that made them struggle a lot more that it should have.

"This is no time to be fighting that man, Nirvana has to be stopped… But our mission is the defeat of the Oracion Seis !" Thought Jura.

"It is quite troublesome. Should we fight this man ? Or go and stop Nirvana while we still can ? What should we do… ?" Thought Sento.

\- "Money… MONEY… We're going to be rich !" Shouted Hoteye… "Ahh…Ahhh… Ohhhhhhhhhh !"… Before crying his eyes out, much to the two comrades confusion when suddenly… "I don't need it at all !" Jura and Sento face faulted, looking dumbstruck at Hoteye who suddenly looked a lot more friendly, as if he just did a complete 180 on his personality. "I… was desperate to find the younger brother I lost… I thought that if I only had the money, I could find him… But now I see that was all a mistake, you see ! Come… Let us put an end to this silly conflict !"

\- "What… ? / Did Nirvana fried his mind ?" Said Jura and Sento respectively, not knowing how to react at such a development, which only became worse when Hoteye began to twirl around.

\- "The world is overflowing with love ! Ahh ! Love ! Such a sweet and beautiful word, filled with goodness ! As long as there is love in this world, nothing is impossible ! Come… Let us put an end to my former companion's wanton violence ! I must teach them of the beauty of love !" And with that, he hugged the two of them close, neither of them knowing what to do as they hung limply in his arms, not saying anything, to lost to even understand what was going on.

/- Back with Lucy and company -/

The group had yet to move after Natsu's sudden departure, still wondering what the hell was wrong with him.

\- "He said something about Jellal, isn't it ?" Said Lucy, which made Takeru grit his teeth.

\- "I don't know what happened but Jellal died when the Tower of Paradise exploded. He can't be here." He said, still remembering clearly the monster he fought with Natsu.

\- "Explanations can wait !" Happy jumped in. "Right now, we have to…"

\- "Huh guys ? We have a problem." Said Emu, people turning to see his back turned to them, his voice strangely muffled a bit. "Erza just left !"

\- "WHAT ?!" Shouted Kouta, seeing that indeed, Erza weren't on the floor anymore, and nowhere to be seen either. "You were supposed to look after her, Emu ! Why didn't you stopped her ?!" He grabbed Emu and turned him around, only to take a step back in shock.

\- "I tried." He answered, his face all swelled up, probably thanks to an Erza who had no intentions in staying put.

\- "Oh…" Simply said Kouta before shaking his head to refocus. "Where did she go ?" Emu pointed to his left, Kouta immediately walking in the same direction. "I'm going to stop her or at least make sure nothing happen to her. Try to go after Natsu."

\- "What on Earth is wrong with this girl ?!" Seethed Carla. "Without a single word of thanks to Wendy…"

\- "Glad to see you know what's important." Muttered Emu, earning a glare from the cat.

\- "Erza… You don't think she heard Jellal's name and…"

\- "Knowing her, Happy, this is probably what happened." Answered Takeru as Wendy once again went into self-guilt mode.

\- "Oh, no… It's all my fault…" She began, her aura becoming darker as she kept going. "It's all because I healed Jellal… they found Nirvana… And now Erza-san… And Natsu-san…And…"

*BOOM* Out of nowhere, Hibiki suddenly knocked Wendy out with his magic, which of course made Carla furious and everybody else shocked by his actions.

\- "What the hell !?" Roared Emu as he jumped and grabbed Hibiki by his shirt, pissed off. "What do you think you're doing to that girl ?!"

\- "Calm down. I did that to protect her." The others were still sceptic.

\- "Protect her from what ?!" Asked Carla, arms crossed and with a scowl, hoping he had a good explanation for what he did to Wendy.

\- "The truth is that I'm familiar with the magic known as Nirvana." They all gasped at that as he carried Wendy and began to run to look for Natsu or Erza, the others following him.

\- "Why didn't you tell us before ?" Asked Takeru.

\- "Because of its nature. The simple fact of being aware of it put a person in danger. That's why Ichiya-san, Ren and Eve don't know anything… Only I was told the details by Master Bob."

\- "So what is Nirvana then ?" Asked Lucy, running alongside him.

\- "It's an extremely dangerous form of magic. It makes light and darkness switch places. But that is only in its final stage." Explained the Archive mage. "First of all, once the seal has been lifted, a black light bursts forth."

\- "You mean this pillar, right ?" Said Happy, pointing at the dark pillar that appeared when Nirvana got unsealed.

\- "Firstly, this black light cause those who are caught in the rift between darkness and light to switch alignment completely. For example, people on the side of light who are experimenting powerful negative emotions… Fall to the darkness." By negative emotions, he was thinking about anger, guilt, or grief, just like Sherry who, unbeknownst to them, had already fall to the darkness, currently venting out her resentment on a weakened Gray, strangling him with a massive wood doll.

\- "So that's why you knocked Wendy out." Realized Takeru. "It's because of the guilt she felt being the one who brought Jellal back."

\- "Wait ! By negative emotions, are you thinking about anger ? Then is Natsu in danger ?!" Asked Lucy, worried to see what a 'switched' Natsu could become.

\- "I can't say… If his rage is for somebody else's sake, then it may not be truly 'negative'"

\- "What should we do… ?! I don't get it…" Said Happy, struggling to understand what they should do or not.

\- "You're just an idiot." Stated Carla, grabbing his attention. "Essentially, now that the seal on Nirvana is broken, anybody who is wavering between good and evil is likely to have a violent personality change."

\- "And if I said nothing until now about Nirvana, it's because once people start to think about everything in terms of 'good' and 'evil', negative feelings can spring up from all sorts of places."

\- "So if Nirvana is activate completely… are we all going to turn into bad people ?" Asked Lucy.

\- "If it truly work like I think it is, this could mean that if the good become bad, the bad like the dark guild will turn good." Said Emu, shaking his head as the explanation didn't sat well with him. "No, there has to be a twist, I don't see Oracion Seis turning the legal guild bad if the dark guild become good at the same time."

\- "You said it. And that's the nastiest part of Nirvana : the way it can be controlled, used to a specific end. Like targeting a specific guild and not everyone." Suddenly, things became clear for everyone as Hibiki listed ways the Nirvana could be used. "Former companions slaughtering one another without mercy… Starting meaningless wars with other guilds… The user could make such things happen incredibly easily."

\- "That is one hell of a dangerous magic." Said Emu, now understanding the true extend of how powerful this magic was. "We have to put an end to this or the whole world could become a true Hell."

\- "That explain why Shocker is helping them." Added Takeru. "We might be a little bit immune to the magic of this world, enough maybe to resist Nirvana as it is, but if Shocker put his hands on it, we could be completely affected too."

Now that everything had been said, they realized how important it was for them to win this war. Because if they failed, the world would pay it greatly.

/- With Natsu -/

\- "JELLAL ! You better be ready to die !"

After Erza got healed and Nirvana activated, Natsu had fled the scene, rushing to where Jellal was, leaving everyone behind them. Even Haruto, who had gone after him, ended up losing him, leaving Natsu all alone, running in the woods like a maniac. Even the dark mages and Shocker Soldiers that stood on his way were utterly destroyed, Natsu not feeling like losing his time with them. However, after some times, he was more or less forced to a stop when he noticed something in the river a few meter beneath him. A human body to be more precise, with dark hair and a face he easily identified.

\- "Gray ?!" He asked, not really liking to see his friendly rival out cold in the middle of a river, prompting him to go down to see what happened. "What're you doing lying in a place like this ?! What happened to that super-fast guy ? Gray ?" No answer, which kinda unnerved him as he pulled him up. "Hey ! Wake up, you idiot !"

Wake up he did, but the look on his face took Natsu by surprise. Indeed, Gray had a pretty sinister grin on his face and soon after, a wooden platform appeared under Natsu, hidden underwater until now. Natsu realized to late that he was on a raft and of course, his motion sickness kicked in faster than he could react, rendering him useless as he fell to his knees. Above him, Gray was smiling.

\- "What a sucker you are Natsu. That's right… vehicles, your ultimate weakness." As he said that, he created a spear of ice, ready to skewer Natsu. "Die."

However, an arrow came his way, landing on the raft and successfully stopping him, turning his head to the side to see Lucy, who had summoned Sagittarius, with Emu and Takeru by her side and Hibiki next to them, carrying Wendy on his back.

\- "What are you playing at, Gray ?!" She asked, pointing at him. The raft kept moving slowly until it came to a stop due to a stump that jutted out of the water. Happy immediately spread his wings and flew toward his friend, only to be stopped by being encased in a bloc of ice by Gray who began to talk… in a weird way.

\- "Happy… Has the power to fly… Can carry one person at a time… Useless in battle… Information retrieval complete."

\- "Why is he talking like that ?" Asked Emu, worried for his friend.

\- "Is this someone who had fell to the darkness ?" Said Hibiki, sitting Wendy against a tree.

\- "Gray's opinion of Lucy : Newcomer to the guild… Pretty damn cute…" This comment from Gray made Lucy blush slightly, but made Takeru frown. "Possesses some skill… More naïve than she appears… Stellar Spirit mage. Oh ? Stellar Spirit, huh ? Interesting !" As he said that, he fired an ice bullet at Lucy, only to be stopped and deflected by Hibiki.

\- "You're not Gray." Said the mage, making Lucy gasp as Takeru walked to him.

\- "He clearly isn't. The Gray we know would never waver between 'good' and 'evil'." He said, frowning at 'Gray'. "Who are you ?"

And suddenly, in a puff of smoke, 'Gray' disappeared, replaced by another 'Lucy', which made Lucy gasp in surprise while making the boy frown.

\- "Are you stupid ? What point is there transforming into Lucy ? Nobody's going to be fooled." Said Hibiki, which made 'Lucy' chuckle.

\- "No point ? I wonder about that. You strike me as the type who has a weakness for women…" She said, grabbing the hem of her shirt and lifting it all the way up, flashing them all, which made Hibiki stare in admiration, Lucy cry in horror and the Rider look everywhere but at the girl, a slight blush on their face. As for 'Lucy', she seemed satisfied about something. "Stellar Spirit information retrieved." This grabbed Lucy's attention and what come next even more. "Sagittarius, if you would."

And much to everyone shock, Sagittarius obeyed the doppelganger and shot an arrow at Hibiki, taking everyone by surprise, even Sagittarius who looked like he had no idea why he did that.

\- "Did she… Manipulate the Stellar Spirit ?" Wondered Emu, rushing to Hibiki's side to look at the wound.

\- "Carla ! Take Wendy and run ! This enemy is dangerous !" Ordered Lucy, the cat doing as she was told and flew away. As for Emu, once he made sure that Hibiki was alright, he got up and ran after them.

\- "I'll go with them, just in case. Good luck !"

 _ **SAGITTARIUS : FORCED DISMISSAL !**_

Lucy closed Sagittarius' door, but what happened next made her and Takeru widened their eyes in shock.

 _ **OPEN THE GATE TO THE ARCHER : SAGITTARIUS !**_

\- "Hello hello, What can I do for… Wait what ?" The fake had pulled from her waist the same golden key as Lucy and used it to summon the exact same Sagittarius that Lucy just send back. Lucy tried to force the door to close but since she wasn't the one who summoned him, she had no power to do so. The Fake Lucy was about to ask Sagittarius to shot Wendy out of the sky when another voice came from behind 'Lucy'.

\- "That's enough. Now that Nirvana has been found, we have no need for the brat, anyway." This was Angel, the only woman from the Oracion Seis, that came walking out of the trees as 'Lucy' disappeared in a puff of smoke, along with Sagittarius, only to be replaced by two little beings, looking a lot alike. "These little cuties are Gemi and Mini ; Twins with the…"

\- "Gemini…" Deduced Takeru, interrupting Angel. "You're a Stellar Spirit mage and those two are the one for the Gemini constellation. The idea of twins, their power must allow them to copy anyone they want, along with their abilities."

\- "So that's why this fake me could summon and control Sagittarius. It also copied my keys and mu contracts." Finished Lucy, feeling tensed all of a sudden. As for Angel, she was pretty impressed.

\- "Well, aren't you smart ? Indeed, I'm a Stellar Spirit mage as well. And I'd love to get my hands on those keys of yours." She then looked at Takeru. "But there's two of you. Luckily for me, I thought about getting some help, just in case." She snapped her finger and a whole squad of Shocker Soldier appeared from behind her, led by someone Takeru recognized, as well as Lucy, even if she found it weird.

\- "Wait ! Is that you ?" She asked the Rider who simply frowned.

\- "In a way, it is. I can't believe they'd use Another Riders too."

Indeed, the one leading the troop was none other than Another Ghost, the demonic looking version of Kamen Rider Ghost. Luckily, since he was his model, he could fight and destroy it, if it had been another one, he'd have to ask for help.

\- "Looks like we'll fight on our own this time, Lucy. Don't you worry." He said, taking his Eyecon as the Driver appeared on his waist, noticing the uneasiness in her. "I'm sure you'll find a way to beat her. We gonna let our lives burn bright ! HENSHIN !"

 _ **KAIGAN : ORE ! LET'S GO ! KAKUGO ! GHO-GHO-GHO-GHOST ! GO ! GO ! GO ! GO !**_

As Takeru ran at the Shocker troops, leaving Lucy alone to face Angel, it gave the blonde time to think about her current situation.

"Hibiki and Natsu are out for the count… And Takeru is busy with his own enemies… I have to take her on myself ! Takeru's right : I'm sure there's a way to beat her. Lucky for me, we're right by a river, which mean a lot of water to work with !"

 _ **OPEN THE GATE TO THE WATER BEARER : AQUARIUS !**_

Lucy pulled the key and dived into the river to summon one of her strongest, and wildest, Stella Spirit, as Angel simply asked for Gemini to withdraw as she grabbed another key.

\- "Go get her ! You can take me out as well, I don't care !" Asked Lucy, wanting to get rid of Angel no matter the cost.

\- "You don't even need to ask !" Answered Aquarius with a smile, which made Lucy sweat drop a tiny bit as she brandished her urn. "I'm gonna beat the crap out of the lot of you !"

 _ **OPEN THE GATE TO THE SCORPION : SCORPIO !**_

\- "An ecliptic Zodiac Stellar Spirit !" Gasped Lucy, feeling a little bit more tensed at the idea of fighting another golden spirit.

\- "We are !" Scorpio appeared, revealing himself to be a dark-skinned man with bi-colored hair, half white and half red. He wore a red and gold flower shaped collar and a belt with the constellation symbol on it, holding a red sheet-like material. His most prominent feature was a large gun also acting as his scorpion tail with the word 'Antares' written on it.

\- "Scorpio~~~ !" Much to Lucy's shock, Aquarius' persona changed all of a sudden as she gushed at the opponent spirit, leaning against him.

\- "Are we feeling fine, Aquarius ?" Asked the scorpion.

\- "I was… So lonely…" Answered the spirit which Lucy barely recognized due to the sudden change of personality. And that's when it clicked in her mind.

\- "Wait… don't tell me he's…"

\- "My boyfriend !" Confirmed Aquarius, much to her shock as Scorpio introduced himself to her and soon after, Aquarius was on her face. "Don't you even think about saying anything funny in front of Scorpio… Got that ?! Unless you want to be a drowned corpse…"

\- "R…Right…"

Once this was settled, Aquarius joined Scorpio and they both decided to go on a date, Angel not minding as Scorpio asked her the permission.

\- "H…Hey ! Aquarius ! Wait !" However, this was too late, the two spirit now gone back to their world, leaving Lucy alone with Angel who slapped her, sending her back, her hair freed from her ribbon by the slap.

\- "A little girl who doesn't even know about the relationships between the Stellar Spirits has no hope of defeating me."

Lucy got up with a glare directed toward Angel, wondering about what her next move should be when something came crashing into the river next to her.

/- Little flashback, with Takeru -/

Leaving Lucy alone with Angel didn't sit right with Takeru, but he trusted her, knowing she could win the fight. Besides, he had some others things to do, like taking care of the Shocker Soldiers that decided to join the fight. Gan Gun Saber in hand, he pummeled the Combatmen pretty easily, soon leaving only him and his Anotherwatch clone. The fight was pretty much balanced, both using the same powers, but Takeru was slowly taking the lead, slowly but surely overpowering his doppelganger. But just like everything else in this world, when things began to look good, it always turn bad. Out of nowhere, someone else appeared and came at the rescue of Another Ghost, taking Takeru by surprise as he noticed that this newcomer was almost exactly the same as Another Ghost, but in blue.

/- End of little flashback -/

\- "Takeru ? What happened ?!"

\- "Just a little setback." He said, looking straight at Another Ghost and his blue comrades that were slowly coming toward them.

\- "What the hell is this thing ?!" Gasped Lucy, looking at the horned blue monster.

\- "Another Specter. Just like Another Ghost, he's the evil twin of a friend of mine." Explained Takeru as he glanced at Lucy. "Why didn't you summon Aquarius ? With this water, it should be an obvious choice." Lucy sighed as she explained what happened.

\- "Well, I did summoned her, but Angel summoned Scorpio… aka Aquarius' boyfriend." Takeru was shocked by this, already knowing what might have happened.

\- "Don't tell me she…"

\- "Left on a date with him in a middle of a fight ? She completely did." Sighed Lucy as Takeru shook his head in disbelief.

\- "Well, it's not like she was the only strong spirit you have, right ?" Lucy stayed silent a second before realizing what he meant a smirk. "I'm going back there, to take care of those two."

\- "Are you sure you'll be alright on your own ?" She asked, taking a golden key from her key ring.

\- "Don't worry." He said showing her the Reinforcement Phone. "I won't be alone for long."

With that, he immediately used the phone and called some help, a tall black haired young man appearing out of the portal that appeared near him.

\- "Hey ! It's been a while, Makoto !"

\- "Indeed, Takeru. But do you need my help ?" Asked Makoto as Takeru answered by pointing at the two Another Rider next to the river in front of them, Makoto easily recognizing the blue one, which made him frown. "I see. Let's do this then."

 _ **EYE ! BATCHIRIMIRO !**_ "HENSHIN !" _**KAIGAN : SPECTER ! READY, GO ! KAKUGO ! DOKI DOKI GHOST !**_

Once transformed the two Rider ran at their twins, the fight starting once again, evenly this time as each Rider took care of their own. The 4 of them clashed, slowly pushing the monsters back to the forest, leaving the girls alone in their own fight. The two party exchanged punches and kicks repeatedly, slowly gaining in intensity as the fight went on, neither side taking the upper hand, for now at least. Because feeling like this fight was going nowhere, the two friends decided to stop going Ore against Ore and Specter against Specter.

 _ **KAIGAN : BENKEI ! ANIKI ! MUKIMUKI ! NI**_ _ **Ō**_ _ **DACHI !**_

 _ **KAIGAN : NOBUNAGA ! WARE NO IKIZAMA ! OKEHAZAMA !**_

Switching Eyecons made the fight much more easy for the originals as the copies slowly got pushed back by either the Benkei Hammer or the Gan Gun Hand held by Makoto. It didn't took long for the two Riders to send the two Another Riders flying to the ground, either with a strong hammer strike or a shot from a Gan Gun Hand in gun mode. However, their confidence took a hard blow when the Another Rider got up and something strange happened to them. They got surrounded by a bright aura, golden and black for Another Ghost and silver and purple for Another Specter as they ran blindingly fast toward them, one punch sending them both flying and crashing hard on some trees. When they looked up, they were awestruck by what they saw. The lights had subsided, revealing that they had both changed. Another Ghost was still mainly back, but he now had sinister golden lining all over him, with colorful demon faces everywhere on his body. His 'Ghost Driver' had been replaced by a single demonic golden eye and he now had no parka on him, his hood replaced by a bunch of multicolored horns. The same could be said for Another Specter who was a dark silver colored with a run down purple parka, purple arms and legs topped with silver spikes and red eyes on his torso and shoulders. The Riders got up as they realized what just happened.

They weren't Another Ghost and Specter anymore.

They were Another Grateful and Deep Specter.

For a few minutes, it became a really dangerous situation for them. Takeru tried to deal with his golden counterpart who, of course, didn't only changed color but also got all of his 'statistics', co to speak, boosted. He was much faster than before, much stronger also, his punches strong enough to send him back a few meters with each hit. Takeru of course tried to defend himself and land some blows but even Benkei wasn't enough to even faze the Another Rider. Feeling like close combat won't be enough, he decided to try something else.

 _ **KAIGAN : BEETHOVEN ! KYOKUMEI ! UNMEI ! JA JA JA JA**_ _ **N !**_

Using the Destiny Tuner that came with the Piano themed Parka, Takeru created and shot musical notes at his opponent who, if he was bothered by it at first, quickly shown that the colorful marks on his body weren't just for show. The white one on his left hand shone and a twisted and ragged version of the Beethoven Parka Ghost appeared next to him, shooting the same kind of notes at Takeru who gasped in shock, realizing that he even had the power to summon the ghosts, just like his own Grateful Damashi. And while Takeru got buried under a flood of notes, on the side, Makoto wasn't faring much better. Whether it was long or close ranged attack, nothing he did could stop or at least slow down his opponent. Threatening black and purple flames were exploding from his back as he pummeled the poor Rider who tried his best to survive. After a few minutes, the two ended up facing something they clearly never anticipated even if they should given what those Another were capable of. They both began to float high above the ground, the false Deep Specter body surrounded by a manganese violet flame as the false Grateful summoned 15 false Parka Ghost who became energy that gathered on him, surrounding him with a golden aura and they both shot at the Riders, hitting them with a flying kick who created two large explosion on impact, sending them both flying through the trees and crashing down, their transformation cancelling themselves as they laid on the ground, the two Another approaching them. And yet, despite this apparent defeat, Takeru couldn't help but giggle.

\- "We really are stupid."

\- "What do you mean ?" Said a frowning Makoto who couldn't see how this was a laughable situation.

\- "They aren't Another Ghost and Specter anymore." He said as he turned to look at Makoto with a smile. "Why should we ?"

This made Makoto smiled as he realized that indeed, they were stupid if they didn't though about that sooner. They both got up, Makoto grabbing an Eyecon with a devilish red iris while Takeru changed his Driver for an Eyecon shaped one.

 _ **DIVE TOO DEEP ! EYE ! GIROTTOMIRO !**_

 _ **GRATEFUL ! GAT**_ _ **CHIRIMI**_ _ **NA ! KOTCHINIKINA !**_

\- "HENSHIN !"

 _ **GEN KAIGAN : DEEP SPECTER ! GET, GO ! KAKUGO ! GIZA GIZA GHOST !**_

 _ **ZEN KAIGAN ! KENG**_ _ **Ō**_ _ **, HAKKEN, KYOSH**_ _ **Ō**_ _ **NI**_ _ **Ō**_ _ **-SAMA, SAMURAI, B**_ _ **Ō**_ _ **ZU NI SNIPER ! DAI**_ _ **HEN**_ _ **GE**_ _ **! YAY**_ _ **!**_

The Another stopped to sneer at their originals, who stood side by side, looking straight at them before Makoto ran and jumped at his doppelganger, kicking him in the face and making him go away from the Another Grateful who then got assaulted by a volley of green arrow, courtesy of Takeru who then rushed at him. Just like when they were Ghost vs Ghost and Specter vs Specter, the fight began evenly, both sides landing and taking as much blows as the others, but soon, the old rule stating that the original was always better got verified as Takeru and Makoto slowly took the upper hand, knowing perfectly how to use their forms against their copies. Finally, they managed to push them back to the river, Makoto with a strong kick to this twin's torso and Takeru with a gravity enhanced punch thanks to Newton. As the twins crashed into the water, they witnessed something that made them both stop dead in their track. They trusted Lucy in her ability to take care of Angel and were expecting to at least see the two girls facing off. But they clearly didn't expected to find the blonde defenseless, kneeling in the water, with Hibiki behind her, about to strangle her.

\- "LUCY !"

/- Flashback, with Lucy -/

After seeing Takeru summoned one of his Rider friend to help him and watching them ran back to the forest to deal with their evil twins, Lucy turned her attention back on Angel that she had yet to beat, a new key in hand.

 _ **OPEN THE GATE TO THE LION : LEO !**_

\- "Your prince is here !" Said Leo, standing tall and proud in front of Lucy, arms crossed, as Hibiki watched in shock, hardly believing what he was seeing.

\- "L…Leo… Is that really you ?"

\- "Hey, Hibiki. It's been a while." Said Leo, glancing with a smile at his old friend from when he was one of Karen's spirits and as such member of Blue Pegasus.

\- "Please, Leo ! You've got to defeat this woman, or the guild..."

\- "don't worry, Lucy." Stated Leo confidently, cutting her. "Leave it to me." The sudden appearance of the Lion Stellar Spirit, the leader of ecliptic zodiac spirits, should have made Angel feel at least a little bit worried. But she didn't, simply smirking as she grabbed another key.

\- "Aha… Did you not hear me the first time ? Relationships are all important." She said, brandishing the new key.

 _ **OPEN… GATE OF THE RAM…**_

Lucy, Hibiki and Leo's eyes widened, not believing that she was about to do what they think. But she did.

… _**ARIES !**_

In a puff of smoke and much to the shock, and even horror, of the Fairy Tail and Blue Pegasus mages, a beautiful young woman with fluffy pink hair, a pair of horns, wearing dress, gloves and boots made of white wool and a belt with a pouch with the mark of her sign on it appeared, a shy expression on her face.

\- "I'm so sorry, Leo…" She muttered, a little embarrassed blush on her cheeks as she stood there, the others looking at her in shock.

\- "Aries…" Muttered Leo, not believing that she was here, after so many years.

\- "Karen's spirit…" Said Hibiki, also knowing Aries pretty well from her time with Karen. As for Lucy, she was feeling downright sad.

\- "Th…That's not fair…" She said, trembling as she took in the situation they were in. "Now even Leo won't be able to fight… ?!" She got her emotion back on check to ask the question the two guys wanted to ask without having the strength to do it, fearing what the answer might be. ""What are you doing with Karen's spirit ?!"

\- "Isn't it obvious ? I'm the one who killed her." Answered Angel, patting Aries on the head. "This is just my spoils of war."

Leo was gritting his teeth so hard it was a miracle he didn't shatter them as Angel just confirmed what he feared. As for Hibiki, he was struggling a bit more and for a pretty good reason.

 _"Killed... Karen… ? This woman… Killed… my lover ?! This Stellar Spirit mage… stole Karen's life away…"_ While he was having those dark thought, he felt something, like a dark force trying to push him further away into the darkness, which made him realized what was happening. _"NO ! If I start thinking like this, my heart will be seized by Nirvana ! Ugh… Mustn't… think… about it…"_

While Hibiki was struggling with his thought, Lucy stared blankly at Leo's key, thinking about her situation. She knew she had to beat Angel and Leo was probably her strongest spirit, but even with those condition, she couldn't come to term with it.

\- "This isn't the way the two of you should finally meet again…" She said, brandishing the key once again. "Close the…"

She was however stopped by Leo, who forced her arm back down.

\- "Don't look down on me, Lucy." He said, surprising the girl. "She may be an old friend of mine… But if our owners differ, we are enemies. A Stellar Spirit must always fight for his master."

\- "Even if we owe the enemy a great debt, for our master's sake, we must defeat them." Continued Aries, looking as determined as Leo. "For that is…"

"…Our pride !"

And they both ran at each other, Leo's fist shining as pinkish wool surrounded Aries, the two dear friends not holding back as they gave everything they had for the sake of their owners. And speaking of owners, Lucy was horrified, by what was happening. She couldn't bear the sight of such great friends fighting like this and she was struggling not to force Leo's door to close to stop them from fighting like this. Angel on the other side wasn't reaction like this at all. She was almost disappointed that Leo accepted to fight Aries.

\- "Oh ? You're actually gonna fight ? Well… This should be entertaining enough, too." She said as she watched them fight for a moment, her face neutral. However, after a few minutes, she decided to do a little something to end this fight when she realized that Aries was slowly losing. "Well, I suppose she isn't really a match for the combat specialist Leo… Ah, well !"

 _ **OPEN THE GATE TO THE CHISEL : CAELUM !**_

Lucy would have been surprised to see Angel summon two spirit at once, if she hadn't done something as horrible as making Caelum shot an energy beam at Leo and Aries, piercing both of them at the same time. Lucy's eyes were wide in horror as she watched, Angel's laughter reaching her ears as the two spirits began to disappear.

"She attacked her own spirit… ?!"

As the two spirits disappear completely dying in each other arms, in a way, Angel stood by the round robotic spirit that was Caelum, looking pretty proud of her.

\- "Did you see that ? That's right.. I can summon two spirits at once !" She said proudly, completely going over the fact that she used Aries as nothing more than cannon fodder. "I'm afraid you won't be able to use your big, strong Leo for a while !"

\- "Unbelievable…"

\- "What's so unbelievable ?" asked Angel, not understanding why Lucy was reacting like this. "It's not like Stellar Spirit can die, so what's the problem ?"

\- "That doesn't stop them from feeling pain… They still have feelings… And you dare call yourself a Stellar Spirit mage ?!"

 _ **OPEN THE GATE TO THE BULL : TAURUS !**_

The bull appeared, immediately rushing at Angel with his axe at the ready, only for Angel to summon Gemini back to the field, the twins taking Lucy's appearance and used the pervert side oh the bull against him, playing with their bust to charm Taurus, which made him drop his guard, allowing them to defeat him by grabbing a sword shaped Caelum, slashing the Stellar Spirit with it.

\- "Taurus ! Huh…" Lucy's felt her legs give in, making her kneel in the river as she panted, wondering what was happening, Angel already knowing what happened.

\- "That's what happens when you summon all those spirits one after another without the magic power to support it."

As she finished her explanation, Gemi-Lucy walked to the blonde and began to kick her repeatedly, insulting her during the process.

\- "Being killed by yourself… Don't you just feel pathetic ? AHAHAHAHAH !" Gemi-Lucy wasn't the only one who took great pleasure in seeing Lucy in such a state, Angel laughing at the show, only to be stopped when she saw that Lucy was still looking at her defiantly.

\- "Oh ? What's this ? I don't like your attitude."

\- "Release Aries." Asked Lucy, taking Angel by surprise. "She was… treated so horribly by her last owner, and… AAAAGH !"

She suddenly shouted in pain as Gemi-Lucy forced her to shut up by cutting her arm with Caelum.

\- "Is that a way to ask somebody a favor ?"

\- "P…Please… I'm begging you…" beg Lucy, swallowing her pride for the sake of the Stellar Spirit. "She deserves to be able to be with Leo… We stellar Spirit mages are the only ones who can grant them that happiness…"

\- "For nothing ?" Said Angel, as if she was interested by a deal.

\- "I'll give you whatever you want… Anything at all apart from my keys !"

\- "Your life it is, then." Stated Angel, Lucy knowing that this would meant broken contract, allowing her to get her keys, but she could nothing to stop her. "Gemini, kill her." The Stellar Spirit lifted Caelum, ready to strike but strangely the spirit did nothing, simply standing here, shaking slightly, much to Angel's confusion. "Gemini ?"

\- "I can hear a beautiful voice… echoing inside my head…" Said Gemi-Lucy as Lucy's memory they got from analyzing her resurfaced. "Mama… I love Stellar Spirits !… Stellar Spirit isn't a shield !... How could I abandon a friend who's disappearing right in front of my eyes ?!" Those memories echoed in the Stellar Spirit mind as tears began to roll down Gemi-Lucy's cheeks. "I can't do it…" She finally said, openly crying. "Lucy loves us from the bottom of her heart… Us Stellar Spirits…"

This new development shocked Angel who couldn't believe that Gemini could disobey her for something like this, Lucy looking up at the spirit as Angel, now pissed off, send them back by force.

\- "Out of my sight ! You useless piece of trash !"

As Caelum fell into the water, something else happened that took both girls by surprise. Hibiki had walked up to Lucy from behind her and had wrapped his hands around her throat. Angel was the quickest to understand what was happening, and she founded this hilarious.

\- "Don't tell me… That man has fallen to the darkness ?! AHAHAHAHAHAHAH !" She could've died from laughter here and now, founding this situation to be pretty ironic. "After all this useless words, you're going to die from the hands of your own allies ! And since there's no way your Rider friend can survive against those two creatures, no one will come to save you !"

*SPLASH**SPLAT* As soon as she said that, two bodies landed with big splashes in the river, just in front of her and as the bodies got up, they were revealed to be the Another Riders, much to Angel surprise.

\- "LUCY !"

/- Flashback end -/

\- "So you managed to survive, huh ?" Smirked Angel. "However, you're too late !"

\- "Hibiki ! Let her go !" Shouted Takeru as he and Makoto ran at him to try and make him stop as Lucy looked back, tears in her eyes as she feared the worst.

\- "Hibi…ki…"

\- "Just hold still." Hibiki then let go of her neck and put his hands on her head as many loading bars suddenly appeared around the girls who gasped as Hibiki smiled, making the Riders stop and Angel stare in disbelief. "I'm going to use my archive to give you a one-time transfer of the data on a top-level spell."

"That was close… Just a little bit further and I would have fallen to the darkness. But your bonds with your Stellar Spirits enveloped me in so much light… I know you can use this magic…"

\- "Why you… Caelum, take them out !" Angel might have no idea what Hibiki was doing to Lucy but she wasn't about to stay put and let them do, grabbing Caelum as she ran toward them. But she wasn't the only one who won't stay put.

 _ **GENKAI DAI KAIGAN ! DEEP SPECTER OMEGA DRIVE !**_

 **MUSASHI, EDISON, ROBIN HOOD, NEWTON, BILLY THE KID, BEETHOVEN, BENKEI, GOEMON, RYOMA, HIMIKO, TUTANKHAMUN, NOBUNAGA, HOUDINI, GRIMM, SANZO ! RASSHAI ZEN DAI KAIGAN ! KENG** **Ō** **, DEND** **Ō** **, ARROW, RINGO, COWBOY, KYOSH** **Ō** **, MUS** **Ō** **, KAIT** **Ō** **, DAZEYO, JO-** **Ō** **, Dai-** **Ō,** **BUSH** **Ō** **, DASS** **Ō** **, DOKUSHO, S** **ŌRYO** **, ZEN-IN SH** **Ū** **G** **Ō** **! GRATEFUL! OMEGA DRIVE !**

Both Riders flew and came down, landing their flying kicks on the dazed Another Rider who exploded just when Angel was about to pass by them, the strength of the kicks and explosion sending her flying a few steps back, giving Hibiki just enough time to finish his download, falling on his back as he let go of Lucy whose magic power began to grow exponentially.

\- "Survey the Heavens, Open the Heavens... All the stars, far and wide... Show me thy appearance... With such shine. Oh Tetrabiblos... I am the ruler of the stars... Aspect become complete... Open thy malevolent gate…" As Lucy, eyes closed, chanted the incantations, the water around her began to swell like the sea during a storm, as light orbs began to appear all around her, with different sizes, Angel and the boys looking all around, trying to understand what was happening. "Oh 88 Stars of the heaven... Shine!"

 _ **URANO METRIA !**_

In an instant, the spheres, representing the 88 constellations of the sky, unleashed their power at once on Angel, the white haired mage getting pummeled by the 88 stars, sending her flying and crashing into the river. Once the situation had been settled, Lucy stood there, not remembering anything as the Riders walked to her.

\- "Wh… What just happened ?"

\- "Just like I said, you beat her." Said Takeru, still in his Grateful form, Lucy looking up at him in surprise.

\- "Is that you Takeru ? This new armor is… flashy." She said as she turned to Makoto. "And I assume this is one of your friend ?"

\- "Yes. This if Makoto Fukami, or Kamen Rider Specter." Introduced Takeru, Makoto bowing slightly.

\- "Nice to meet you."

\- "Don't you think this is over !" The three of them turned their head to see that Angel, though badly beaten up, was still standing, glaring at them. "You were lucky with this, but luck won't be enough for this !" She then showed them an Eyecon, unexpectedly, that she promptly activated, the floating eye immediately fusing with the girl, much to the Rider and Stellar Spirit mage surprise.

\- "Well, this is new."

\- "Yeah. And certainly not good."

When the dark energy that came out of Angel finally disappeared, a Gamma stood where Angel once was, a white Gamma with feather-like spikes around its neck, raggedy wings on its back and claws on its limbs, looking like Angel if she likes blades instead of feathers. However, the scary part was that it was holding the golden keys in its hand, keys that shone as her 3 ecliptic zodiac spirits. Or at least what should have been them. Because as soon as Scorpio, Aries and Gemi & Mini appeared, they were enveloped in a dark aura that infected them, transforming into twisted, monstrous version of themselves. Aries' horns were longer and more demonic looking, she had larges hooves on her feet and wore some kind of armor with wooly hem. Scorpio's tail was still a gun, but with a long deadly stinger on the tip and spikes all over his body, with claws instead of hands and a dark, scaly skin. As for Gemi and Mini, they became one, like Siamese. The creature had 4 arms, two on each side, as well as two pairs of legs, one not touching the ground as it seemed glued to the hips of the first pair. He also had two head, the first one with a large toothy and sadistic smile, the second one carrying an upside down version of it. Lucy couldn't help but feel sorry for the spirits who were suffering from those forced transformation as the Riders looked at them, feeling a like they were in a pinch. Either way, they tried to attack them, at least to see how strong they truly were and boy were they strong. As things were, it was a 2 on 1 fight and things weren't going well for the Riders. They had too much to deal with, between dodging Scorpion's stinger who was oozing with a dark green liquid, probably some kind of poison, the sand that shot out of his tail-gun, Aries' wool who kept trying to tied them up and her horns and hooves who could crush stone easily, and what to say of Gemini who could replicate every kind of weapon and attack they used. Outnumbered, the Rider were quickly thrown back, landing with a splash next to Lucy who, tired by her current lack of magic, could only stare in horror at the poor mutated spirits, the three of them immediately trying to think of a way to beat their opponents who were already gathering their energies, a mix of wool, poison, sand and imitated Grateful golden energy.

\- "It's a 2 against 4. We're clearly dominated here." Said Makoto, glaring at the Gammas in front of them.

\- "I'm sorry." Apologized the blonde, looking down. "I can't help you at all right now."

\- "Maybe not right now, but we need a Hybrid either way." Stated Takeru, Makoto shaking his head.

\- "Yes, but I'm not even sure one is enough."

\- "And besides, I'm a Stellar Spirit Mage. Is there even one of your eye things that I can use ?" Asked Lucy, making Takeru quiet as he realized that he had no such thing. Time was running out as the enemies were about to strike and they were still looking for an idea when an Eyecon flew by himself, placing itself in front of the group.

\- "What the… Aaaahhh !" Shouted Lucy as a blinding came out of the Eyecon and enveloped the three of them and when the light subsided, they were standing in the middle of a field, in front of a small hut with a person waiting in front of it, a woman apparently, clad in black and wearing a pink version of the parka Lucy had seen so many times on Takeru. "Who are you ? And why are you looking like Takeru ? Are you another Kamen Rider ?"

\- "Not really." Said Takeru, standing next to her in his civilian attire with Makoto by his side. "We are inside an Eyecon and this person is the one residing inside of it."

\- "So she's a… soul ?"

\- "Indeed. You can call me Himiko." Said the Damashii, introducing herself to Lucy.

\- "Why are we here, Himiko-san ?" Asked Makoto respectfully. "Why bring all of us here ?"

\- "To address your current problem, of course." She said, looking at Takeru. "You were currently dealing with a problem of affinity to create what you call an Hybrid. But don't you remember what Musashi said to you ?"

\- "… We have to be worthy of the Damashii to get him to help us in creating an Hybrid." Suddenly remembered Takeru as Himiko nodded.

\- "Indeed and that is precisely why I brought you here." She then got up, walking to stood in front of Lucy who couldn't help but be impressed by the aura emanating from the soul. "You, my dear, caught my attention. I saw your heart. The love you feel for those many consider to be nothing more than tools to be used caught my heart. You carry in your soul a light that can't be anything else than worthy of our help, and maybe even to be considered as one of us Luminaries." Even they boys stood agape at Himiko statement who basically rose Lucy to the same level as her and the other Damashii. "I'll grant you my help, Lucy Heartfilia, and I'm sure you'll know what to do with those new powers."

And with that, the light came back and brought them back to the world of the living whose time had been suspended, the three of them coming back at the exact moment when the 3 Stellar Gamma shot their combined attack at them. The two Riders reacted by pure reflexes, using their own bodies to take the damages, the power of the attack enough to cancel both of their transformation and send them rolling in the river.

\- "Takeru ! Makoto !" Shouted Lucy as she ran at them, the two already back on their feet, badly bruised but otherwise in good shape. "Are you alright ?!"

\- "Yeah, we're good. But now would be a good time to get the help offered to us, don't you think ?" Said Takeru as he handed her the Himiko Eyecon which Lucy grabbed. She immediately let her magic fill it and she could feel Himiko's power welcoming hers, letting her in and merging a part of her power with the magic infused in the Eyecon. The Eyecon shone briefly and it revealed a new color scheme, the pink part still here while the white became golden, the face in the iris now pink with golden lining, with shooting stars crossing the face vertically, the golden eyes on each side of them. A golden version of the ghost Driver appeared on her waist as Lucy pushed the button on the Eyecon which she promptly inserted inside the Driver.

 _ **EYE ! BATCHIRIMINA**_ _ **!**_

The Parka Ghost, pink and gold, came out of the Driver and flew around as Lucy got ready, hand on the lever.

\- "HENSHIN !"

 _ **KAIGAN : HEARTFILIA ! HOSHI NO MAH**_ _ **Ō**_ _ **! SEIREI NO**_ _ **Ō**_ _ **JO !**_

Lucy got covered in the same black armor as Takeru as the Parka landed on her. It was, as said before, pink colored with gold lining on the hems and a few constellations were painted all over the parka, glistening in the light that pierced through the trees. Just like Erza before her, she had no helmet, only the hood, her hair tied in a bun with two strands framing her face who was sporting a golden tattoo, the one that was shown on the Eyecon, namely three shooting stars one going down following the bridge of her nose, the two others going up her face, going from the corner of her mouth to her eyes, curving to follow her nose. The Gamma in front of her grunted as Makoto and Takeru simply stared at her.

\- "I feel… so strong." Muttered Lucy, looking at herself when she was attacked by the evil spirits, to which she answered by summoning her own Sunglasseslasher, which was golden with a pair of closed eyes where the glasses normally where with two key holes, one on each side of it. She swung it around, with so much ease and grace it looked like she did this her whole life. She managed to push the three spirit back, who were about to attack once again, following Angel's order whose only role was to give the order and nothing else. After some times, she turned toward the boys who were quite impressed.

\- "You really are strong, Lucy !" Complimented Takeru with Makoto nodding next to him.

\- "True, but will that be enough to deal with 4 monsters at once ?"

Before Lucy could answer, she felt something coming from her keys which were still dangling by her waist. Grabbing them, she realized it was Leo and Aquarius' keys, the spirit's voice resounding in her head.

*Lucy… Let us help.* Said Leo, his voice echoing like he was talking from inside a cave. *I have to save Aries from this thing.*

*That dumb bitch interrupted our date !* Seethed Aquarius, making Lucy cringe internally. *I don't know how, but you better give me the chance to make her pay, you hear me !?*

*Fufufu…* This laugh was coming from Himiko, taking the spirits and Lucy aback. *But there's a pretty easy way to do that. My power resolve around magic, in a way. I'm sure you can handle them pretty well. And remember : as long as the soul is willing, magic can be fused in the Eyecon.*

Lucy could feel her head turned toward the two Riders by her side, as if someone else controlled her body, realizing what Himiko meant. Smiling, a golden aura covered her two keys, emitting an energy that enveloped the Riders, much to their surprise.

\- "What is this ?"

*Takeru… Do you hear me ?*

\- "Leo ? Is that you ?"

*Indeed I am…* Answered the spirit. *I don't know about your other Eyecons, but you got your own one, right ? What if I were to ask you if you want help to free Aries and the others ?*

\- "I see…" Said Takeru, smiling as he understood where this was going. "Well, I'll say that your help is welcomed !"

*Listen here, you !* Half shouted Aquarius, her voice deep and cold as ice as she addressed Makoto. *I'm going to lend you some of my strength so you better save my boyfriend if you don't want me to drown you ! Is that clear ?!*

\- "Crystal." Answered simply Makoto, not impressed by the spirit.

Soon, the two swirling mass of light got absorbed into the Ore and Specter Eyecons, the white part becoming golden with small stars on it, the two Riders immediately activating them.

 _ **EYE ! BATCHIRIMINA/BATCHIRIMIRO !**_

\- "HENSHIN !"

 _ **KAIGAN : LEO ! ETO NO SHISHI ! KAGAYAKU HOSHI !**_

 _ **KAIGAN : AQUARIUS ! ETO NO NINGYO ! UMI NO JO**_ _ **Ō !**_

Both Riders where soon clad in the their usual Ore and Specter Parka, but they was a great difference as the black of their costume was now golden with the symbol of the constellation they teamed up with on their face. Feeling this new strength coursing through their veins, the boys immediately rushed at the Gamma, Takeru facing Aries while Makoto took care of Scorpio, leaving Lucy to deal with Gemini. Each of the Riders punches and kicks were surrounded by either a flame of blue or golden energy, each blows making the Gamma taking a few steps back. The Gamma tried everything to stop them but nothing worked. Leo's light burned through Aries' wool and the armor was so hard it bend the horn and hooves it hit. Against Aquarius' water, Scorpio's sand was ineffective, just like his poison which kept getting washed away. And if Gemini's copying abilities weren't hindered by Lucy, she was now on a whole different level, one the Gamma couldn't even dream to achieve. After some times, seeing that the three Stellar Spirits couldn't do anything, they decided that it was time to put an end to their suffering.

 _ **DAI KAIGAN ! LEO/AQUARIUS/HEARTFILIA OMEGA STRIKE !**_

Each one of them gathered their strength in one of their leg that got surrounded by an aura, blue, pink or golden depending, and they jumped high before shooting at the Gamma they fought, piercing the three of them completely. The kick also expelled the dark energy out, taking the shape of a Gamma. The three four spirits stood there, a hole in the torso where they had been kicked, clearly suffering but as the Gamma specters exploded, they turned around to look at Lucy and the Riders, a smile on their face as they whispered two simple words.

\- "Thank you…"

As they vanished, now free to go back to their world, the three others weren't done yet, now focusing their anger at the one behind everything, the Angel Gamma who stood there, horrified by what just happened.

\- "You made your own spirits suffered just for your crazy ambition." Said Lucy, sword in one hand, two keys in the other as they boys summoned a Gan Gun Saber in Gun Mode each. "It is time someone put a stop to it !" She then plugged the keys in the key holes on the sword, turning them and each eyes opening to show two zodiac symbol in the irises.

 _ **DAI KAIGAN ! LEO/AQUARIUS OMEGA SHOOT !**_

 _ **SEIZA DAI KAIGAN ! TAURUS CANCER OMEGA SHINE !**_

A gold and pink light surrounded the blade of her Sunglasseslasher lookalike, a second version appearing in her free hand as the light took the shape of large axe blades, the same as Taurus's weapon, the blonde raising them both as she ran at Angel. At the same time, Makoto and Takeru charged their weapon with respectively blue and golden energy, loading a large sphere of energy each, shooting them at the same time, the two orbs fusing with each other as they got closer to their target. And the attacks collided at the exact same time as Lucy swung her two axes at Angel, the attacks all merging into a single one, the explosion literally emptying the river, the water flying all around as Angel shouted in pain before exploding as the Eyecon and Gamma inside her got expelled, exploding a few seconds later. With Angel falling backward on the river bed, the water falling back on them as if it suddenly began to rain buckets, the blonde mage and the two Riders sighed, knowing that this time, it was really over. They may have a lot more to do, but they did their part. Alas, while Lucy felt like she had already been through hell and back, she was far from imagining what was about to happen. As said before, Nirvana had many levels, so to speak. And the next one was about to be reached.

 **Alright ! That's a wrap ! I had no idea that it was going to take me this long to write this chapter, but it's probably going to be the same for the next one. Concerning the chapter itself, I'd like to say a thing about the TurtleWatch Best Match used by Sento. I assumed, seeing that its define as the 'Armored Time Hopper', that the Watch power would be something like making small jump back in time, reverting Sento or something to a previous state or location. If one of you perceived it as a time control ability, just know that this isn't what I have in mind. I don't want to make it OP.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Don't forget to leave a review to let me know what you though about it and I'll see you next time. See ya !**

 **Next time : Memory of a meeting. The distressed amnesic. The true face of disaster. The last stretch of the battle begin !**


	40. Chapter 40 : The true shape of chaos

**Hey, everyone ! I'm happy to be here to give you the 40** **th** **chapter of this fic ! 40 chapter, that's one hell of a number when you think about it. And I'm not feeling like giving up this fic at all so be ready for a lot more. Anyway, I'm leaving you with this chapter which I hope you'll love. Enjoy !**

 **Chapter 40 : The true form of chaos**

In the quiet forest, the only noise that could be heard came from the river, the water slowly flowing as nothing could interrupt its flow now that the fight has ended. Lucy, Takeru and Makoto, now back in their civilian attire, stood in the middle of the river, standing still as they looked around them to assess their current situation.

\- "This was rowdier than I first expected." Admitted Takeru, rubbing his sore neck while pulling a face.

\- "Yeah. I'm guessing a living being absorbing an Eyecon is something that never happened before, even in this world right ?" Asked Makoto as Takeru nod. Lucy was in the meantime looking around her, seeing a still frozen Happy, Hibiki, out cold and sitting against the river bank. But she then heard something else, a grunt coming from behind her and more precisely from Natsu, still conscious but barely as his motion sickness prevented him from doing anything.

\- "Natsu ! Are you alright ?!" Asked Lucy worriedly as she ran to him, the two Riders looking at the Dragon Slayer.

\- "How can he be sick ? The raft isn't moving at all ?" Asked a disbelieving Makoto as Takeru sighed.

\- "That's Natsu for you. And that's not the worst. He get sick simply looking at Shinnosuke when he's transformed."

\- "You're serious ?"

*SPLASH* Interrupting this peaceful moment, and much to everyone shock, Angel suddenly got back up, bursting through the water, Caelum in hand. She was beaten up and bloody, barely standing , probably using the last drop of stamina she still had in her body to stand, her crazed eyes directly staring at Lucy who, just like the Riders, couldn't believe that wasn't out cold after everything went through.

\- "I will not… be… defeated… The Oracion Seis… never lose…" She muttered, pointing Caelum at Lucy who was fearing for her life since she had no strength to fight anymore. "A single kill… DIE !"

With that, Angel shot at Lucy, the energy beam coming at her, but strangely, Lucy didn't had to be saved by anyone since the beam had curved and missed Lucy, destroying a large tree stump behind the blonde, much to the white girl shock who fell unconscious immediately after that.

\- "Looks like this was her ultimate stretch." Stated Makoto.

\- "Still, her stamina is more than impressive." Added Takeru. "To still be able to summon a spirit after taking the Urano Metria and a triple Hybrid finisher, this show that those Oracion Seis aren't to be taken lightly."

\- "No, Natsu !" Looking at Lucy, the Riders realized that the stump Angel had destroyed was the one that prevented the raft from moving and now that it was gone, it was slowly being dragged by the river and Lucy was running after it. "Get a hold of your hand ! Stretch out your hand ! Natsu !" Despite his sickness, Natsu managed to gather the strength to reach for Lucy, the blonde grabbing his hand just as the raft got suck into some rapids, the girls shrieking as the Riders stood there, looking at them go.

\- "Aren't you supposed to be going after them ?" Asked Makoto to Takeru who simply shrugged.

\- "They are tough, I'm sure they can survive to a few rapids." He said as, unbeknownst to them, Lucy and Natsu just reached a waterfall and just crashed hard against the water. "I'm sure they'll be fine and besides, I can't really let them alone." He ended, pointing at Hibiki and Happy behind them.

\- "I see." Said Makoto as he noticed a Dimension Wall appearing next to him. "Looks like my time is up. Good luck, Takeru. I hope you'll soon found out what Shocker plan to do and put a stop to their actions."

\- "Don't worry, we will. And say hello to Onari, Akari and the others for me."

\- "I will. See you." And with that, Makoto disappeared, leaving Takeru alone with a frozen cat and an unconscious mage, Ghost walking toward them, wondering what their next move should be.

/- Meanwhile -/

While Takeru took care of Hibiki and Happy, Erza could be seen running in the forest, heading toward the dark light that currently was Nirvana. Her mind was mainly racing about what she learned back then, when Natsu stated that Jellal was here. She had a hard time believing it but Natsu wasn't the kind of guy to just lie about those things.

 _"Jellal is alive…"_ She thought as memories of their last meeting came to her mind. _"How… No, why is he in a place like this ?"_ Then, it was memory of the young Jellal, the one she knew from their time as slaves that came to her mind, which made her shiver. _"How… How am I supposed to even face him ?"_

\- "ERZA ! Wait !" Erza gasped and immediately stopped running as she turned around, ending up facing Kouta, who was panting as he tried to catch his breath. "Thanks god I caught up. To be this fast when you were dying from poison not 15 minutes ago... You really are something else."

\- "Kouta ? What are you doing here !?"

\- "I should be the one asking that question, Erza." Said the Rider as he straightened his position. "You're going to meet Jellal, isn't it ?"

\- "So what ? Are you here to stop me ?" She said, deadly serious as she summoned a sword. "If that is your project, then you'll have to make me."

\- "Who said I'm here to stop you ?" This surprised Erza as Kouta continued. "And just want to know what you're expecting to found once you'll found him ?"

This made the red head look down, sadness painted on her face.

\- "I honestly have no idea… But I have to see him." She said, her voice low. "I have to know what happened to him or what he want to do… Did he changed since the Tower of Paradise… I NEED to see him !"

\- "I understand but you won't go there alone." Kouta then walked up to her. "This was at first the Oracion Seis working with Shocker. If Jellal join the battle and he's the same as the one you guys met at the Tower of Paradise, this will be too dangerous to go there all alone, no matter how strong you are. Let me come with you, so you have someone to count on if things were to take a turn for the worse."

\- "… Alright." Agreed Erza, looking up with a small smile. "Let's go then."

With that, Erza and Kouta ran toward the dark light, both hoping that whatever happened with Jellal, it won't make this situation even more difficult to deal with.

/- Meanwhile -/

\- "What ?! Nirvana is a form of magic with the power to alter people's personalities ?!"

Sento and Jura just learned from Hoteye about what Nirvana was really about and needless to say, they weren't expecting such a frightening revelation.

\- "Indeed it is, you see." Added Hoteye, looking at the pillar of black light. "And the very first stage , namely that pillar of black light above us, is forcibly reversing the alignment of those who are caught between good and evil."

\- "That explains why Shocker wanted to team up with Oracion Seis." Said Sento, frowning. "With a power like this, they could make Riders evil and who knows what kind of chaos that would cause back in our world." The idea of evil Kamen Riders wasn't new, there had been a fair share of them back in the day, but this would be on a totally different scale.

\- "I suppose that means YOU were caught between good and evil, then… ?" Said Jura to Hoteye, Nirvana's power explaining why Hoteye had such a change in personality.

\- "I certainly did feel that what I was doing was wrong… Even if it was for the sake of earning money."

\- "You sound awfully happy about yourself, considering…" Trailed Jura, Sento sweat dropping as Hoteye kept smiling, looking way too happy.

\- "It was all for my brother ! I needed the money to search for my lost brother, you see !" Jura and Sento smiled at that, realizing that he had a good, non-selfish reason to do what he did as Hoteye turned to Jura. "When I look at you, it brings back all kinds of memories."

\- "You don't mean to say… That I look like this brother of yours, or…"

\- "Ha ha…You look exactly like… the potatoes I used to eat with my brother, you see."

\- "Vegetables ?!" Gasped Jura, not expecting something like that as Sento almost face planted hearing this.

 _"Why the only nice guy has to be so weird_ ?" The scientist asked himself, not noticing that Jura had turned to him, suddenly worried about something.

\- "Say, Sento. Is there a risk you or your friend could become a victim of Nirvana's power ?" He may not have known them for long, but the sheer idea of fighters from another world turning against them wasn't really appealing and Sento, thinking about the answer, couldn't help but frown.

\- "If you're asking if there's a probability for us to waver between good and evil, then yes, we can." Revealed Sento, the two others looking at him. "It wouldn't be the first time we have evil Kamen Riders. In fact, we all have a dark side, one we all succumbed to at least one and that made us do things we're regretting even today." Sento was of course thinking about himself and the first times he used the Hazard Trigger and killed Aoba. The two mages looked at him, sensing his guilt when he suddenly lift his head, showing determination in his eyes. "But I'm pretty sure this time, neither will succumb to Nirvana. We proved that we weren't as affected by magic than you since we aren't from this world. But even if we're immune, we won't let those guy mess with this world and won't ever let Shocker get his hands on such power. So enough with the talk, we have madmen to stop !"

\- "You're right ! Now… Let us stop Brain and the others, in the name of love !" Cheered Hoteye, much to Sento and Jura's annoyance, heading toward the light in hope to stop Oracion Seis before they could take Nirvana to the next stage.

/- Meanwhile -/

\- "GAAAAGH !"

Many cuts appeared on Ren's face and body as he fell to the ground, defeated by none other than Midnight, who was standing in front of him, looking bored out of his mind.

\- "That makes two…" He said to himself, sighing in boredom. "How very dull… Is there no one stronger ?"

 _ **RIDER SAWING DRIFT KICK !**_

Midnight barely managed to dodge the attack that came from behind him, his arm suffering a light cut, courtesy of a chainsaw. Indeed, Gentaro came out of the bushes, full speed ahead with the Wheel Module on one leg, kicking at the Oracion Seis with his Chainsaw Module before skidding to a stop next to an out cold Ren.

\- "Did you ask for a stronger opponent ? Well, here I am !" Stated Gentaro, pointing at himself. "You said 'that makes two', I guess that mean you also took care of poor Eve, right ?"

\- "A Kamen Rider, huh ?" Stated Midnight with a half-smile. "Where were you, hiding somewhere just to jump in and play the hero ?"

\- "Nope. I was gone to check on a friend." Indeed, When Midnight attacked Eve, the Tsunugget that came with him immediately sent a signal to Gentaro who left Ren alone while he was going to check on their friend. However, while he was with Eve, he had barely enough time to check that he was okay that another Tsunugget called him, mentioning a guy closing on Ren. Gentaro, not wanting to lose another friend, sped his way back to Ren, arriving just a little too late to prevent Ren from suffering but soon enough to make sure it didn't get killed. "And now that I'm here, I'll give you the fight you seem to desire. The name's Kamen Rider Fourze ! Let's settle this man-to-man !"

Midnight said nothing, simply pointing a hand at his opponent who felt something weird with his armor. Looking at it closely, he could see that it was twisting around him, or at least trying to, which hindered slightly his movement, surprising Gentaro, but also Midnight, which Gentaro didn't failed to notice.

\- "Does your magic allow you to twist thing ? Not bad but it looks like my costume won't bend that easily."

 _ **GATLING ON !**_

Gentaro fired his Gatling at Midnight, prompting him to dodge the shot, thus giving Gentaro a window to attack, Rocket Module at the ready.

 _ **RIDER ROCKET PUNCH !**_

Gentaro jumped at Midnight but when he tried to punch him, his rocket took a sudden and impromptu turn, making the Rider miss his punch.

\- "Looks like your gadget won't be of much help." Taunted Midnight, only to be kicked in the face by Gentaro's heel, the Rider having used the momentum he got from the Rocket to spin on himself and land a blow on an unexpecting Midnight, who immediately used his magic at close range to send him flying, not taking the smile off Gentaro's face.

\- "I don't think they'll be that useless." Counter-taunted Gentaro, tapping his Rocket Module as Midnight swiped the few drop of bloods that came out of the small cut on his cheek as the Rider assessed his situation. "A magic that make things bend at will, but not working that well against me since I'm a Kamen Rider. This will be interesting."

 _ **ELEK ON !**_

/- Meanwhile -/

While Midnight and Gentaro began their battle, up on a tall rock formation overlooking the woodlands, Wendy was sitting with Carla by her side, both of them thinking about what happened today as the sun was setting, basking the woods with a red-orange light.

\- "Maybe… It would have been better if I'd never come along…" Began Wendy, looking at the woods with a certain sadness.

\- "Are you still saying things like that ? Honestly…" Chided Carla. "If you keep thinking so negatively, you could lose your heart to the darkness, you know."

\- "In the end… We ran away and left Lucy-san and the others behind, didn't we ?"

\- "There was hardly anything we could have done in that situation."

\- "That's what you think." The two girls gasped and turned around, only to find Emu standing there, hands in his pockets. "First of all, if it wasn't for you, I'm afraid Erza would have been dead by now."

\- "Emu-san !" Gasped Wendy. "What are you doing here ?!"

\- "As a pediatrician, I couldn't let a young girl like you alone given our current situation." He said with a smile while Carla stood up in front of him, a scowl on her white face.

\- "What did you mean by 'That's what you think' ?"

\- "What I mean to say is that you said there was hardly anything you could have done, is that truly the case or are you just overprotecting Wendy ?" Carla gasped in utter disbelief as Emu continued. "I'm no expert, but Wendy's a Dragon Slayer. I have a hard time believing the Dragon that taught her magic only taught her how to cure people. Overprotecting children will only made them dependent of other people and constantly needing help. You have to let her do what she want to. And I'm sure she would have stayed behind, am I right ?"

While Carla looked almost offended by Emu's words, by looking down at her feet, Wendy answered his question positively. But in her mind, that didn't mattered anymore.

\- "Whether I wanted to stay or not, it didn't change the fact that we didn't even find Nirvana." She said, sulking.

\- "You were happy to be able to meet that Jellal, at least, weren't you ?" Suddenly said Carla, which prompted Wendy to hide her face even more in shame. "Who exactly is this Jellal, anyway ? You said you owed him a debt… But I do not recall you ever mentioning such a thing."

\- "You're right… It was seven years ago…" Began Wendy, smiling a little as she told her story. "Grandine, the Sky Dragon, had just vanished and I was all alone… lost on the road… Jellal saved me back then. In fact, he was lost too so we ended up travelling aimlessly together for about a month. But then one day, he said something strange all of a sudden… He said 'Anima'"

\- "Anima ? What is that ?" Asked Emu, Carla looking at the girl intently.

\- "I still don't know what he meant by it… But he said it was too dangerous for me to stay with him so he left me in the care of a nearby guild…"

\- "So that's how you ended up in Cait Shelter…" Deduced Emu.

\- "And what happened to Jellal after that ?" Asked Carla.

\- "I never saw him again until today… I heard rumors, of course… About a councilor that looked just like him…. About how he'd been doing all sorts of terrible things… But the Jellal I knew was incredibly kind… Do you think… He still remembers me at all ?"

Emu said nothing while looking at the fond smile on the girl face as she talked about Jellal but his mind was racing. Hearing her story, he felt like there might be a misunderstanding. Apparently, Wendy met Jellal 7 years ago, 1 year after Erza escaped the Tower of Paradise. Jellal spent his whole time here building the R-System, why would he leave the tower to wander aimlessly like that ? It was possible that the Jellal she met wasn't the true Jellal. Maybe a projection like Sieglein or a doppelganger of some sort. But he wasn't going to say this to Wendy as it might make her whole world crumble. Instead, he simply stared at the forest, wondering about what they should do next.

\- "We should go back down there and help our friends." He suddenly said, grabbing the girls attention. "Nirvana is a very dangerous power and we can't let it fall into the Oracion Seis hand, nor in Shocker's."

\- "Speaking of Nirvana, aren't you afraid you and your friend could become victim of this magic ?" Asked Carla, arms crossed as Emu sat down next to Wendy.

\- "There's always a risk." Admitted Emu. "I mean, since we aren't from this world, magic doesn't work as well on us as it does on you, but since Nirvana can make you fall to the darkness if you waver between good and evil, we all have chances to get 'infected'."

\- "What do you mean ? You don't strike me as people who could doubt what is good and what is not ?" Said Wendy, cocking her head to the side as Emu suddenly felt the need to tell her a little bit more.

\- "All of us Riders have a part of darkness in us, or even something that made us closer to our enemies than what we'd like. Look at me for example. Back in my world, I fought against a virus that infected humans and created monsters named Bugsters that drained their life force to live. And one day, I learned that I was the Patient Zero, the first carrier of this virus that I, basically, created." Wendy gasped at that as Carla looked at him with wide eyes. "This made me doubt everything I did and was and if it was not for my friends, I wouldn't be here today. And we all had period of our life that made us doubt and/or did things we regret deeply so yes, we are as much in danger as every one of you with Nirvana and I really hope that no one among us will be affected by Nirvana or things could quickly become dangerous."

The two girls looked at each other, knowing a little bit more about those mysterious Kamen Rider making them feel a little bit better. But this nice little moment was about to be brutally put to a stop as Nirvana was about to enter its next phase.

/- Meanwhile -/

Erza and Kouta could be seen walking between many different sized pillar as they fought against a strong power that blew against them, forcing them both to protect their faces from the dust that came flying their way. After a long run in the middle of the woodlands, they had finally reached the bottom of the pillar of dark light that currently was Nirvana and as soon as they saw who was standing there with them, Titania and Gaim stopped moving, their eyes locked on the man that stood in front of them, looking at the two of them.

\- "Jellal…" Whispered Erza, looking disbelievingly at the blue haired man in front of her.

\- "Erza…" Said Jellal in the same way, a little bit more suspicious than the red hair.

\- "So this is Jellal…" Muttered Kouta, standing a step behind Erza. "This guy feel really strong. I really hope you know what you're doing, Erza…" He said, clutching a Lockseed in his hand, ready to morph whenever it would be needed, not noticing that someone else was looking at the scene from afar.

 _"Erza ?! She's recovered ?!"_ Growled Cobra, still hiding behind a rock. _"I can't believe it I didn't noticed them approaching… I can't let them take Jellal out until Nirvana is fully activated !"_

\- "Wh…Why… Why are you here ?" Asked Erza, trying to understand how he could be here after she basically witnessed his death in the explosion of the Tower of Paradise.

\- "I don't know." Answered Jellal, much to her disappointment, but that wasn't all. "Erza… Er…za… That word… It's all I can remember…" He suddenly revealed, shocking everyone as he began to shake, head in his hands. "Could you tell me…Who am I ? Do you know who I am ?" His question made everyone look at him with wide eyes, not believing what he was asking her not what that could imply and when lifted his head, showing genuine sadness and despair, they knew it wasn't for show. "Who is this 'Erza' ? I can't remember a thing…"

Jellal was amnesic.

\- "Are you fucking kidding me ? He don't remember anything at all ?!" Suddenly half-shouted Kouta as Erza began to walk toward Jellal.

\- "Jellal…"

\- "Stay away !" He said as he shot a magic blast at her, making Kouta gasp and brandish his Lockseed but when he saw Erza's determined glare poking through the smoke, he calmed down. She wasn't about to be defeated by such an attack, after all and besides, she had better things to do. "Don't come any closer…"

\- "Then you'll have to come with me. I am Erza." She said, standing tall and proud, her eyes glued to the young man, deciding it would be best to tell him everything. "Your name is Jellal. You were once my comrade. But back then, you had lost your mind. You blasphemed the dead, hurt our comrades, destroyed the council and… you killed Simon." She marked a pause before shouting the next part. "If you're going to say that you don't remember anything, I'll strike my sword on your heart and make you remember ! Come ! Stand in front of me !"

Many reactions could have been expected coming from Jellal, but certainly not the one they got.

\- "I… My comrades… How terrible…" He said, his voice wavering as his whole body shook, regret showing on his face as tears ran down from his eyes. "What… Have I done…"

Erza looked at Jellal, her own body shaking slightly. She had a hard time believing that this was the same Jellal as she knew. It was as if he was a totally different person. Kouta was looking at the scene, a little bit less stressed but still confused. This wasn't the Jellal that Haruto, Shinnosuke and Takeru said they met in that tower. He could feel like they were missing something but couldn't pinpoint what exactly.

 _"His emotions… They feel to true to be just a trick. But if his really amnesic, what is he doing here ? Why did he walked all the way to Nirvana ? Something's off."_

/- Meanwhile -/

While Erza and Kouta were dealing with the emotional wreck that currently was Jellal, somewhere else in the woods, a certain blonde was just waking up, lying on a river bank, near a tall waterfall.

\- "Huh ? Ouch…" She said, waking and sitting up, a hand on her hurting left shoulder, remembering it to be the one that got cut by Caelum in her next fight, but she quickly realized that it wasn't hurting as much. "huh ? My wound have been treated ?" She noticed the bandage around her shoulder, but also that she was wearing another outfit, replacing the one that had been badly damaged by her last fight. "I mean, what's with this outfit ?!" She asked herself, looking at the blue dress she was wearing when one of her spirit suddenly appeared.

\- "I brought those clothes from the Stellar Spirit world." Said Virgo, surprising Lucy by her presence. "And I provided the same for Natsu-sama." She then said, pointing at the waking up mage, clad in the same kind of clothes than Lucy.

\- "Where… Is it !?" he immediately asked, getting up. "Jellal ! Where's the light ?!"

\- "It's pretty close." Said Lucy as she noticed the pillar of light not far from them. "But… Did it change colors ?"

\- "It did." Said A voice coming from the bushes, revealing himself to the others. "It turned from black to white a few minutes ago."

\- "Haruto !" Exclaimed Lucy, delighted to see a familiar and friendly face. "Where were you ?"

\- "I was trying to catch up with Natsu but I ended up meeting some… difficulties." He said, thinking about the few Shockers soldier that tried to ambush him, thus making him lose Natsu. "I more or less wandered until I heard you shout." He said, motioning to Lucy as Natsu remembered what happen with 'Gray' and the raft.

\- "Yeah, that was dangerous." He then turned to Lucy with a smile. "Thanks, Lucy."

\- "W-Well, it's nothing." She answered, slightly flushed at this sudden thanks.

\- "It's as if you two are going out." Suddenly said Virgo, much to Lucy's embarrassment.

\- "When did you learn to talk like Happy ?"

\- "Speaking of Happy, where is he ? And weren't you with Erza, originally ?" Asked Natsu, Lucy shrugging.

\- "I lost track of everybody after Wendy healed Erza. As for Happy, he should be in good hand, I left Takeru behind with him when I tried to get you off that raft."

\- "Then if we have no idea where the others are, the best thing to do would be to go toward that light." Stated Haruto, looking at the pillar. "I'm sure everyone is currently heading there."

As Lucy and Natsu agreed, Virgo disappeared to his own world just as a rustle came from the bushes. The three comrades turn toward it, only to be met with Sherry who was slowly walking toward them. Lucy was happy to see, Natsu simply frowned and Haruto felt like something was off with her.

\- "Sherry ! I'm so glad you are safe !"

\- "Are you there all by yourself ? Where are the others ?"

\- "I've found mages of Fairy Tail." She said, her voice seeping with venom, laughing sinisterly s she used her magic to create two hands out of tree roots. "Kukuku…"

\- "You idiot !"

 _ **CONNECT, PLEASE !**_

Haruto jumped in front of the mages, WizarSwordGun in Sword mode in hand, cutting down the two tree hands, just as Gray jumped on Sherry from behind, putting her head in a headlock as they both fell to the ground, much to the three fairies shock as Sherry shouted.

\- "Let me go ! Damnit ! You were still alive ! Avenge for Lyon-sama !"

\- "Let me guess : Nirvana ?" Asked Haruto, Gray nodding.

\- "If you mean that light, then yes. She became crazy as soon as it appeared." Explained Gray. "She even tried to kill me."

\- "I won't let you get away from this !" Roared Sherry. "I'll avenge for Lyon-sama !"

\- "Who were you saying you'd get revenge for again ?" Suddenly said Lyon, walking up to them, standing next to Shinnosuke, shocking Sherry. "Please don't kill me so soon."

\- "Lyon-sama…" Whispered Sherry as she glanced at the ice mage.

\- "This guy is tougher than he looks." Said Shinnosuke. "He managed to take the explosive lachryma off Racer before they exploded. But he was still in a bad shape when I found him."

\- "Yes, but this was nothing Mad Doctor couldn't heal." Added Krim, the aforementioned Shift Car honking happily.

\- "I'm… glad.." Smiled Sherry, crying happily as she fell to the ground, a mass of light suddenly getting expelled from her body and flying away toward the pillar of light.

\- "This wisp… was it Nirvana ?" Asked Belt-san.

\- "Looks like it." Said Haruto, looking at the pillar, everybody in the woods finally noticing the change in color. "I feel like things are about to get really nasty real quick."

/- Back at Nirvana -/

Kouta and Erza had yet to found what to do with this distressed Jellal who seemed to have forgotten everything. However, there were still one problem with this, one that was addressed by someone who decided to get out of his hiding spot and walk to the group.

\- "I understand that you've lost your memory. No wonder why I couldn't read your mind." Said Cobra, walking up to the group with Cubelios wrapping around him as Jellal stood surprise to see him while Kouta and Erza tensed up, but Cobra wasn't there to fight, or at least not yet. "How did you get here ? And why did you unseal Nirvana ?" His question was more than legitimate and that was what Kouta was wondering about : if Jellal was amnesic, why come here and unlock such a dangerous magic ? And judging by his reaction, Jellal didn't knew much more.

\- "I… heard a voice… in my dreams… Telling me to 'get the Nirvana'." He began, struggling to remember. "I faintly remembered the magic and the whereabouts, but that was enough. This is a dangerous magic, one I can't hand over to anyone. That's why I unsealed it; so that I could destroy it."

\- "WHAT ?!" Exclaimed Cobra, horrified, his snake comically copying his shocked face.

\- "Did you say… You'll destroy the Nirvana ?" Repeated Erza, not believing it either, Kouta looking at him with wide eyes. This was an unexpected but welcomed turn of event.

\- "I've already cast a self-destruction magic on it." Said Jellal as magic marks began to appear around the tower. "The Nirvana will soon disappear on its own."

\- "What have you done, you bastard !" Shouted Cobra as he ran to the self-destruct spell to try and undo it, but Jellal was confident.

\- "Only I know the canceling code."

\- "Well, I don't know if this will be enough to atone for all the things you did in the past, but you certainly are going in the right direction." Said Emu with a small smile while Erza looked at the blue haired mage with soft eyes while Cobra was desperately trying to cancel the spell by himself.

\- "Dammit ! What a sophisticated spell…" He growled, his fingers running across the magical interface. "The Nirvana will be destroyed in no time ! Jellal ! Tell me the cancelling code !"

The only answer he got however was a small spurt of blood that suddenly came out of Jellal's mouth, taking the three others by surprise as his body began to shake slightly.

\- "Erza… I feel kindness from this name." He said, walking toward Erza. "I feel kindness, brightness and… warmth… You may hate me in the future. It seems very likely to me that you will." He admitted, a small smile on his face. "However, hatred will take the freedom of your heart away and destroy you from inside. I can't go there… Can't stand in front of… you…" As he said that, magic writings appeared on his torso, writing Cobra and Kouta quickly recognized As Jellal began to slowly stumble. "Be released from Jellal… I'll take your hatred… And sadness… With me…"

\- "He cast a self-destruction spell on himself ?!" Shouted Kouta in shock, Erza's eyes widening as Cobra was starting to lose it.

\- "You're… free…" And with that, Jellal fell to the ground, a peaceful smile on his face smile as Erza, ran to him, tears running down her face but not only from sadness as she fell to her knees and grabbed Jellal by his collar.

\- "I won't allow it ! I won't allow you to die like this ! You've committed crimes !" She shouted, lost in the realm between grief and anger. "You must remember everything ! Don't think you can be at ease without knowing anything ! Don't expect to be forgiven by the people you've hurt ! Live and struggle ! JELLAL !"

\- "Erza… Why… You're crying…" Suddenly said Jellal, Erza stopping to realized that she was indeed crying. "You're so kind…" Whispered Jellal as his head fell back once again, Erza trying to keep him awake.

\- "Jellal…" Whispered Kouta, looking at their former enemy with pity and a certain sadness. The air was heavy but that was only the beginning alas. All of a sudden, lasers came out of nowhere and hit Kouta, sending him rolling on the ground, taking Erza and Jellal out of their little bubble to look at what happened and who did this, only to end up facing an old man they didn't knew, with a long cape, a cane and long hair. Kouta however knew him and he seethed.

\- "Doctor Shinigami… So YOU are here…" Said Kouta as he slowly got up, glaring at the old man.

\- "Kamen Rider Gaim, what a pleasure." Sarcastically said the Doctor before turning toward Nirvana. "So this is what Nirvana look like from up close ? Interesting."

\- "Hey, old man !" Shouted Cobra, Shinigami looking at him. "Jellal put a self-destruct spell on Nirvana ! Please tell me you have a way to dispel it with your weird power, or something !" Asked the mage, hoping this old man had a way to help them.

\- "Alas, I fear that this is above my skills, but I do know someone who could probably be of some help." As he said that, Brain walked in, standing beside Shinigami.

\- "What's this all about ?" He asked, looking at Nirvana and noticing the spell that had been put on it. "A self-destruction magic…"

\- "This Jellal apparently unsealed Nirvana just to destroy it." Said Shinigami. "If this keep going like this, we might lose it."

\- "Don't worry, Cobra." Said Brain, noticing the fearful expression on his colleague face. "You should know why my codename is Brain, right ? Once, I worked at a magic development department. There're several hundred of types of magic that I created using my knowledge during the time. One of those is none other than the self-destruction magic. I'm the one that thaught you. Have you forgotten, Jellal ?" Soon, Brain was just in front of the Nirvana and he simply waved his hands at the spell. "Even without the cancelling code… I can invalidate this spell easily." And indeed, the spell of self-destruction vanished as soon as he said that, taking by surprise everyone, Cobra and Shinigami being the only one happy with this development. And that's when he noticed the spell on Jellal's body as well, which surprised him a lot. "A self-destruction spell on yourself ? Did you intend to die with the cancelling code ?"

\- "Apparently, he forgot that he was evil." Explained Cobra. "His memory seemed to be damaged from the impact of the Etherion."

\- "How funny… Fuhahahaha ! That's a pity, Jellal ! I'll take Nirvana, then !"

\- "I won't let you do that !"

 _ **SOIYA ! MIX ! ORANGE ARMS ! HANAMICHI ON STAGE ! JIMBER CHERRY ! HA-HA !**_

Using the blinding speed of the Jimber Cherry, Kouta tried to rush at Brain to stop him from doing whatever he wanted, only to be stopped by a white octopus monster with a red cape and a Shocker Belt, aka Ikadevil, Doctor Shinigami's monster form. Erza also tried to rush at them, but she wasn't fast enough and Brain could do what he wanted to from the very beginning.

\- "Wake ! NIRVANA !" Immediately, magic began to build inside the tower behind him as the ground cracked and swell, exploding here and there, sending Erza and Kouta flying away. And while Erza, Kouta and Jellal battled to try and stay together, the whole woodlands began to feel the change as Nirvana began to show its true form.

/- Flashback, a few minutes before the waking of Nirvana -/

In the middle of the woodlands, far from imagining the things that happened in the meantime, Gentaro and Midnight were still busy fighting, or at least trying to fight. Indeed, being both from different world, their powers weren't as effective as they should and neither of them had the possibility to really take the upper hand, the fight more of a dead end than anything else. Gentaro, currently in Elek State, stood a few feet away, in front of his opponent, both of them panting slightly but not that much wounded.

\- "This fight is going nowhere." Stated Gentaro. "This is a waste of time."

\- "I agree." Said Midnight, suddenly using his magic with more power than before, trying to twist Gentaro's arms, for now simply immobilizing them. "It would be in our best interest if you could just throw down the weapons."

\- "Well, it's not in my policy to simply give up. But if you insist…" Said Gentaro, letting go of Billy the Rod, Midnight looking satisfied until Gentaro kicked the rod in the handle, the electric weapon shooting like a bullet at Midnight who got hit in his left shoulder, the burst of electricity making him lose his hold on Gentaro who could nurse his slightly twisted arms and hands before grabbing another switch.

 _ **FIRE ! FIRE ON !**_

Billy the Rod disappeared with the Elek State, replaced by the fire one, Gentaro immediately opening fire on the mages who couldn't twist the fireballs enough, forcing him to also dodge the fiery shot. While his opponent was busy, Gentaro frowned, having noticed something.

\- "I don't understand. Why aren't you using your magic on me ? Unless… you can't use it on many targets at once." He smiled under his helmet but only for a moment as a tree suddenly bent and slammed into him hard, sending him crashing into another tree, breaking the large trunk in half.

\- "Even if you know this, this won't help you in defeating me." He said, using his power to bend tree after tree, Gentaro jumping and rolling to dodge them, sometimes even firing on them to burn them out before they could reach him. He even used Chainsaw to cut them in half to gain some time but he was starting to feel cramped in all those trees and thought of a plan. A plan that needed him to let the trees do as they wanted to, giving them the opportunity to pummel him for a few long minutes. At the end of those minutes, Midnight was smiling at the barely standing Rider. "Well, looks like you do know how to give up, in the end." He said, quickly frowning when he saw Gentaro place two new switches with strange shape on his Driver.

 _ **N MAGNET ! S MAGNET ! NS MAGNET ON !**_

Midnight looked as the Rider changed into his pretty massive silvery armor, not seeing what he could do like this until he saw him activate two switches.

 _ **SMOKE ON ! GATLING ON !**_

A smoke screen then shot out of the Smoke module, covering Midnight's field of view, blinding him as bullets rained down on him from the Gatling, but also from the NS Magnets Cannon, adding to the power and forcing the Oracion Seis back as it gave Gentaro the perfect opportunity to launch it, now that everything was in place.

 _ **NS MAGNET LIMIT BREAK !**_

Midnight recognized the name Limit Break as Gentaro already tried to get him with one of them before, one he managed to dodge but he clearly felt like this was the kind of attack that would be best to dodge or cancel. Determined in not letting him do as he please, Midnight focused all of his magic in grabbing and twisting his armor, successfully grabbing him, thus preventing him from moving even a finger.

\- "Looks like your plan just failed." He said tauntingly. "There won't be any of those powerful attack for you, this time."

\- "That's what you think, man."

 _ **RIDER CH**_ _ **Ō**_ _ **DENJI BOMBER !**_

Midnight quirked an eyebrow as he saw nothing happen, his eyes however barely catching a glimpse of red and blue lights behind him, turning around just an orb of pure magnetic energy collided with him, taking him with it and sending him crashing into a tree far behind Gentaro who had then be freed of Midnight hold.

\- "Looks like I was alright. You can only use your twisting thing in one place at a time. So while you were holding me, you could do nothing against this little guy." He said, motioning to the flying U shaped cannons that now floated next to him before splitting up and attaching itself back to his shoulders while Midnight got up, not as wounded as Gentaro thought due to the difference in worlds. "Now that I know that, it's going to be much more easier. Now come, I'm… *RUUMBLE* What the hell is that ?"

/- Present time -/

Waking up Nirvana had an effect no one among the delegations could have predicted. All across the forest, huge tentacle like tubes began to rise from the deep, six tubes that were all linked by the pillar of light that became bigger and bigger as time goes by. No one besides the Oracion Seis knew what was happening and as the tentacles began to bend and act as legs, they pulled something out of the ground, the onlookers looking in shock at what Nirvana really was.

It was a gigantic machine of some sort, looking like a spider standing on six long stone legs, the body being nothing more than and huge lump of earth and stone on which stood what seemed to be an ancient city, sealed under the forest all along. Neither the Riders or the mages were ready for such a thing, staring in shock at the gigantic structure that towered above the forest that looked like barely more than a garden next to it. On top of the machine stood Brain, in the middle of a magic circle of some sort, controlling the huge contraption.

\- "Finally… It's mine ! The greatest weapon against the light, super reversal magic, Nirvana !" Brain was jubilating, gazing at the power that was now his. "Those regular guilds' strongest weapons, trust and unity, will be useless from now on… from this moment onward !"

However, he hadn't won just yet. On the bottom of Nirvana's body, Erza was holding on for dear life on a small ledge, holding Jellal with her other hand. She as struggling, feeling her hand slipping but as she was about to let go, Kouta, who was already on Nirvana, came to her rescue, helping her to get onboard the machine, the red head now turning her head toward Jellal.

\- "Cancel the self-destruction magic that you cast on yourself." She asked, Jellal looking at her, not understanding why he should. "Your duty is to live. Even if you're ugly… or weak… Fight for your dear life…"

\- "I… couldn't stop Nirvana." He finally said, feeling defeated. "It's… all over…"

\- "No, it's not." Simply said Kouta, prompting Jellal to look outside. "Look…"

Indeed, on one of the legs, they could see Natsu, Gray, Lucy and Haruto climbing toward the main frame of Nirvana. On another, they saw Sento, Jura and Hoteye holding onto the stone for dear life and in the sky, they saw Carla and Wendy fling toward the ancient town, Jellal looking at them go in shock.

\- "We'll never give up." Stated Erza as she sat beside him. "Because we will always be connected through hope." She then turned to look at him with a smile. "Live and see the future with your own eyes, Jellal."

Indeed, there were still hope, but hope wasn't enough to overcome certain things. Motion sickness for example.

\- "Urgh."

\- "Natsu, what are you doing ?!" Asked Gray, turning to see the green face of the Dragon Slayer.

\- "Is this… a vehicle ?" He suddenly asked, talking about the octopus leg they were on.

\- "Natsu, now is not the time to be sick !" Shouted Lucy. "This is not a vehicle ! Calm down !"

\- "I… don't feel good."

\- "Natsu, this is like an octopus leg. I thought you were fine with living beings ?" Asked Haruto, trying to stay calm.

\- "There's no octopuses in forests."

\- "NOW'S NOT THE TIME TO BE HUNG UP ON TRIVIAL FACTS !" Shouted the blonde but it was already too late, the pink haired mage slowly letting go of the leg and sliding off the leg, now plummeting toward the ground. But luckily and before anyone could do anything to save him, something else, or rather someone else did, catching him in midflight.

\- "Happy !" Exclaimed Lucy, relieved to see the flying cat saving their hot-headed friend who suddenly felt much more better.

\- "Hey, guys !" Shouted Gray, catching their attention. "You guys keep going up. We'll enter through that hole there." He said poiting at an opening at the base of the leg. The nodded , but Haruto seemed to have other plans.

\- "I'm going with Natsu. There's probably a Shocker presence with Brain currently, it wouldn't be wise to let Natsu go up there all alone."

\- "Alright ! Then come on, what are you waiting for ?" Asked Natsu, a grin plastered on his face as Haruto grabbed a Ring.

 _ **HURRICANE, DRAGON ! BYU-BYU, BYU-BYU-BYU-BYU !**_

Using his Dragon Style abilities, Haruto took off and joined Natsu and Happy, the three of them flying straight toward the top of Nirvana, hoping to stop the Oracion Seis and Shocker before they could do anything.

On top of Nirvana, in the middle of a large platform surrounded by broken pillar stood Cobra, Cubelios and Brain, the first ecstatic as he looked around at the structure that came out of the ground.

\- "You did it, Brain ! We've got Nirvana !" He said, a hand on one of the pillar. "Wonderful… These ruins belonged to the ancient people. Cubelios… This is great." He said to his snake who simply hissed in answer as Brain called the mage, he himself standing on the side of the platform.

\- "Cobra, take a look at the world unraveling beneath us." Cobra did as he was told and realized that the body of Nirvana was none other than an ancient town made of stone with half-troglodyte houses. "The ancient capital is the true form of Nirvana. As the king, by my will, this land shall move as I wish."

\- "Move… Is this thing going somewhere ?" Asked Cobra, not knowing that this thing was to be moved around.

\- "We can't target it from here. That guild…" Said Brain with a smile, smile that also appeared on Cobra's face as he realized who he was talking about.

\- "Our first target, huh…"

\- "Is everything in place ?" Asked Brain, turning to look at Shinigami, standing on the side, looking around him at Nirvana, very interested by what he was seeing.

\- "We began immediately as Nirvana came out of the ground, so it should be done soon." He said, a smirk on his wrinkled face. "Now then why don't you led the way and show us what this thing can do ?"

\- "That was the plan. This guild… shall we call it, the first land to have lost its light…" Brain than swung his staff, magical screens appearing in a circle all around the platform, ending with some sort of large control panel. "'Go forth ! Ancient capital ! May the light change with my darkness !"

However, as soon as he had said that, something else happened that they didn't expected. First, two shadows appeared to be falling toward them, and the following seconds…

 _ **THUNDER, PLEASE !**_

\- "We're gonna stop you guys !"

Natsu, carried by Happy, and Haruto in Hurricane Dragon Style, flew past Brain, Cobra and Shinigami, lightning and fire flying all around, destroying bits of the platform but this wasn't all as the two of them immediately attacked again, repeatedly and aiming at the ground and pillars, aiming to destroy this place, which Brain couldn't allow.

\- "Things are starting to get rowdy, out there. I'm going to check if everything is in place down here." Said Shinigami, leaving the other two to deal with the mage and Rider.

\- "Cobra ! Don't let them go wild here !"

\- "Okay ! Cubelios !" With a hiss, the snake followed Cobra's order and slammed into Natsu and Haruto, sending him flying away from the platform, followed by Cobra and Cubelios who managed to stay with them in the air due to something no one among the fairies expected. Cubelios had a pair of wings, allowing Cobra to fly just like the two of them.

\- "A flying snake ?! That's unexpected." Said Haruto, looking at their flying opponent.

\- "From what I heard, you're supposed to be sick on vehicles. Why aren't you ?" Asked Cobra to Natsu, which angered the Salamander.

\- "I already said it ! Happy's not a vehicle !"

\- "So that's why you're always flying." Said Cobra with a smirk. "You can't stand on Nirvana."

\- "Move it ! I'm gonna stop this huge thing !" Ordered Natsu, only to be brushed aside by Cobra.

\- "Just try it, if you can." Taunted the snake man, standing on Cubelios. "I'm not letting any of you get anywhere near Brain."

\- "So he is the one controlling it." Said Haruto, looking down at the aforementioned man before looking back at Cobra. "I have a question for you. What is Doctor Shinigami supposed to do for you ? What kind of deal do you have ?"

\- "I don't know the full detail." Said Cobra, answering immediately, much to Haruto's surprise. "I don't really trust those guys. The only thing I know is that Brain is letting them study Nirvana in exchange of some help to protect it. But I have a weird feeling when it come to them."

\- "Let me say this to you. As soon as Shocker will get his hands on what they want, they'll get rid of you without any form of regret." Warned Haruto, Cobra frowning as he could picture those guys doing exactly that. Natsu, thinking that this was a perfect opportunity, dived immediately toward Brain, thinking Cobra was too busy to notice him, but he was immediately stopped by Cubelios who slammed him with his tail, sending him flying back.

\- "He knew my path…" Said Happy, confusing Natsu as Cobra smirked at them.

\- "I can hear it. Your movements." He said with a confident smirk, making Natsu scowl at him. "That's more like it. Let's have some fun."

\- "He can 'hear' movements ?" Repeated Haruto. "This might be harder than I first though."

/- Meanwhile -/

Somewhere in the ancient capital, Carla could be seen panting, laying on the ground with Wendy and Emu beside her, the poor cat tired as hell.

\- "Sorry Carla, for making it hard." Apologized Wendy.

\- "Well, she also had to carry me, so it mainly my fault." Said Emu. "Are you alright, Carla ?"

\- "Don't worry about me." Said the cat, looking at Wendy. "What about you ? Coming here… What do you plan on doing ? Are you still going after Jellal ?"

\- "No !" Answered Wendy, slightly embarrassed by the statement. "Well… That's just a part of the reason…" She suddenly looked much more determined. "I have to stop this thing somehow ! There might be something I can do, right ? And besides, how can I expect to grow if I'm always staying on the side ?" She added with a smile, looking at Emu who gave her a smile in return. Suddenly, Carla froze, eyes wide and shaking as she looked at the mountain Nirvana was walking toward.

\- "What's wrong Carla ?" Asked Emu, Wendy also looking at her worriedly.

\- "This is just a coincidence… right ? This can't be…" She began, not even looking at them, her eyes glued to the horizon. "This direction… If we keep heading this way… We're going straight… Toward Cait Shelter."

\- "What ?" Simply said Wendy, eyes wide and fearful at the revelation which also made Emu gasp in shock.

\- "This is not good."

 **Alright ! So, this chapter is a tad bit smaller than the previous ones, but this is the kind of thing that happen, sometimes. I hope you like it anyway and that it makes you want to see the next one who will be ready, I hope, for September's first week-end. If you liked it, or not, let me know with a review or a PM, I'll gladly read them all and take everything you'll say in consideration and include them in the story, if I can. See ya !**

 **Next time : Snake and Dragons in the sky. A fated Hydrib. How to stop Nirvana.**


	41. Chapter 41 : Igneel, please !

**OH MY GOD, I'M SORRY ! I completely forgot to publish this chapter ! I'm really sorry. Here this chapter with a lot of delay and the following one, all in one pack. Sorry again, I hope you'll enjoy it anyway.**

 **Chapter 41 : Igneel, please !**

Night just fell down on the Warth Woodlands but this was only the beginning for those who were there. As Nirvana just got freed for its seal, time began to run short for the mages as Brain was already moving Nirvana toward its first target. They had to stop this thing quick, but it wasn't going to be that easy, and the first obstacle they met wasn't on ground but airborne and two comrades were already facing it. Standing on his winged snake friend Cubelios, Cobra was looking down at Natsu and Haruto, the first being carried by Happy, the second flying thanks to his Hurricane Dragon Style. If they had the numeric advantage, things weren't as easy as they seemed for them.

\- "Cobra, finish him off." Ordered Brain from Nirvana, the mage obeying and diving toward his two opponents.

\- "Roger that ! They'll be perfect snacks for Cubelios !" Shouted Cobra, the snake lunging at Natsu and Haruto, trying to bite into Natsu who flew out of the way, the snake attacking repeatedly the Fire Slayer, each time coming close to sink his fangs into the pink haired mage.

 _ **CONNECT, PLEASE ! COPY, PLEASE !**_

 _"He can hear our movements, but maybe he can't hear both at once."_ Haruto, taking advantage of the fact that Cobra and his snake were after Natsu to summon his WizarSwordGun in Sword Mode, making a copy of it before coming down at try to cut Cobra but the mage's hearing was keener than what Wizard expected, Cobra dodging the blades easily before engaging with Haruto, both striking and dodging evenly. But while doing this, they failed to notice Natsu who was slightly above them, fire on his fist.

 _ **FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FIST !**_

However, Cobra did noticed him, making Cubelios not only dodge the blow perfectly, but doing it in a way that made Natsu land a hit on Haruto who had been so busy with Cobra that he couldn't even try to dodge and took the blow full on, much to Natsu's shock as he could only stare as Wizard was sent plummeting toward Nirvana by the strength of the punch.

\- "Shit, Haruto ! Ugh !" Natsu was then slapped by Cubelios' tail, Cobra grinning at him.

\- "Didn't I already say I can hear your movements. Attacks won't hit me." He then proceed to whip Natsu all around with Cubelios, toying with the Fire Dragon and his Exceed friend for a few moments before throwing them to the ground, Happy saving them from a dangerous crash at the last seconds, doing a perfect 90° turn. Trying to change their strategy, Natsu and Happy his inside one of the stone building of the ancient capital, waiting for his opponent to come, a smile appearing on his face as he heard the stone cracking.

\- "Here they come !" He exclaimed in a whisper, trying to do a less noise as possible. When he heard, and saw, the wall exploded, he dived right in, fist ablaze, only to be faced with… a empty hole. "Eh ? Where the hell…"

\- "I can hear you !" Shouted Cobra, kneeing them from behind, sending them crashing through the aforementioned hole, made by a smirking Cubelios, the red haired mage smirking as he joined back with his reptilian friend, not noticing someone looking at them from afar.

 _"If we can't go around his hearing, maybe we should try to flood it…"_ He said, a hand on his belt. _"Let's call some reinforcement."_

/- Meanwhile -/

\- "What is this place ?"

\- "Looks like a city of some sort."

After splitting with Natsu and Haruto, Lucy and Gray entered Nirvana by a hole on top of the leg they were on, now exiting another hole to stand in the middle of a street, surrounded by strange looking stone buildings.

\- "That's absolutely right. The fantasy city, Nirvana." Said a voice, making them both look at the newcomer, or rather newcomers.

\- "I'm glad you guys are here."

\- "Jura ! Sento ! And… That guy !? What is he doing here !?" Exclaimed Gray, pointing at Hoteye with wide eyes.

\- "Don't worry, he's on our side now. Looks like Nirvana worked on him." Said the scientist with a smile, arms crossed.

\- "The world is love." Said Hoteye, making the two young mages gasp in disbelief. "This city we are in was inhabited by the ancient race of Nirvittes. About 600 years ago, there were many wars around the globe. The Nirvittes, who believed in neutrality, mourned for that world and so they created this magic in order to regain world balance. An extreme magic that switches the light and the dark which was given the name Nirvana, the country of peace."

\- "It is quite ironic to think that a magic named after peace can be used for evil purposes." Added Sento. "This would be much better if it only switched dark into light, but you can't always chose what you have to work with. And who know, maybe the ancient people never wanted it to be that way either. Like in science, powerful magic has to come with side effects."

\- "Anyway. Now that this thing is moving, we must stop it asap !" Said Jura, the others nodding at that.

\- "Brain is most likely moving this thing from a central point, the King's Area." Added Hoteye. "While he's busy, he can't use magic. It's your chance to attack."

\- "Wait, if this thing is moving, then it's probably heading somewhere, right ?" Asked Gray, obtaining a nod from Hoteye.

\- "Most likely, but I have no idea about the destination."

\- "Of course. Only I know what my father's thinking." They all turned around with a gasp as they looked up to see an effeminate looking guy staring down at them, Hoteye gasping a bit louder than the others.

\- "Midnight !?"

\- "Isn't he the one who was sleeping when we met them ?" Asked Sento, remembering his face.

\- "Hoteye, have you betrayed father ?" Asked the man to his former colleague, which unnerved the white haired man.

\- "No I haven't ! But I realized that Brain is wrong !" This made Midnight jump from his spot and down into the street, looking pissed, but Hoteye wasn't that intimidated. "People's heart should not be twisted by magic. Even we who have weak hearts can grow stronger."

As soon as he said that, Midnight lifted his hand and swiped it on front of him, cutting in half all the building along the street, making them all fall around the mages and Rider who were saved by a hole that appeared under them out of nowhere.

\- "What the hell just happened ?" Asked Gray, laying in the hole with everyone else piled up on him.

\- "Looks like we were saved by Hoteye who caved in the floor." Noticed Sento, making them all look up at Hoteye who was standing right next to the hole.

\- "You guys, please go ahead to the King's Area." He advises, glaring at Midnight. "We Oracion Seis are an even match against each other ! Leave Midnight to me !"

And with that, he shot a wave of softened earth at his opponent who managed to evade it without even moving, a smirk on his face.

\- "Hoteye…" Whispered Jura, surprised by what that strange man was ready to do for them.

\- "Come on ! Hurry up and go !" He then turned to them, a smile on his face. "Also, call me by my real name, Richard."

\- "To reveal your real name to the enemy. You've really fallen, Hoteye." Glared Midnight as the mages and Rider left him alone with Hoteye. He should have gone after them, but he first had to make that traitors pay for what he dared to do.

/- Back with Natsu -/

Natsu was breathing hard, standing thanks to happy and staring defiantly at Cobra who still had this smirk on his face, having the time of his life toying with the pink haired Dragon Slayer. However, his smirk would soon begone because of someone he was hearing coming at him from behind.

\- "A punch to the head." He said before side-stepping to avoid the punch… which never came. Instead, he was struck in the head by a wind-imbued kick which made him fly and crash into a wall, the mage quickly getting out of the rubbles, looking pissed. "What the hell ?! I clearly heard you !"

\- "The question is : was it really me you heard ?" As Haruto said that, he side stepped, revealing 7 others Hurricane Dragon Haruto, both in fighting stances, Cobra glaring, not understanding. "You proved to be able to hear more than one person at a time. But what happened when you fight clones ? Who are perfect copies of someone ?" As he said that, he showed Cobra his Copy Ring on his right hand. "Now, it's showtime !"

And Haruto flew toward Cobra who desperately tried to hear his voice but the fact that he and his clones were connected through their minds, the only thing a heard was an echo of contradictory orders : kick to the head, to the guts, uppercut, jump above, shoot, slash… the orders kept coming and he couldn't find which one came from the original or not and even if he could, the quantity of informations was just way too high for him to handle it, a headache starting to build up as the Harutos all rushed at him, taking advantage of his partial inability to land some good blows. However, this technique didn't worked at all against Cubelios, the snake hissing and trying to sink his fangs in any of the Haruto, hindering some of them.

\- "Raaagh ! Cubelios !" Suddenly, the snake open his mouth and release a thick dark red smokescreen that enveloped the Harutos who, surprisingly, felt to their knees, coughing and breathing heavily, shocking Natsu as Cobra used that opening to fly away on his snake.

\- "Haruto ! What happened ?!" Asked Natsu as he and Happy flew toward their friend, now the only one present, the wizard having send the others away.

\- "This smoke… It was poison…" Said Haruto between two intakes of air. "You have to be careful, Natsu. Who knows how this could end if you inhale it too." Haruto was right. Being from another world, this poison was probably less effective on him and yet, it was making him suffer a lot, his lungs burning as if he inhaled fire.

\- "Don't worry, I won't let that guy do as he please." And with that, he shot toward Cobra, leaving his friend to get some strength back. But the dark mage had no problem dodging his blows, which was frustrating Natsu. A lot. "Dammit ! Why can't I hit him ?!"

\- "Is this his magic that allow him to read movements ?" Tried Happy, only to be stopped by Cobra who decided to tell them, as this wouldn't change a lot of things.

\- "No… It's a listening magic. It allows me to hear your heart, so I knew exactly what you're going to do." Natsu said nothing at that, simply staring at Cobra who, after a few moments, unexpectedly began to laugh. Apparently, he heard something pretty funny. "Pffft ! Dam…Dammit !" He laughed, clutching his stomach. "I thought that joke was funny… Hahaha !"

\- "It looks like he say the truth." Stated Natsu, Haruto, who was hearing them from his spot on the ground, sweat dropping as Happy seemed to be more interested by the joke Natsu 'said'. "This'll be troublesome."

\- "I have a good idea." Stated Happy, only to be cut short by Cobra.

\- "Going to the left while thinking about attacking from the right." The two friends gasped as their opponent smirked. "It's no use going through that kind of process, I can hear it. You don't stand a chance." He then marked a pause as Natsu growled. "Oh ! You're thinking a lot… You got 3-4 good strategies, but I'm hearing them all."

\- "That's not fair !" Complained Natsu. "If it's like that, we're going to take you head on !" He roared as he and Happy dived at Cobra who simply dodged the blows, listing them just a second before they came.

\- "Right hook." A dodge. "Left kick." Crouching. "And a rebounding right straight." Another dodge… or almost. Cobra barely had the time to realize that Natsu managed to scratch him that another punch came, this one hitting him dead on and before he could understand how Natsu did it, the fire mage began to pummel him, unleashing all of his pent up frustration on him and it didn't took long for Cobra to realize why he couldn't read anything in Natsu at the moment.

 _"This can't be… This guy… He's not thinking at all !"_

\- "I see. Natsu's doing the exact opposite of what I did. Instead of flooding his mind with thoughts, he decided to not think at all." Haruto almost sweat drop at that, looking at the Dragon Slayer unleashing blow after blow on his opponent. "For some reason, fighting without thinking does fit him."

After some times, Natsu decided to threw a stronger punch than before, only for Cobra to stop it easily, which was quite surprising, but not for long.

\- "This is a first. Guess I can't use a cheap trick on you, huh ?" Suddenly, the hand he used to block Natsu's fist began to cover with scale as a dark red smoke seeped out of his skin, burning Natsu's hand in the process, forcing the Dragon Slayer back. "Now I'm serious." Much to Natsu and Haruto's shock, Cobra's hands and forearms weren't really human anymore. They were covered in what looked like scarlet scales with claws on his fingertips, emitting an aura that Natsu knew all too well.

\- "No way… This guy… He's a Dragon Slayer !?"

\- "And judging by the context, I think I know what kind." Said Haruto from the ground, his eyes glued to the tendrils of dark red smoke that came out of Cobra's arms, looking the same as the smoke Cubelios was breathing. "The Poison Dragon Slayer."

Cobra immediately rushed at Natsu, his hands covered in the dark red mist that was his poison, swinging at Natsu, forcing the latter to fly out of the way, only to be kicked in the face by Cobra, whose foot was covered in the same poison, Natsu's skin burning immediately upon contact.

\- "The strike of a poison dragon decays all that it touches, destroying it utterly." They kept fighting Cobra taking the upper hand, kicking and punching Natsu easily and when he had some times, he called upon his snake who blew his poison mist at Cobra… who swallowed it.

\- "Is… Is he eating the poison ?" Asked Happy, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

\- "This doesn't look healthy…" Added Natsu as Cobra finished his meal, puffing his cheeks in a way Natsu knew all too well. "Not good !"

 _ **POISON DRAGON'S ROAR !**_

A torrent of dark red smoky magic soon enveloped Natsu and Happy completely, sending them flying off, luckily not that far but if the physical wounds weren't that great, being swallowed by a mass of pure poison had to leave marks and Happy was feeling it badly, now struggling to keep them both flying.

\- "What's wrong, Happy ?! Get a hold of yourself !"

\- "My body… it won't move properly…" Groaned Happy, suffering more than Natsu from the poison, which meant that their flying time may be shorter than intended.

\- "Happy won't be able to hold on much longer and if he land, then Natsu won't be able to fight because of his motion sickness. I have to do something but carrying Natsu around in Hurricane Style won't be really convenient." At this, he pulled out a Ring from his belt, looking at it intently, a small smile on his face. "Looks like this will come in handy, in the end."

\- "The breath of a poison dragon spreads viruses through the enemy's body." Explained Cobra, not paying attention to Wizard. "It slowly steals their body's movement away, and ultimately their life. The moment my breath struck you… You had already lost this…"

 _ **FIRE DRAGON'S WING ATTACK !**_

\- "I can hear your movements." Reminded Cobra, interrupted by the surprise attack from Natsu who seemed annoyed by this last missed assault. "Still, to think that you can move this well even after being subjected to my poison. Not half bad for an old-style Dragon Slayer."

\- "Old-style ?" Repeated Natsu, not really liking this name.

\- "I am one of the new generation of Dragon Slayers." Revealed Cobra. "I obtained my Dragon slaying powers not from a dragon, but by implanting dragon lachryma into my own body."

\- "He's exactly like Laxus…" Stated Happy, frowning. "This guy… He isn't a real Dragon Slayer !"

\- "A 'real' Dragon Slayer ?" Repeated Cobra, almost amused by those words. "There is no ordinarily no way for humans to learn dragon slaying magic; it is a skill restricted to the dragons themselves. If you ask me, yours is more questionable than mine. After all, there are no dragons in this world."

\- "Igneel's out there, dammit !" Shouted Natsu who was not going to let that guy talk about his father like this. But Cobra wasn't going to listen.

\- "He is not ! The dragons are extinct !"

 _ **POISON DRAGON'S TWIN FANG !**_

Cobra swung both of his arms, sending two masses of dark red magic at Natsu, slamming into him and sending him flying even higher above Cobra. However, just like before, the physical damage wasn't what worried him.

\- "My body… It won't move !"

\- "The poison has spread through your entire body." Stated Cobra. "Now hurry up and die."

Up in the air, Happy was starting to lose his grip on Natsu, the poison beginning to be too much for him but while Cobra wanted to watch them both fall and die, something else caught his attention. A presence, and not a small one. He didn't heard it. He felt it and Cubelios did too, the snake and his master feeling a sudden shiver running down their spines. It was big, powerful, wild and it was coming for them. In an instant, Cobra's eyes widen and Cubelios flew to the side, the Dragon Slayer avoiding whatever was coming their way, Cubelios getting clawed on the tip of his tail, leaving a deep gash. The thing that attacked them in fact ignored them as it flew straight to Natsu and Happy, grabbing them both in its claws as they were about to free fall to their death. When the two fairies looked up to see what saved them, their eyes left their sockets, just like Cubelios and Cobra as the creature who saved them… Was a dragon. And not just any dragon. A large silver and gold creature, with a long pointy tail, a large pair of wings and a red diamond on his head. Natsu couldn't help but feel like this dragon felt familiar and seeing who was riding it, he realized why.

\- "Let me introduce you to my friend, WizardDragon." Introduced Haruto as WizarDragon roared at the sky.

\- "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT !?" Shouted the one who could, eyes transfixed on the majestic creature that hovered here, lifting his paws to allow Natsu and Happy on his back. Natsu just couldn't believe it and neither could Happy, the pinkette being the one to broke the silence. "Wh…Wh…. What the hell ?! Where did that dragon come from ?!"

\- "From within me." Simply said Haruto, making Happy and Natsu's jaw to hung even more. "To put it simple, it is thanks to him that I can use magic. He usually stay inside my Inner World, but thanks to this new Ring my friends made for me, I can summon him in the real world, even if it's only for a few minutes only. Now, hold on tight, it seems like WizarDragon want to play a little bit."

And with that, WizarDragon dived at Cobra who quickly pulled himself out of his daze to dodge the assault. Despite his size, the dragon was quite agile and for an unknown reason, Cobra couldn't read his heart which explained why he didn't dodged the tail that slapped him hard in his guts as the dragon passed by him. As for Haruto, who had equipped the Thunder Ring, was firing shot after shot at him with his WizarSwordGun. If he could read Haruto's heart and then predict the thunder ball trajectory, he couldn't read the Dragon who always came at him as soon as he was dodging the shots. In the span of a few minutes, Cobra was cut, zapped and rammed repeatedly, unable to keep up with Haruto and his partner and after some times, he had enough.

 _ **POISON DRAGON'S ROAR !**_

He waited to the last moment as the dragon was diving at him to unleash his poisonous blast, one the Dragon had to dodge at the last moment, his tail and claws receiving a little bit of poison, not enough to wound him but enough to make him hiss and fly back. The reptile was now just above Cobra who seemed pissed.

\- "You and your damn dragon… I'm going to kill you all, you hear me ?!"

\- "Oh, I do hear you." Answered Haruto, who was pulling his Kick Strike Ring on his hand. "and I'm curious to see you try."

\- "Leave him to me !" Suddenly said Natsu, standing up on the dragon. "I have a plan."

\- "A plan ? What plan ?" Asked Happy, not receiving any answer, but Cobra did.

 _"A full-power Fire Dragon's Roar ?!"_ thought Cobra, smirking as he heard Natsu's heart. _"You fool ! I can hear exactly what you're thinking !"_

\- "Okay ! Here I come !" Roared Natsu as he jumped off WizarDragon, much to the latter, Haruto and Happy's shock. "I'll finish this !"

\- "Natsu, you idiot ! What are you doing ?!" Shouted Haruto as he looked at Natsu, diving right toward Cobra who kept smirking.

\- "This is over."

 _ **FIRE DRAGON'S…**_

 _"I can hear you ! He's going for a wide range shot. Trying to hit me no matter where I run, huh…"_ Cobra then jumped off Cubelios, landing on Natsu's back, holding his head toward the ground. "But it still won't reach your back ! So, how about I crush that hot head of yours ?"

\- "Natsu !" Shouted Happy worriedly.

\- "Dammit ! WizarDragon !" Shouted Haruto, ordering his winged friend to dive at them to try and stop them before it was to late. However…

\- "Ugh… Dammit… Aaaaaa…"

As soon as Natsu opened his mouth, not spewing any flames but shouting his frustration, something really weird happened. His shout grew in intensity again and again, the volume going up constantly, becoming not a cry, not a shout, not a shriek. But a roar and not just any roar.

A dragon roar.

In a few seconds, Natsu's roar became so loud it could not only be heard all over the ancient capital but it was also perceived by other senses than hearing. Bodies began to tremble, walls began to shakes, sweat began to run down temples, birds flew away in fear as the inhuman roar echoed all over the woods. For those who could hear it, questions also came. What was that sound, where was it coming from… Many covered their ears, even if they were on the other side of the capital, showing how powerful that roar truly was. And among those who had to protect themselves, there was of course Haruto and Happy.

\- "I can't stand it ! It's way too loud !" Shouted Happy, trying to be heard over all that noise by Haruto who was suffering a lot, being unable to cover his ears with his armor on.

\- "I can't believe it. I've never heard something that painful in my whole life." He said, his head pounding on his temples. "And yet, we aren't the closest ones. And if the name listening magic imply what I think, someone is probably suffering madly right now."

\- "GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH !" And indeed, Cobra was suffering. Just like Haruto though, Cobra's Listening Magic gave him an enhanced hearing, and if that roar was loud enough to make walls shake all over the ancient capital, for he who was standing right next to the origin of the noise, this was unbearable. "MY EEEEEEEEEEEEEARS !"

Hands on his ears to try and muffle the noise, he forgot where he was and let himself fall, crashing onto the ground of the Nirvana right under them, Haruto saving Natsu from the same fate by flying down to catch him, the group looking down at the ground where Cobra laid, eyes revulsed, knocked out.

\- "L…Looks like your awesome hearing backfired, huh ? Just as planned !" Said Natsu with an awkward smile, his voice coarse from this much shouting.

\- "This… Couldn't have been planned." Stated Haruto, a drop of sweat sliding on his face as Happy, now a little better, took Natsu back from Haruto, relieved that this was over at last. Or was it ?

/- King's Area -/

\- "Impossible… He defeated Cobra with his voice alone ? Just what is that boy ?" Asked Brain, sweating as he stared at the flying boy, wide eyes.

\- "I have to admit that this is impressive." Said Doctor Shinigami, standing a bit to the side with a smirk. "However, this isn't the end just yet. That Cobra have one last trick up his sleeve."

Indeed, as Haruto landed on Nirvana, WizarDragon disappearing as he had done his job, Natsu floating with Happy next to him, they were greeted by Cobra, standing up with great difficulty, glaring at his opponent.

\- "I can't… lose…" He seethed, slowly plunging a hand in his pocket. "My prayer… I won't give it up… I'll hear it…" He pulled his hand out of his pocket, now adorned with a familiar black ring. "I won't let myself be defeated by people like you !" As he shouted, a dark mist came out of the ring and enveloped him, forming a cocoon which opened soon after, revealing a much different Cobra who now looked like... a cobra. His face was framed by a large black and dark red hood, just like a cobra, two large triangle shaped and sinister red eyes shining through the shadow cast by his hood, the only other thing clearly visible being the long white fangs of his beast like jaws. The rest of his body was covered in a black and red scales-like armor, large claws on his hands and feet, topped with a long reptilian tail coming out of his lower back. Natsu, Haruto, and even Cubelios stared at the newly transformed mage who let out a roar as dark red magic began to run along his body, going to his head.

\- "Natsu, watch out !"

Haruto's warning came just in time as he and Natsu jumped to the side, dodging an empowered Poison Dragon's Roar which pass through the street they were in. When the poison disappeared, they realized that everything that had been touched by the attack had either melted or got infected by the toxin, creating a carpet of poison in the middle of the street.

\- "God dammit ! This thing smell even more dangerous than before !" Snarled Natsu while Haruto drew another ring from his Ring Holder.

\- "We have to take care of him before he become impossible to save."

 _ **BIND, PLEASE !**_

Haruto summoned metal chains that flew toward Cobra, successfully wrapping the Phantom who struggled a moment against it before covering his whole body with poison. Haruto didn't understood at first, not noticing Natsu flying at Cobra with a burning fist. But when the poison began to cover the chain and go up toward him, he gasped as he took a step back as the chains fell down, half-corroded by the poison. When Natsu's punch connected with the poison covered face, it seemed to work at first, Cobra taking a step back, his cheek visible, but Natsu cried in pain as he flew away, holding a burned hand by its wrist. Haruto, grabbing his WizarSwordgun once again, fired wind bullets at Cobra who answered by puffing his cheeks and blowing a poison mist at Wizard, mist which seemed to fuse with the wind bullets as they touched it, much to Haruto's shock.

\- "His venom infected my wind !?" He could only stare as Cobra literally drank the now poisonous shots, ineffective against him. "Don't tell me…" He was cut when he realized that the mist was closing on him, already infecting the magic wind that made him fly, forcing him to stop flying and going back to the ground, the poison mist now dissipating as it had nothing else to consume. "I have to get rid of this poison."

 _ **WATER, PLEASE ! SUI-SUI, SUI-SUI !**_

Using his water, he shot a stream at Cobra, aiming to wash the poison away but alas, he once again underestimated the strength of the poison has even his water began to get infected. The water being useless, Haruto was about to grab another ring when he realized that Cobra was sucking up the infected water, gaining power from it as his arms swelled with poison, ready to unleash yet another attack, forcing him to think of something, and quickly.

 _ **LAND, PLEASE ! DODODO DODODON, DON DODODON !**_

 _ **DEFEND, PLEASE !**_

As Cobra shot a stream of toxic water at him, Haruto changed styles and created a large wall of stone between him and the water, making the later splash all around, Natsu and Happy flying all around to try and avoid that dangerous rain. When the rain stopped, Haruto, suffering from the few drops that landed on his shoulders and arms, noticed that not only was the poison also infecting his stone, the water had covered almost the whole street, making it almost impossible to move without stepping in it.

\- "Come on, there has to be a way to stop this poison." Haruto was almost out of options when he noticed Cobra lunging at him, claws bursting and seeping with poison as he lifted his arm, ready to strike him down when Natsu came to save the day.

 _ **FIRE DRAGON'S BRILLIANT FLAME !**_

Natsu had slammed both of his fists on Cobra, sending him crashing through many houses as well as saving Haruto who couldn't help but notice something. Just like before, the part of Cobra that Natsu had hit with his flames weren't covered by the poison. And even if he touched it directly, Haruto saw no sign of infection on his hands who were simply slightly corroded by the poisonous substance.

 _"I see. Fire can burn through this poison. That is good to now."_ He though, grabbing onto his Flame Dragon Ring. _"In that case, I'll…"_

*Wait, Haruto.* A deep voice send from inside of him, Haruto immediately recognizing WizarDragon. *There's a better thing to do.*

 _"What are you thinking about ?"_

*I was sure you would have already guessed.* Teased the dragon. *What are we facing Haruto ?*

 _"An… Hybrid…"_ Trailed off Haruto as he looked at the ring. _"But of course ! If I give this to Natsu…"_

*That guy's poison got way stronger when he became an Hybrid. If you do the same with Natsu, his fire will surely be strong enough to completely destroy this venom. And besides, he is a fire mage who got his power from a dragon, I am more than interested in seeing what our combined power could give.*

\- "All right…"

\- "Haruto ! Watch out !" Haruto barely got his focus back when he was pulled by Natsu out of the way, a large sphere of dark red poison crashing and exploding on the spot he was on just a second before. "What the hell is wrong with you ?! Why'd you zone out like that ?!"

\- "Sorry Natsu, I was talking with WizarDragon and he asked me to give you this." He said, putting the Flame Dragon Ring in the fire mage hand. "You know what to do, right ?"

\- "… Of course !" Grinned the pinkette. "I'm going to demolish that guy !" He said, letting his magic inside the ring, who now looked like a red dragon head with a pink lining instead of the golden one, the same kind of 'goggles' on it, a Wizard Driver appearing on his waist.

 _ **SHABADOOBI, TOUCH HENSHI ! SHABADOOBI, TOUCH HENSHIN !**_

\- "HENSHIN !"

 _ **FIRE, IGNEEL ! KA-KA, KA-KA-KA !**_

A magic circle appeared and enveloped Natsu, a dragon made of flame circling around him before enveloping him too, creating a burst of fire the blew the surrounding poison away, burning it completely. As the fire subsided, Natsu was clad in the same mantle as Haruto's Flame Dragon Style, but in a dark red color with scaly pattern all over it, with rippled hems. The armor underneath was beige, the exact same color scheme as Igneel. The shoulder pads looked like dragon claw, the chest being covered with a grey and red dragon head with four horns and frills on the side, just like Igneel. On the head, Natsu wore some sort of red crystal-like visor on his eyes, a pink diamond on his head with a red crystal embed in the middle, two dark red and black horns in the middle of his hair and frills right next to his ears, jutting to the side. While Cobra growled at this change, Natsu was staring at himself, checking himself with eyes wide in shock at what the Driver chanted.

\- "Did it said… Igneel ?" Asked Natsu. "And why am I not sick ?" He finished, noticing that Happy had to let him go when he transformed, meaning he was now standing on the moving town.

\- "By mixing my magic with yours, the Ring probably tried to associate a dragon to you, to 'replace' WizarDragon, so to speak. And concerning your motion sickness, the same happened when you used Shinnosuke's Shift Car at the Tower of Paradise." Theorized Haruto, standing next to his friend in Land Dragon Style. "Anyway, now that you're in this form, we can take care of that Phantom."

\- "Yeah, you're right." Said Natsu, grinning as he ignited his fists. "And as you usually say, It's showtime !"

Natsu rushed at Cobra with Haruto, the Phantom blowing another cloud of poison gas at them, but this time, Natsu swung it hand at it, his flames setting the poison ablaze as it disappeared in an instant. Furthermore, while running, Natsu was covering his feet with flames that burned the infected ground, rendering it safe to walk on for Haruto who was running behind Natsu. When they got close enough, Natsu punched Cobra in the guts, his fire enveloping the monster and burning away his poison coating as he was sent a few feet back. Haruto jumped above Natsu and slammed his fist on the ground, making it explode as it send the Oracion Seis flying, which Natsu used to his advantage.

 _ **FIRE DRAGON RIDER'S IRON FIST !**_

Natsu ignited fist struck Cobra in his face, sending him crashing on the ground, creating a large crater as fire-filled cracks extended from the crater to the surrounding houses, making them collapse. But Cobra wasn't done as he unleashed a flurry of toxic bullet at the Rider and mage, forcing them back as he tried to put some distance between them. Once he did, his magic power began to grow dangerously as a toxic aura began to grew around him, everything around him becoming infected and this infection was quickly spreading. As for Haruto. He noticed purple cracks that began to appear on their opponent whose shouts began to look like cries for help.

\- "His power is starting to become unstable !" Said Haruto, looking alarmed. "If this keep going on like this, he might poison the whole town. And if we aren't quick enough, he could became a Phantom for good."

\- "I suppose you have an idea, then." Asked Naruto, still on fire, consuming the poison that was starting to close on them.

\- "I do." He said, putting on the Connect Ring and using it to put the Drago Timer on. "I'm going to buy you some time. Gather all the magic you can and go for the kill."

\- "Ok, but how are you going to buy me time ?"

 _ **SET UP ! START ! FLAME DRAGON ! WATER DRAGON ! HURRICANE DRAGON !**_

Much to Natsu's surprise, 3 others Haruto appeared, each one in a different Dragon Style, all with their weapon brandished as they rushed at Cobra whose aura was starting to become way to unstable. They had to keep him busy for Natsu to prepare his finishing blow, but also to make him use his magic to avoid the poisoning to continue too much. The four Dragon Style assaulted the Phantom from all side, most of their assault being repelled, but they still did what they had to do : buy some time. Natsu was doing his part, trying to gather as much power as possible by burning the poison all around him and eating the fire it was making, gaining more power with each snacks he was getting. Once he was full, his aura was so hot it was starting to melt the stone around him, his flame a pillar of light that burned through the night and caught the attention of everyone who could see it. Seeing that he was ready, the Haruto's tried to immobilize him but Cobra heard them and fired poison bullet at their rings, making the Wizards let go of them as Cobra took a stance showing he was about to jump and run away. But this never happened as Cobra was suddenly wrapped up by none other than Cubelios, the snake hissing sadly at his partner, as if he was trying to make him stop and come back to his senses, the Phantom struggling against the vice like grip of the snake. Natsu and Happy stared in shock as Cubelios looked at them and hissed and Natsu couldn't help but feel like he heard a voice, a feminine one, talking to him.

*Please, do it ! Save my friend !*

Natsu, once the shock had passed, nodded and grabbed one of his own Rings, scanning it on his Driver.

 _ **CH**_ _ **ŌĪ**_ _ **NE, IGNEEL STRIKE ! SAIK**_ _ **Ō !**_

 _ **FIRE RIDER DRAGON'S EXPLODING ROAR !**_

All the fire around Natsu got sucked into his mouth before letting out a torrent of flames as wide as the street he was standing in, the blast taking the shape of a dragon as it got closer and closer to it's target. The Harutos jumped out of the way, but not Cubelios who seemed to be closing her eyes, waiting for the incoming impact, not letting go of her Phantom of a friend who kept struggling against her vice-like grip but to no avail. When the fire-made dragon reached the both of them, the roar exploded, a burst of fire lighting up the night sky as the shockwave blew up all the surrounding building like glass. When the flames calmed down, a panting Natsu and an impressed Haruto took noticed of a barely conscious Cubelios, laying inside the large crater made by the explosion, next to Cobra, back in human form, charred up but alive. The two comrades undid their transformation, Haruto walking up to a Natsu who was already feeling the motion sickness coming back.

\- "Ugh… Damn… I'm on a vehicle, now."

\- "Well, at least we got rid of that guy, right ?" Said Haruto with a smile, squatting down next to Natsu. "Come on, we have to go met the others."

However, as he was about to help Natsu up, Happy too weak to do so, he felt a presence behind him as Natsu gasped in shock, making him turn around and gasp in turn. Cobra was there, barely standing right next to them, a determined spark in his angry eyes .

\- "For the pride of the six demons… I'll defeat you both…" Panted Cobra, the Dark Ring still on his hand but the cracks were barely there as he had yet to fall into despair. "Die !"

*BANG* Poison on his hand, Cobra suddenly stop as something just pierced his right shoulder, taking the Rider and mage by surprise.

\- "That's enough, Cobra." Said the one who just shot him, none other than Brain, holding his skull scepter like a rifle, the tip smoking as he smiled at his comrade. "You did a good job. Rest well."

However, rain seemed to forgot about Cobra's ability (or did he ?) as the second generation's ears caught his inner voice, whose speech wasn't as nice.

*I don't need the six demons if such an average guild can defeat them so easily. You trash !*

\- "Damn… Damn it…" Cobra was starting to cry, tears running down his face slowly as his eyes landed on the unconscious snake next to him. "My prayer… I just… wanted to hear the voice of my one friend… Cubelios…" He then fell flat on the floor, out cold, Haruto and Natsu having heard of what he had said while glaring at Brain.

\- "You… Isn't he your comrade ?" Growled Natsu.

\- "I can find more comrades in the future using the power of Nirvana."

\- "That is not what you call a comrade. That's a puppet." Corrected a pissed off Natsu, which didn't seemed to bother Brain at all.

\- "Don't be so hostile. I've taken a fancy to your strength. Do you catch my drift ? I'll make you my first puppet."

 _ **FLAME, PLEASE ! HI-HI, HI-HI-HI !**_

\- "Do you really think I'm going to let you do as you please ?" Said Haruto, stepping up to stand between Brain and Natsu. "If you want to get your hands on him, you'll have to first deal with…"

*BA-BA-BANG* "ARGH !" A flurry of shot put an end to Haruto's speech as laser bullet just send him rolling on the ground, Haruto glancing up to see that the one who just shot him was none other than Doctor Shinigami, standing beside Brain. "You…"

\- "I'm afraid you won't be able to save your friend, Wizard. Not because you can't, but because there's something else you'll have to do before." With that, he used his cane to point at Cobra who was slowly getting covered by purple cracks. "Do you really have time to lose fighting us when someone is so close to lose itself to despair ? The choice is yours, Kamen Rider."

Haruto looked between Natsu and Cobra, his heart having already made its choice, and judging by how Natsu was looking at him, he was thinking the exact same thing. So reluctantly, Haruto grabbed one of his ring.

\- "This is not over, Shinigami. If it's not me, someone else will stop you."

\- "We'll see, Wizard. We'll see."

 _ **ENGAGE, PLEASE !**_

Haruto then jumped inside Cobra's inner world, leaving Natsu alone as Brain walked up to him, grabbing the sick teen by the collar.

\- "Let's go, now. We have some work to do."

However, before they could go anywhere, a group, attracted by the explosion of flames from before, just arrived on the scene before Shinigami and Brain could leave the scene, the two pretty surprised by who just showed up.

\- "There he is !" Said Gray, followed by Jura, Sento and Lucy, glaring at the two bad guys, Lucy gasping as she looked at Natsu.

\- "Natsu ! What happened to you ?!"

\- "It's because this is a vehicle…" Explained Happy, laying on the ground nearby.

\- "Happy ! Are you alright ? And where's Haruto, I thought he was with you two ?" Asked Sento to the cat.

\- "I'm alright. Haruto is in this guy." He said, pointing to the cracked Cobra. "He's trying to save him, I think. But you have to save Natsu… He's been taken away."

\- "The six demons has lost half of his members and fallen down to earth." Explained Brain. "I'm taking this boy in order to make him a new member of the six demons."

\- "As if ! Natsu won't ever follow your orders !" Shouted Lucy confidently even if she did missed something.

\- "On the contrary. With Nirvana, I'm pretty sure we can make him into a great ally." Said Doctor Shinigami, grabbing the attention of the newcomers.

\- "And you are… ?" Asked Jura, glaring at him.

\- "Doctor Shinigami, one of the Shocker Generals." Answered Sento, glaring at the old man. "So you're the one behind this, huh ?"

\- "As if I'm working with you all !" Said Natsu as he turned his head to bite hard on Brain's wrist.

\- "Agh ! So you still have some strength remaining !?" Shouted Brain, slamming Natsu on the ground, the Dragon Slayer looking too sick to move.

\- "Hurry… Defeat those guys… And stop… This thing…"

\- "I'll do it, but not for your sake." Answered Gray, cracking his knuckles, the others agreeing as Brain simply smirked.

\- "Stop it ? The Nirvana ? Impossible. This city will soon reach its first destination, Cait Shelter, in no time."

Hearing the name of Wendy's guild made the heroes gasp in shock, not expecting such a development. They were all shocked, but Jura recovered quickly. Questions had to be asked.

\- "Tell us your purpose. Why are you targeting Wendy's guild ?"

\- "This super reversal magic will turn a light guild into a dark one in an instant. I'm looking forward to it… seeing hell, that is."

While Gray and Lucy felt disgusted, Sento and Jura couldn't help but feel like this wasn't as simple, and Brain and Shinigami's insistence on not telling them was starting to tick them off.

\- "You didn't hear me ? What is your purpose ?" Repeated Jura, much more serious while Sento was slowly taking bottle in his hands.

\- "There's no reason for us to explain ourselves to small fries like you." Roared Brain, smiling widely. "I am the judge of light and dark. Grovel before me !"

\- "Such a troublesome man. Can't even talk properly." Jura said before pointing to fingers at Brain, large chunks of stone suddenly bursting from the ground to assault and push Brain back, much to the latter shock as he was send flying in the middle of a landslide of some sort, Natsu, Lucy and Gray gaping at that. "Stand up. Until you spit out your reasoning for assaulting Cait Shelter, I won't let you sleep."

\- "So this is the power of one of the Ten Wizards Saint, huh ?" Said Shinigami, raising his cane at Jura. "How troublesome." However, before he could do anything.

 _ **SPIDER ! REIZOKO ! BEST MATCH ! ARE YOU READY ?**_

\- "HENSHIN !"

 _ **RAIKYAKU NO TRAP MASTER ! SPIDERCOOLER ! YEAH !**_

Sento had transformed and used the Spider Halfbody to send web at Shinigami, pulling him toward him before unleashing a wave of freezing cold air at his opponent who managed to jump out of the way, cutting himself free of the web.

\- "Don't go interfere with their fight. They have things to talk about." Advised Sento, Shinigami glaring at him.

\- "If this is what you desire, then so be it." Said Shinigami as he began to transform into his monster form, a big and white octopus like monster. "I shall get rid of you here and now."

Meanwhile, with Jura, he was still standing there, just in front of the broken ground his magic had sent flying at Brain who was glaring at him, not liking how this was turning out for him.

\- "Well, color me surprise… It seems like that title of Wizard Saint isn't just for show." He said, wiping out the little bit of blood on his lips.

\- "There are a lot of guild around here that are closer than Cait Shelter." Revealed Jura. "Which means that you have a reason for going there specifically."

\- "People who are about to die won't need to know." Said Brain, lifting his scepter as a familiar dark magic began to came out of it.

 _ **DARK RONDO !**_

Swinging his scepter down, Brain send a wave of magic at Jura, who countered it quite easily.

 _ **IRON ROCK WALL !**_

Large pillar of stone came out of the ground to block the incoming attack. This defensive wall did the job, but this wasn't what Brain was aiming at as he suddenly appeared behind Jura, his speed taking the mages by surprise.

 _ **DARK CAPRICCIO !**_

This time, it was a focused blast of magic that was sent at Jura's back, the mage simply waving is arm as one of the pillar bent and came to block the attack. Or at least, this was the plan because the spell wasn't stopping.

\- "It's useless ! Dark Capriccio is a penetration type magic. It'll easily go through the rock !" Indeed, the spell kept going but as soon as it reached the other side, Jura bend the stone once more, in a way that made the Capriccio shot upward, making everyone gasp in shock at this unthinkable turn of event. Jura then thrust his palm forward, the stone breaking down in little pieces that slammed on Jura before sticking to his body, in the end trapping him inside a cocoon of stone, much to Gray and Lucy surprise. But Jura wasn't finished.

 _ **SUPREME KING ROCK CRUSH !**_

All of a sudden, the stone around Brain shot outward, taking Brain with them as he let out a pained shout, falling to the ground defeated.

\- "No.. No way that I got… defeated…" Said Brain, his voice weak as he struggled to stay awake. "Midnight… Take care of the rest… the six demon can't go down… when the six prayers disappear… That person will…" He never finished this sentence as unconsciousness took him, laying on the ground as Sento watched from a roof.

\- "Wow, that old man is really strong." Commented Sento, before jumping out of the way, focusing back on the octopus that almost blasted him just now, the roof exploding. The scientist reported his attention on the octopus monster in front of him.

\- "I don't think you can have the luxury of looking elsewhere when fighting." Advised Ikadevil, shooting a new salvo of laser at him, forcing him to jump out of the way. But it didn't stopped here, Ikadevil unleashing what could only be compared to a torrent of laser which forced him back, Sento finally using the web of his spider side to grab onto a building and hide behind it for a moment, taking out the Fullbottles in his Driver and replacing it by two others.

 _ **BAT ! ENGINE ! BEST MATCH ! ARE YOU READY ?**_

\- "BUILD UP !"

 _ **ANKOKU NO KID**_ _ **Ō-Ō ! BATENGINE ! YEAH !**_

The engine of his scarlet side revved up and he shot from behind the wall, slaloming between the laser and shooting with his purple side shadow-made bat that either intercepted the shots or flew toward Ikadevil, swarming the monster to try and prevent him from shooting, which worked pretty well as Ikadevil was forced to slow down the shots, allowing Sento to come close enough to deliver powerful punches with his engine shaped fist, but alas.

\- "Is that all you can do ?" Taunted Ikadevil as he backhanded the Rider, sending him to the ground before slowly walking toward him. "You should know that I'm not your run of the mill opponent, Build."

 _ **ICE MAKE : CLAMP !**_

Out of nowhere, a large clamp made of ice appeared around Ikadevil's leg, stopping him in his track, Gray grinning as the monster seethed his displeasure. In fact, the ice wouldn't hold much longer, but this was a perfect opportunity for Sento.

\- "Thanks, Gray. This helps a lot."

\- "Tch. So you need this kind of help to beat me, huh ? Isn't that some sort kind of cheat ?"

\- "But luck is a part of the inventing process." Said Sento. "Many things were created thanks to luck or an unplanned event. Like this opportunity for example."

 _ **READY, GO ! VORTEX FINISH !**_

Shadow bat surrounded Sento while also flying around Ikadevil, hindering him as he tried to break free from the ice that proved to be harder than he first though, also maybe due to the fact that he wasn't from this world and as such not as effective against this ice. Meanwhile, the engine arm revved up, his whole Halfbody emitting steam as the bat gathered on the tip of the engine arm, forming bat wing-shaped fangs as he suddenly ran at a blinding speed toward Ikadevil, striking him hard with his shadow covered left hand, sending the monster crashing into a house. However, if the blow was powerful, it wasn't quite enough as Shinigami reappeared, still in monster form, barely scratched.

\- "Not bad, but you'll have to do much better if you want to get rid of me." Taunted Ikadevil as Sento got back up.

\- "Like this, maybe ?"

 _ **SPECIAL, PLEASE !**_

A sudden burst of fire came out of nowhere, engulfing the monster who was forced to jump out of the way, turning his head to the right to found Haruto, back from Cobra's inner world, in Flame Dragon Style with the Dragon Head on his torso.

\- "Two Riders ? This should be interesting." Commented Ikadevil.

\- "Then make it three."

 _ **KNOCK OUT CRITICAL SMASH !**_

Out of nowhere, Emu had appeared behind Ikadevil, delivering a strong fiery uppercut to the monster, sending him flying and as he came falling back down, Emu punched him once again, sending him crashing into yet another house, getting up suddenly, only to see a diamond ring on Haruto's hand, a large gold and silver Gashat in Emu's and the Hazard Trigger in Sento's. Realizing what might come next, Ikadevil simply seethed and pointed at the three Riders.

\- "Don't you think this is over, Rider." He threatened. "I have more important things than stay here and play with you. We'll see each other again." And with that, much to everyone surprise, he was gone, leaving three confused Riders behind who un-transformed, walking back to the mages who had just been joined by Wendy.

\- "Everybody, it's terrible… This city… Is heading towards my guild !"

\- "It was, but it's alright now." Said Gray, Wendy not understanding before she saw Brain, laying in front of her, completely out cold.

\- "See ? I told you there was no need to be afraid." Said Emu with a smile, patting her head as she heaved a sigh, relieved.

\- "I guess this guy was controlling the Nirvana." Said Lucy. "Now that he has collapsed, this means that this city should stop too."

\- "Still… I would like to have known why he was targeting Cait Shelter." Added the ever so serious Carla.

\- "We would have liked that too, but I guess there's not much point now." Added Haruto.

\- "From what we know, the Nirvana can be controlled from the King's Area, up there." Said Sento, pointing at the place in question. "Once up there, we might found a way to stop Nirvana."

\- "You're right, Sento." Agreed Jura. "Let's go stop this thing."

\- "Y…Yes, please…" Groaned Natsu, laying on the ground, green as grass and sick as hell, forcing Gray to go and carry him as they headed toward the place. But once they reached there…

\- "What the… Where are the controls ?!"

Indeed, there was nothing there, except for rubbles from when Natsu and Haruto came to stop it at first.

\- "I thought that defeating Brain would be enough…" Said Gray, looking all around for something that might help them.

\- "It was too easy. I didn't expect us to not find a way to stop Nirvana." Admitted Lucy.

\- "Looks like things are going to be harder than we first though." Said Haruto. At the same time, Wendy and Emu were kneeling next to a sick Natsu, the poor girl not understanding what happened to the pink haired mage.

\- "What should I do ? I treated him with detoxification though he's still…"

\- "Natsu has motion sickness. Can you do something about that ?" With Emu's information, Wendy realized that yes, she did had a way to help Natsu.

\- "If it's motion sickness, then this cure might work perfectly." She said as she formed a small magic orb in her hands which she then infused in Natsu.

 _ **TROIA !**_

All of a sudden, Natsu opened his eyes, not green at all, standing on his feet, jumping around, amazed that even if the large town was moving, he wasn't sick at all.

\- "WOOHOO ! I'm perfectly fine !" He cheered, happy like never before. "I don't even feel like I'm on a vehicle !"

\- "That's great and all, but this doesn't change the fact that we have no idea how to stop that thing." Said Gray, Natsu immediately turning serious as the ice mage said that.

\- "Richard said that it's from here that one can control the city and I don't think he lied to us." Said Sento, Jura nodding beside him. "Besides, there's no cockpit of some kind, no one in the King's Area, Brain had been defeated, and yet Nirvana is still moving."

\- "Don't tell me… You think this thing has been put on autopilot ?" Said Gray, the news making everyone flinch at what this could mean, Wendy taking the news pretty hard.

\- "Our… Our guild is…" She sobbed, tears in her eyes, Natsu suddenly standing tall in front of her.

\- "Don't worry, Wendy. It won't get to your guild. I'll pay you back my debt. I'm gonna stop it for sure." Natsu was determined, but so was everyone else. They'll find a way to stop this thing, no matter what.

/- Meanwhile -/

After leaving Hoteye, or rather Richard, behind to hold back Midnight, the fight between the two ex-comrades had been pretty one-sided. Richard has overpowered Midnight almost effortlessly, his ground magic making little work of the dark haired mage. Right now, Midnight was laying spread eagle in a crater, his whole body covered in cuts and blood, barely conscious. Richard stood by the crater, thinking that he was done for when Midnight surprisingly got up, head low and shaking but still conscious.

\- "I… dream… You dream too." Said Midnight, Richard looking at him without getting where he was getting at. But the smile that graced his lips wasn't good news, far from it. "At midnight…"

\- "UGHAAA !" And suddenly, without a single movement, Richard was struck all at once all over his body, cuts and gashes appearing all over him, making him spat blood as he realized, horrified, that the ones one Midnight had completely disappeared.

\- "Magic can't hurt me." He said, looking at Richard. "I'm the strongest mage… Who even surpasses my father." With that, Richard fell to the ground, defeated, his last thought going to his lost brother as he lost consciousness, Midnight passing by him, a confident smirk on his face. "Nirvana won't stop. As long as I exist."

 **And done. We're getting close to the end of this arc. As always, leave a review/PM to let me know if you liked, or not, this fic. Also, I'm currently working on other projects on the side so this could lead to me being a little bit late on the updates some time. But I'll try to stay on a rhythm of one update every week, week and a half. See ya !**

 **Next time : Looking for a way to stop chaos. The reason behind the targeting. Triumph at midnight. The waking of the demise**


	42. Chapter 42 : Triumph and demise

**Hi everyone ! I don't have a lot to say here, for once except that I'm sorry about last chapter. I totally forgot to publish it when I finished it. Let's go !**

 **Chapter 42 : Triumph and demise**

/- Mage guild, Cait Shelter -/

The guild of Cait Shelter was quite original. Their main building was shaped like a big cat head, situated in a village whose house were all made of woods, like if it had been frozen in time long ago. In the building, all the mages were gathered, taking care of their own business when one of them suddenly walked in, looking terrified.

\- "Everyone… We got trouble !" He shouted, grabbing their attention. "Nirvana is heading this way !" This made everyone in the building panic, thinking that this meant that the allied forces that gathered to prevent this from happening had failed. They were of course also worried for Carla and Wendy, fearing for what might have happened to them. One of the mage then walked toward an elderly man, sitting on a large couch, pouring himself a drink. This was Master Roubaul, the master of Cait Shelter. After pouring himself a glass, he drank… Straight from the bottle.

\- "Don't pour yourself a glass if you drink straight from the bottle !" Shouted a mage at his master trying to get him to listen to them. "Anyway, Nirvana is heading toward us !"

\- "What !? Is that true ?!" Exclaimed Roubaul, without swallowing first which made him spill everything he had in mouth on the table.

\- "Don't talk if your mouth is full !"

\- "Nirvana is heading this way…" Repeated the master, suddenly serious. "Is this fate, or is it coincidence…"

\- "I hope Wendy is safe…" Said a mage to another.

\- "Yeah… If something bad happens, we won't be of any use…"

\- "Don't worry." Reassured Roubaul, speaking immediately after filling his mouth with alcohol, spilling it once again much to his men dismay. "Lighting Magic is still alive. Nabura is shining more than ever." This made the guild cheer, but only for a moment.

\- "But it's not a coincidence. There's someone who knew our true identity. That's why they are aiming here."

\- "Master. We should evacuate." Suddenly said someone as whispers began to look like cries. "Our barrier won't work on Nirvana !"

\- "YOU FOOLS !" Suddenly shouted Roubaul, silencing everyone in the place. "There're people who are fighting to stop it. Don't need to make any movement if you believe in our victory." This calmed them all, but Roubaul wasn't finished, putting his bottle down on the table. "Nevermind… Maybe the time has come. The time to settle our crime."

/- Back on Nirvana -/

The large town/vehicle kept heading toward Cait Shelter and alas, no one had yet to found a way to stop it.

\- "We keep saying we'll stop it, but we don't even know where to start." Stated Happy, looking up at the humans around him.

\- "How about we crash it ?" Proposed Natsu, making Lucy sweat drop as it seemed to be the only way he know to solve problems.

\- "How you gonna crash something this big ?" Countered Gray.

\- "There has to be some kind of power source somewhere in this thing." Said Sento, his brain going over all the possibilities in his head. "This thing must have a power source of some kind."

\- "Yeah, but where could it be ? This place is huge, we won't have the time to look everywhere." Said Haruto.

\- "It seems that asking Brain directly is our best option." Suddenly Said Jura.

\- "Yeah, but how can we be sure he will tell us ?" Said Emu. "He doesn't strike me has the kind of guy to just go and give up his plan like that ?"

\- "Perhaps Jellal know…" Timidly said Wendy, her eyes on the ground. Suddenly, memories of Jellal at his resurrection and Natsu and Happy's reaction to him came to her head as she suddenly turned her heel and began to ran away. "I… Have some clue so I'm going to look for it." She said, immediately followed by Carla as the others didn't moved but seemed worried.

\- "What happened to her ?" Wondered Lucy, looking worriedly at the retreating girl.

\- "No idea, but I won't let her go alone. I'm going with her." Said Emu, running after the girl, feeling like this wasn't a good idea to let her go alone. And soon after he left, the rest heard a voice, one some of them recognized.

*Everybody, can you hear me ? It's me, Hoteye.*

\- "Richard !" Exclaimed Jura. "Are you alright ?"

\- "Is that telepathy ?" Asked Gray as Hoteye explained his situation.

*I couldn't defeat Midnight. Please, help each other to defeat him. The supply of magical power will stop when you defeat him… And Nirvana will stop.*

\- "I see…" Muttered Sento. "They are using this Midnight as a power source. Interesting."

*Midnight is located right below the King's room. Be careful with him… He's really… Really strong. Only one of the six prayers is left. Make sure to win… And Nirvana will stop…* With this, the communication ended, but the group now knew what to do and where to go.

\- "Alright, then ! Let's go, guys !" Shouted Natsu as he lead the way down a long stair leading to the bottom of the tall tower in the center of Nirvana, no one suspecting that the one who had just talked to them wasn't Richard, but Brain, who was not completely out cold, using his last strength to cast this message, to lead them where he wanted them to go. Along the way, the two Riders left were feeling like something was off.

\- "It is weird." Said Haruto as he ran with the others. "Ever since Nirvana was unsealed, we didn't saw a single Shocker Soldiers apart from Shinigami. This is clearly not a good thing."

\- "I get what you are saying." Agreed Haruto. "They always want to at least study the magic they helped dark guild to get. So they have to be somewhere in there, but where exactly ?"

His question stayed unanswered for now as the group finally reached the bottom of the stairs, ending up in front of a large engraved door. Natsu immediately rushed and grabbed the handles, pulling the door opened with all of his strength, itching to beat that Midnight. However, once the door where opened, the mages and Riders were met not with Midnight, but a room full of explosive lachryma who were all shining, proof that they were about to activate. The mages stayed there, not moving, too shocked to do a thing as the light became blinding.

\- "IT'S A TRAP !"

*KABOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

The explosion was so powerful that it could be felt and heard all over the town, all the way to Erza, who glanced toward the large tower where an equally large cloud of smoke could be seen, covering the whole area.

\- "What was that explosion just now ?" She asked.

\- "It was from the direction of the King's' Area." Noticed Jellal, standing beside her.

\- "I hope our friends weren't taken in this." Hoped Kouta, not noticing someone walking toward them from behind.

\- "Father is so mean… To take my enjoyment away from me." They all turned their head, only to be faced with Midnight, walking toward them with a smile. "You guys are the last prey left for me. Let's have fun."

\- "If you want fun, you're going to…"

\- "Please stay back, Erza." Suddenly said Jellal, stopping Erza and Kouta, the latter with a Lockseed already in hand, the blue haired mage glaring at the newcomer. "I'm going to take care of it."

\- "… Alright." Sighed Kouta, standing back as Jellal took place in front of them. _"I really hope you can do it, Jellal, and fast. I'd like to go check this explosion. I hope no one suffered from it."_

Back to the explosion site, the dust of cloud was barely starting to fall down, still enveloping the mages and Riders inside as they all began to get up.

\- "Ugh… It got me…" Said Natsu, grunting in slight pain.

\- "I have to say… We should have seen it coming… This was far to easy…" Groaned Haruto, rubbing his head.

\- "You're right… And I don't think Hoteye would have led us into a trap like this…" Added Sento, sitting up. "So either he didn't know, or someone else send that message."

\- "Are we… Still alive…" Asked Gray, not believing that they could have survived something like this.

\- "What's going on ?" Wondered Lucy. "We got that explosion right in front of us and… *Thud* Ouch !" She cried, reaching for her head, only to head up touching stone. "Uh… Are we buried ?"

\- "No we aren't…" Suddenly said Sento, touching the stone above them, responsible of the darkness they currently were in. "It's…"

Without waiting for an answer, Natsu broke the stone and opened a way out for the group who stood in shock at what they had in front of them. The room they tried to get in was now nothing more than a ruin, the ground busted up and the front wall now completely gone, as well as the door. But it's what stood in between them and the destroyed room that made them wide eyed in shock.

\- "JURA !" The older mage was standing in front of them, arms stretched as he had used his own body like a shield to protect them from the explosion after trapping them under a dome of stone. Jura was panting, apparently completely exhausted, but smiling nonetheless.

\- "You young people are so lively." He said. "I'm glad… That you're safe…" As he said that, he fell backward, the group rushing out of their protecting dome toward the mage, checking on him. Among them, Natsu was the angriest. He hated people who used those kind of coward method, and they will pay for it.

/- Meanwhile -/

\- "So this thing is really heading to Cait Shelter, huh ?"

\- "Yeah. There's no doubt."

Wendy, Emu and Carla were walking in the street of the town, trying to look for Jellal on foot as Carla was too tired to carry Wendy.

\- "We have to find Jellal. He's probably the only around here who could help us to stop Nirvana." Said the cat, Emu nodding by her side as she glanced at her Dragon Slayer. "You have a good sense of smell after all."

\- "Yes, but… That Jellal smells different from the one I know." Muttered Wendy, apparently confused. Her confusion didn't go unnoticed by Emu who then began to think of something.

\- "Tell me, Wendy." The girl turned her head, looking at the doctor who seemed in deep thinking. "When was it that you met Jellal ?"

\- "Hmm… It was 7 years ago. Not long after Grandine disappeared." She revealed, which made Emu squint his eyes.

\- "And Erza said she escaped the Tower of Paradise 8 years ago…" Wendy looked at him in confusion then worry as he lifted his head, eyes filled with concern. "Wendy, I think the Jellal you know of isn't the one that is here today."

\- "What ? What do you mean ?" Asked Wendy, shocked and not understanding what he meant.

\- "I mean… The Jellal we know of did pretty bad things. Under the influence of dark magic, he betrayed Erza and spent years building the Tower of Paradise you probably heard about." Wendy nodded, knowing those rumors as Emu continued. "Well, this betrayal, and thus the beginning of the construction, happened 8 years ago. And Jellal never left this tower the whole time."

\- "So since Wendy met Jellal 7 years ago when he was supposed to be in this tower, then this means that we are talking about two Jellal, right ?" Resumed Wendy, Emu feeling like she might know something about this second Jellal but decided to not push it for now. As for Wendy, she didn't know if this was true and should it be, if she should be relieved that the bad things she heard about Jellal weren't about the one she knew. "That being said, we better go and find him. Whether he's the one you remember of or not, he's the one who unsealed Nirvana and as such, he must know how we can stop it."

\- "Y-You're right !" Said Wendy, now more motivated. "We have to find him !" And she took off, followed by Emu and Carla, following her nose to try and find Jellal. _"Jellal, please be safe. I don't know if you are the one I remember of or not, but I need answers anyway… I've never forgotten about you… not even for a day."_

Little did they knew, they should hurry up as everything weren't as good for Jellal and his group. Kouta and Emu were standing side by side, eyes wide in shock as they saw Jellal falling to the ground, beaten up and defeated in almost an instant by Midnight, who stood there, unimpressed, looking down at his opponent with a mocking smirk.

\- "Poor clown… Did you also forgot how to use magic along with your memory ?"

\- "For that guy, to be defeated so easily…" Muttered Kouta, still trying to understand what happened.

\- "It's probably the self-destruction magic he casted on himself." Said Erza, eyes glued to Midnight. "He has lost a greater amount of magic than I expected."

\- "Huh ? Are you still alive ?" Said Midnight, seeing Jellal struggling to get up. "You know that I want to see your frighten face."

 _ **SOIYA ! ORANGE ARMS ! HANAMICHI ON STAGE !**_

As he heard that, Midnight turned his head to the side, seeing Erza and Kouta coming at him with two blades each. However, he did nothing to dodge them as when Erza tried to slash him, her swords unexpectedly bent and missed their target.

\- "What ?"

\- "Erza Scarlet… is it already time for the main dish ?"

Kouta tried to attack, his swords also bending out of the way, though a little less than Erza's, forcing Midnight to move a little to completely dodge, but this wasn't the only thing Midnight could do. Suddenly, with a simple wave of his hand, Midnight managed to send a slicing attack to Kouta, forcing him back a few step to prepare what was coming next.

 _ **SPIRAL BURST !**_

Air suddenly bent and created a small horizontal twister that slammed into Kouta and send him crashing into a house. With Kouta out of the way, Midnight could once again focus on Erza who was coming back, once again trying to slash him, only for her sword to miss.

\- "Erza ! Get away from him ! He's too dangerous !" Tried to warn Jellal, but it was too late. Midnight simply pointed his hand at Erza who was forced back by some kind of shockwave but that was only the beginning as her armor suddenly began to wrap around her, tried to twist and squeeze her body hard, aiming to make her break completely in the true sense of the word. But Erza managed to save herself by requipping into her Heaven Wheel Armor.

\- "I see." She began, now clad in her new armor. "So that's the nature of your magic."

\- "Indeed, my magic, Reflector… has the power to twist and distort anything." Explained Midnight. "It can deflect incoming magic back the way it came and by wrapping the path of light, it can even be used to create illusions. Your magic cannot make contact with me."

 _ **SOIYA ! KURUMI ARMS ! MR KNUCKLE MAN !**_

Midnight looked to the side, seeing a flurry of stones being send his way. Smirking, he used his magic on the stones, making them fly out of the way, but this wasn't over. Hiding behind the smoke left by the stones, Kouta appeared, hands wrapped in large walnut shaped fists, aiming at Midnight who seemed genuinely surprised by the assault, immediately jumping out of the way ad the fist connected with the ground, creating a pretty large crater.

\- "And I guess you can also twist air to create those sorts shockwaves." Said Kouta, standing back up, holding his fists up. "This should be interesting."

\- "You took me by surprise, I'll concede that, but this won't happen again."

The two mages took their position, ready to jump on their opponent, Jellal looking at the scene with concern, while elsewhere, the mood was different, but not much better. Natsu and his group were all around Jura, checking the man wounds.

\- "What should we do ? His wounds are terrible…"

\- "Terrible, but he won't die." Stated Sento. "I'm not doctor, but it seems like his vitals weren't touched. Besides, he is one strong man. He'll survive."

\- "He better ! I'm not letting anyone die on me, especially not like that." Stated Gray, looking angry, but not as much as Natsu. However, their little moment of peace was soon broken by a new voice echoing in what was left of the place.

\- "Dear me. Brain, that fool… He mustered all the power he had left…"

\- "Who's there ?!" Asked Gray, looking around for the source of the voice.

\- "… And still failed to eliminate more than a single enemy…" continued the voice, ignoring Gray when Happy finally noticed who was talking.

\- "There !" Said the cat, pointing at something a little higher on the stair.

\- "Pathetic… He brings shame to the six." Said the newcomers as everyone looked at him with wide dumbstruck eyes. "Ah, well… As long as Midnight remains, we will not be defeated… I suppose I shall deal with the rest of you myself."

In front of them, hovering above the ground, was Brain's staff, the voice coming from the skull on the top.

\- "… The hell is this ?" Asked Lucy, shocked by what she was seeing, just like everyone else.

\- "The staff… is talking ?" Haruto stood there, actually amazed by what he was seeing. "And here I thought this world couldn't be surprising anymore."

The only one who had another reaction than staring agape like fishes at the staff was Natsu, who grabbed the staff, slamming the head on the ground repeatedly.

\- "Stop this city, you stick !"

\- "Natsu ! Stop that ! We don't even know who he is !" Asked Lucy, the scepter using a little moment of pause from Natsu to answer.

\- "I am the seventh of the Oracion Seis. I have awaken from my slumber to eliminate y-"

\- "I SAIS STOP IT !" Ordered Natsu, cutting the staff by once again hammering the ground with him. While he was busy doing this…

\- "The seventh of a group of six ?" Said an uneasy Gray.

\- "Are we just accepting the fact that we are dealing with a talking stick ?" Added Sento, finding that staff very interesting, as well as really confusing.

Tire of being used like a mallet of some kind, the staff managed to escape Natsu's grasp and float in front of the group.

\- "What a violent brat…" He said before turning to the horizon. "The guild will be into view any moment now… I should at least clean out this trash before we arrive. Crushing Cait Shelter is the vital starting point."

The mages and Riders looked at the staff then at themselves. With everything that happened, they have yet to know about the most important piece of informations : Why were they so obsessed by Cait Shelter ?

/- Somewhere else -/

\- "Dance ! Swords of mine !"

 _ **KURUMI SPARKLING !**_

While Natsu's group was dealing with a mysterious floating staff, Erza and Kouta were still busy fighting with Midnight. Erza had just sent her many swords at him, Kouta following by punching the air, sending walnut shaped sphere at their opponent who simply stood there, a hand raised toward the oncoming projectiles.

\- "Did you really think attacking in greater numbers would make a difference ?" He taunted, distorting the projectiles to send them back to their owner. Erza and Kouta defended themselves, countering their own attacks but while they were busy, Midnight attacked again. Distorting the air, he managed to violently repel Kouta, sending him into another house before focusing on Erza, once again twisting her armor, breaking the wings as the metal wrapped around her, squeezing to the point of making her spat blood.

\- "More… I want to see more agony on your face…" Said Midnight, smiling like a sadist. "That face is wonderful." Erza managed to muster the strength of sending the sword in her hand at Midnight, the latter dodging by simply moving his head to the side.

 _ **SPIRAL PAIN !**_

\- "GAAAAAHHHH !" With one movement of his arm, Midnight created a vortex of distorted air right under Erza, rising suddenly and crushing her, inflicting heavy damages to the mage who fell to the ground, beaten up, her armor completely shattered, covered in blood.

\- "Hmm ? Done already ?" Taunted Midnight. "Please, don't go dying on me just yet. I'd like you to entertain me until we reach our destination."

 _ **SOIYA ! ICHIGO ARMS ! SHUSHUTTO SPARK !**_

Once again, Kouta managed to take Midnight by surprise, jumping at him from the side, trying to cut him with his Ichigo Kunai, Midnight forced to take a few steps back, staring at the red armored Rider.

\- "If you want some entertainment, I'm going to give it to you. But I have one question." Midnight frowned but said nothing, letting Kouta ask his question, Jellal listening to the two. "Where are you heading ? What is your objective, apart from the obvious ?"

\- "Well, if you really need to know, we are currently heading to Cait Shelter." This answer made the two guys gasp in shock.

\- "Cait Shelter ? That's Wendy's guild !" Remembered Kouta.

\- "Why… Why target Cait Shelter ?" Asked Jellal, Midnight smirking at him.

\- "Nirvana was created many ages ago by a race who wished to put an end to war, the Nirvit." Began Midnight. "However, Nirvana turned out to be far more dangerous than they first thought and as such, they had no choice but to seal it away. Fearing the evil uses to which it could be put, they kept an eye on the seal over decades and centuries. And Cait Shelter is a guild made up entirely of the descendants of the Nirvit." This made Jellal and Kouta's eyes widen in horror, as well as Lucy, Natsu, Grey, Happy, Sento and Haruto, who were currently being told the same thing by the floating head. "They still possess the power to seal Nirvana once again and as such, they have to be destroyed. After all, we wouldn't want this glorious power sealed away once more, now, would we ? This power that will allow us to cast the entire world into chaos ! Besides, this will be a great lesson to them. Throwing the Nirvit, who always claimed their neutrality, into war. With the power of Nirvana, we'll turn their hearts to darkness and have them slaughter one another ! Isn't it simply thrilling ?!"

\- "Far from it, you bastard !" Seethed Kouta, gripping his Kunai tightly.

\- "You disgusting…"

\- "Oh, don't try to act all righteous, Jellal." Cut Midnight, Jellal looking at him with confusion and apprehension. "You yourself is filled with nothing but darkness. You're a foul, depraved, and evil man. You forced children to labor under your command ! Killed your own comrade… You even tried to kill Erza !" As Midnight enumerated all those things Jellal had done, pain and regrets could be seen more and more on his face. "How many people do you imagine you have cast into misery ? How many people have succumbed to terror and wept tears of anguish thanks to your actions ? Join us, Jellal." Finally said Midnight, reaching for Jellal. "You would be a wonderful member of the six."

*CHING* Midnight was cut, both figuratively and physically, as a Kunai had been sent his way, so fast he barely saw it, a cut appearing on his nose as he looked back at Kouta with a glare. Needless to say, the fruit themed Rider was pissed.

\- "Just shut the fuck up !" Roared the Rider. "It is true that he did some fucked up things in the past, I'm not going to deny it. But he did them while under the influence of a powerful dark magic, unlike you wretched scum who are deliberately ready to plunge this world into chaos. If he was the kind of man you think he is, he wouldn't have tried to destroy Nirvana nor try and kill himself to put an end to Erza's suffering." Midnight seemed almost bored, while Kouta continued. "People might not forgive him, but there are people who are at least willing to give him a second chance. And I am one of them." Jellal looked at Kouta with wide eyes, not believing that someone could act like that for him. But this was just the beginning as a light shone behind Kouta.

\- "Kouta's right." Said Erza, standing up, clad in a new armor, or rather a robe, a purple one, with a dark obi around her waist, a bisentō in her hand. "I know of the light that dwells within you, Jellal." She was staring straight at Midnight who was smirking at her. "We will put an end to your worthless plans. Without fail !"

Jellal stared at her, a smile slowly forming on his face, feeling better seeing her taking his side, also remembering her words from before, asking him to live. As for Midnight, he seemed very amused by the situation.

\- "So you can still stand… You're as impressive as the rumors say you are, Erza. You are worth destroying." He said, turning to look at her with a confident smile. "Come on, Erza. Let me see your true power. Your attack won't reach me though."

\- "Really ? I'm pretty sure I see a scratch on that face." Reminded Kouta, Midnight's smile faltering at that. "That's at least one weakness : we can take you by surprise. Besides, I'm pretty sure it's not the only one." As he said that, he and Erza exchanged a glance as Erza took off, moving so fast she was already in front of Midnight in a blink of an eye.

\- "That's not how you'll get me. No matter how fast you are, you won't get through my reflector." Indeed, Erza's bisentō curved and missed her target, but that was not what Erza was aiming at to begin with. As soon as her attack missed, she violently thrust her palm on his chest, cutting off his breath and sending him flying, slamming into a wall a good ten meters away, taking even Midnight by surprise.

\- "Kouta is right, there are weak points in your magic. Two to be exact." She said, surprising Jellal and Midnight, the first not believing that she could have found that much within such a short period of time. "Firstly, you can distort magic and weapon, but it doesn't work on human beings. If it could, it would have been easier to aim my body, and not the armor around it."

\- "Hmpf. Even so, I could choke you to death if I really wanted to." Said Midnight, using his magic to twist Erza's robe, hindering her movement, but she didn't seemed worried. And for good reasons.

 _ **1 ! 10 ! 100 ! 1000 ! ICHIGO CHARGE !**_

A giant energy-made strawberry flew over Midnight who had no time to react as the strawberry then exploded, freeing countless amounts of kunai that rain down on him, inflicted heavy damage on the mage as Kouta walked up, Ichigo Lockseed attached to the Musou Saber.

\- "Secondly, when Erza threw her sword at you while you twisted her Heaven Wheel Armor, you dodged it instead of using you reflection magic. This means that you can't bend everything as you want. You can either do it around yourself or around someone, but you can't do both at the same time."

\- "Exactly, and on top of that, This Robe of Yuen is an elastic armor." To prove it, Erza effortlessly moved her arms, the robe taking back it's original shape. "Your magic won't work on it. In the end, I think this make three weak points."

\- "Shit… I was so close…" Muttered Midnight from the ground, the other thinking he was done for, defeated, but when he lifted his head, they were proved the opposite as his face was dark, showing that he was far from giving up. "If you died a bit earlier, you wouldn't have had to see this fear." He then got up, the atmosphere suddenly heavy as Midnight's body got covered in darkness. "At midnight, my refraction gets to its peak !"

Suddenly, and much to everyone shock, his body began to swell and distort, transforming him until the only thing left of him was a massive monster, completely black with some marking looking like scars and shining red eyes.

\- "What the hell is that ?!" Shouted Kouta, already fishing for some other Lockseeds when the monster ran at them, as sphere of dark crackling energy in his palm.

\- "I don't care what will happen now !" He roared as he slammed the ball on the ground at Erza's feet, creating an explosion so powerful it destroyed half of Nirvana's town, blowing the three teammates away. But soon after, a tendrils shot out from Midnight's palm and impaled Jellal, much to Erza's horror as the same thing also happened to her, Kouta looking in horror at what was happening as he also got impaled by another tendril, blood spurting out of his wound as his armor literally shattered.

\- "Don't go dying on me so easily, now." Said Midnight. "This is where the dun really starts ! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA !" He then began to laugh, Jellal, Erza and Kouta shouting in pain as they kept vomiting blood.

 _"How can this be happening ? How could he destroy my Arms like that ? What this has to do with distortion magic ?"_ Wondered Kouta when a memory suddenly came back to him.

 _"… it can even be used to create illusions …"_

Kouta's eyes widen at that, realizing what that meant. He then closed his eyes, focusing on his surrounding, the real ones. He could feel something, someone moving, he wasn't the only one who saw through it. So he did what had to be done. He changed his Lockseed.

\- "HAHAHAHAHAHA…GARGH !"

Midnight was so entranced by his illusion that he didn't even noticed Erza and Kouta, the later in Orange Arms, weapons in hand, rushing at him at striking him down, breaking through his illusion, much to his horror, and Jellal confusion who had failed to see through it.

\- "M… My illusions aren't… working." Stated Midnight in shock, blood spurting out of the deep cut on his front, Erza and Kouta standing behind him.

\- "Too bad for you. Visual illusions don't work on me." Said Erza, her left eye closed, her fake right one still open.

\- "Besides, don't go saying what your magic can do if you intend to use it, people might remember it." Added Kouta, thankful to Midnight for being so talkative about his magic.

\- "No… I can't… I can't lose." Seethed Midnight through his pain, fishing something out of his vest. "I won't go down… not without defeating you first…"

\- "What… Is that a fruit ?" Jellal innocent comment made Kouta's eyes widen as he turned around, only to see Midnight eating a familiar reddish fruit. He could have tried to stop him, but alas, this wouldn't have changed anything. Upon eating the fruit, Midnight transformed, taking the exact same appearance as in his illusion, only in greenish colors, half the size he was and with a more… vegetal look. His shoulder and torso were covered in roots and leaves that run all over his body, reaching his legs and covering a part of his face. Immediately, he used his magic to distort the air around Kouta and Erza, sending them both flying, Midnight following them in one jump, slamming his fists on them, sending them crashing on the ground next to Jellal. In mid-air, Midnight turn around and used his magic as soon as he landed, the ground bending in front of him like waves which send the group further away from him.

\- "His magic… He's even more powerful than before." Said Jellal, still weak and knowing full well that he was of no help for his friends.

\- "We have to see if his weak points are still there." Said Kouta, taking a new Lockseed. "Go after him, Erza. I'll try to keep him busy."

 _ **SOIYA ! BUDOU ARMS ! RYU, HOU, HA-HA-HA !**_

Budou Ryuhou in hand, he began to shot repeatedly at Midnight, the shots bending out of the way like he expected while Erza came at the monster. However, the Robe of Yuen suddenly wrapped around her, taking her aback as well as robbing her of her mobility, as the Inves kept sending the shots away. He then thrust his palm in the general direction of the group, sending the bullets flying back at Kouta who tried to dodge them all without much success, but at the same time, he distorted the ground, using it to ram into Erza to send her back to her friends.

\- "It can't be… He can now distort many things at once ?!" Stated Erza, horrified as her robe got even tighter, Kouta being on a knee next to her, panting.

\- "Looks like it…" He said between each breathing. "But why does he tried to keep us away ?"

\- "What do you mean ?" Asked Jellal.

\- "I mean, if he can distort us all at the same time, why sending Erza back there ? He could have crushed her easily, but it looks like he want to keep us at large."

Indeed, the ground in front of Midnight kept swelling, as if he was ready to push them back should they try to come close, all while distorting Erza's robe and sending distorted air or stones at them to try and crush them. They had no way to come any closer. If they tried to split and get around him, he would bend the street and building to stop them and if they tried to attack him from afar, he would send the projectiles back. They were struggling, trying to find a solution when it finally came, in an unexpected form.

 _ **RIDER LIGHTNING DRILL KICK !**_

Midnight had no time to understand what that new voice meant that his left shoulder was pierced by a electricity covered drill, the latter landing on the ground as it came to a stop, revealing a man in golden and black armor with blue eyes.

\- "At last ! It was about time I found you, buddy !"

\- "Gentaro !" Exclaimed Kouta, happy to see his friend who just seemed to notice them.

\- "Huh ? Kouta ! Sorry I'm late !"

\- "What did you mean by that, Gentaro ?" Asked Erza. "Did you know that guy ?"

\- "IT's the guy who can bend everything, right ? I fought him but we were interrupted when that huge thing came out of the ground. And now that I've found him..." He then turned to Midnight who was still nursing his wounded shoulder while deactivating his Drill. "… I'm going to settle this fight once and for all !"

Gentaro then attacked, Billy the Rod in hand as he assaulted the Inves, who strangely was more busy trying to push him back than fighting him for real. Looking down, he bent the ground at Gentaro's feet, using it to send Gentaro in the air, aiming to put some distance between them, but Gentaro wasn't one to back down.

\- "Oh, sorry man. I won't let you go this time !"

 _ **WINCH ON ! GATLING ON !**_

Gentaro threw the hook at Midnight, wrapping it around his arm as he used it to spin around him thanks to the reactor on his back, while firing at the creature with Gatling. Midnight tried to follow his every movement, either throwing punches or distorting matter to stop the Rider.

\- "Wow. He know how to fight." Commented Jellal, amazed by Gentaro's ability to mess with Midnight like that.

\- "There's something weird." Said Kouta. "Why isn't it trying to stop us anymore ?" Indeed, Erza's armor wasn't twisted anymore and the rippling ground in front of them was now back to its original shape. Erza noticed it too and reported her attention on Gentaro and Midnight to try and understand what was happening. And she noticed something which made her eyes widen.

\- "His eyesight… That's how it work !"

\- "What do you mean ?" Asked Kouta, not understanding what she meant by that, the swordswoman pointing at Gentaro.

\- "Look !" Kouta looked closely, at first not seeing anything, but after sometimes he saw it. Midnight was struggling to keep his eyes on Gentaro and the only things that bent where the one in front of his eyes. "He can bent everything as long as it's in his field of view !"

\- "I see. That explain why he tried to keep us so far from him." Said Jellal, now seeing the logic behind the Inves strategy. "The closer we are to him, the easier it is for us to get out of his eyesight." Suddenly, the situation wasn't as dire for the group of heroes who got back up, feeling much more confident.

\- "We can win this. Now that we know of this, we can fight back !" Stated Erza, bisentō in hand.

\- "You're right." Said Kouta, taking a few Lockseed in his hands. "But we're still dealing with an Hybrid, Erza. You know what that mean." He then handed her a Lockseed, which she took without a second though, taking a few seconds to take a look at the orange and kind of metallic Lockseed which in her hand turned mainly silver with some purple touches. "Let's do this."

 _ **ORANGE ! LEMON ENERGY !**_

\- "Of course."

 _ **KACHIDOKI FAIRY !**_

\- "HENSHIN !"

 _ **SOIYA ! MIX ! ORANGE ARMS ! HANAMICHI ON STAGE ! JIMBER LEMON ! HA-HA !**_

 _ **SOIYA ! KACHIDOKI FAIRY ARMS ! YOSEI IZA SHUTSUJIN ! EI, EI, OH !**_

Once transformed, Erza was wearing a silver and purple version of the Kachidoki Arms, with a longer version of the robe of Yuen underneath. She even wore the helmet, without the visor nor the mouth plate, showing her face as her red hair cascaded from under the helmet, flowing on her back. The two flags shown the Fairy Tail emblem, just like her chest plate. The main difference was the weapon, which was a bisentō whose blade was none other than the DJ Gun, thinner but longer than the original gun wielded by Kouta and in silver with touches of purple. Speaking of Kouta, he and Erza quickly get into action. The Rider was the first to move, shooting with his Sonic Arrow at Midnight's back, the latter taking the shots as he couldn't use his magic since he didn't saw it coming. This of course attracted his attention, the Inves managing to bat Gentaro away as he turned around, sending a wave of distorted air at Kouta who simply dived to the side, avoiding the attack. Erza then jumped at Midnight from a blind spot, swinging the DJ Bisentō at her opponent, landing many strong blows while he was looking elsewhere, but one glance in her direction was enough for her attacks to bend out of the way, missing her target. She could feel her armor tightening around her, but luckily…

 _ **FIRE ON !**_

Gentaro changed his state and, using his Hee-Hackgun in Fire extinguisher mode, fired a cold blast at the creature, forcing him to take a step back as Gentaro landed next to Erza, soon joined by Kouta, who fired some arrows on his way before slashing the beast with his bow.

\- "We have to take him out now ! Let's combine our power in one shot !" Proposed Kouta, which seemed to make Erza doubt.

\- "But we'll have to go away from him and as such, he'll have much more possibility to use his magic on us !"

\- "Not if he can't see us ! Gentaro !"

\- "On it !"

 _ **SMOKE ON ! SPIKE ON !**_

Activating his two leg Modules, Gentaro jumped at the creature and kicked him in the eyes with the Spike Module, making the Inves roar in pain, hands on his eyes, suffering while Gentaro took this opportunity to shot a smokescreen at Midnight, adding a security in case he got over his wounded eyes faster than expected.

\- "That should be okay ! Let's go this !"

\- "Right !" Said Erza and Kouta, the knight placing the Kachidoki Fairy Lockseed on the DJ Bisentō, Kouta locking the Lemon Energy on the Sonic Arrow and activating the Squash function of the driver while Gentaro inserted the Fire Switch in the Hee-Hackgun in Flame Mode. __

 _ **LOCK ON ! KACHIDOKI FAIRY CHARGE !**_

 _ **LOCK ON ! ORANGE SQUASH ! LEMON ENERGY !**_

 _ **FIRE LIMIT BREAK ! RIDER EXPLODING SHOOT !**_

Grabbing her bisentō with two hand, one on the handle, the other on the DJ Gun with one finger on the trigger, Erza was charging a silver and purple energy in the gun. Next to her, Kouta was pulling on his bow, a row of slices alternating between orange and lemon ones appearing in front of him, lining up with Midnight. An alarm rang from Gentaro's gun as fire build up in the weapon, aimed at the creature, which they all shot at the same time, the three massive bullets of pure energy fusing along the way before colliding with the Inves, creating a large colorful explosion of flames and energy upon impact, accompanied by a loud cry of pain coming from Midnight whose Inves parts were being burned our by the attack. When the explosion finally ceased, Midnight was standing there, covered in burn and blood, looking at the sky with sadness, his hands reaching for it.

\- "Th… That can't be…" He said, almost sobbing. "I'm supposed to be… The most powerful… even stronger than Father… A mage undefeated by anyone."

\- "If you find people's suffering as something to laugh at, then you're a long way off from the top." Said Erza, without even looking back at Midnight, the Rider by her sides as Midnight fell to the ground, defeated. "If you don't want to lose to anyone, then you must know your own weaknesses first. And always have kindness."

The Riders smiled at this philosophy, Jellal looking awestruck at what he just saw, amazed by Erza's performance as the three heroes unmorphed. They might not know of it, but with Midnight out of the fight, they had just beaten the last remaining member of the Oracion Seis, meaning this fight was over.

Or was it ?

/- With Natsu's group -/

While Erza's group was dealing with the last member of the Oracion Seis, Natsu's group was having a hard time fighting… A staff. The talking staff, self-proclaimed seventh member of this group of six had taken it upon himself to take care of the mages and Rider now that Brain was out of the fight. And surprisingly, he was doing good for now. For instance, he just spun on himself and smacked Natsu on the cheek, sending him to the ground, much to the other shock.

\- "Wha- ?!" Gray had no time to finish his intervention that the staff had flew to him, smacking him just like he did with the Dragon Slayer, the Ice Mage joining his teammate on the ground.

\- "Natsu ! Gray !" Cried Lucy, stopping as she felt something rubbing on her, looking down to see that the staff was here, lifting her skirt instead of hitting her. "KYAAAAAAA ! Pervert !" She shouted, trying to swing a punch at him, only to miss.

\- "Hahaha ! Seeing the underwear of a child like you is hardly going to excite me." Mocked the staff while headbutting Lucy, who felt insulted by the staff.

\- "That is not how you should talk to a girl." Scolded Haruto, unmorphed but wielding his sword, swinging it down at the staff who dodged the swings like a boss, Wizard soon joined by Natsu, Gray and Lucy, frustrated by the hovering staff, trying to catch the laughing stick. But some of them noticed that someone was missing and he was sitting on the side, a notepad in his hands.

\- "A talking staff… Is he a magical being ? Or maybe someone that have been trapped inside the skull ? This is really intriguing…"

\- "NOW'S NOT THE TIME FOR THAT !" Shouted Gray and Lucy at Sento, who didn't seemed to care. But he, like the others, was forced to noticed when the staff suddenly stopped, his skull seemingly raising an eyebrow.

\- "Hm ? The six…" Began the staff, sensing that Midnight's presence just faded, joining the five others. "…. Have fallen ?!"

\- "Wait. Then this means…"

\- "That the Oracion Seis have lost !" Finished Gray with a grin. However, the fact that the staff suddenly gasped, letting go of the crystal ball he had in his mouth as fear and sweat graced his face, made them think that something was wrong.

\- "Oh, no ! This is not good ! Now He… will arrive !"

\- "He ?" Repeated Sento, feeling like something really bad was about to happen, as the marking on Brain's face had all disappeared, the mage suddenly opening his eyes, who were now pitch black. "What are you hiding ?"

\- "Brain has another personality, you see…" Began the staff.

\- "What ? Like, schizophrenia ?"

\- "In a way, yes." Admitted the staff. "The face he show the world his known as Brain… But there is another, hidden face, which loves destruction and goes by the name of 'Zero'. Because of the immensity and danger that his power entails, Brain himself sealed this personality away through the use of six keys."

\- "Six keys ? Don't tell me that those keys were the Oracion Seis ?!" Asked Haruto who was already getting what he meant.

\- "Due to the nature of the Living Link Magic, when the six 'demons' fall… The personality of Zero will arise once more…" Suddenly, a chill run down whatever spine the staff had has his eyes widen and his mouth fell agape. This prompted him to turning around and threw himself on the ground, in a bowing position to someone who was coming into the room. "W….Welcome back ! Master Zero !"

\- "Ah, Klodoa." Said a man with the exact same voice as Brain, addressing the staff. "Things certainly seem to have become rather interesting. Was even the mighty Midnight eliminated ?"

\- "Yes, sir !" Confirmed Klodoa, shivering in what seemed to be fear at the man in front of them who was also wearing the same clothes as Brain. In fact, the only change came from his pitch black eyes and his hair, now free of any restraint. "M… My deepest apologies !"

\- "At any rate… This certainly is a refreshing feeling. This body… this voice… This power… It's all so nostalgic. I will take care of the rest. Stand back, Klodoa." The staff obeyed as the man got rid of his clothes, new one magically appearing around him as he glanced at the mages and Riders in front of him. "Young brats… You would appear to have done quite some damage to my guild. As Master, I will have to take the proper retaliatory action."

\- "So this is Zero, the true master of the Oracion Seis, apparently." Said Haruto, gripping his sword tightly as he felt an uneasy feeling in his guts.

\- "This aura… This isn't going to be as easy as it was for Jura with Brain." Said Sento, Driver at the ready, Fullbottles in hands.

\- "Getting pumped, are you Natsu ?" Asked Gray, his wide eyes testifying of his own uneasiness. And for once, Natsu was on the same page as him.

\- "I've never felt any magic this disgusting before…"

\- "Yes… I think the man who was rude enough to injure my body should be the first to go." Said Zero, looking at the unconscious Jura, which angered the group.

\- "You asshole… You're gonna attack a guy who can't even move ?!" Shouted Gray, taking his usual ice making stance as Zero smirked.

\- "It matters not whether he can move or not. As long as he has physical form, destroying him his worth enjoying !"

 _ **ICE MAKE : SHIELD !**_

The flower shaped wall of ice appeared at the same time as Zero unleashed a torrent of the same dark magic as Brain at Gray. But with Zero's level of power, the shield looked as if he was made of glass as the tendrils of magic shattered it effortlessly, blasting Gray away. As soon as this happened, Natsu, fist on fire, appeared in front of Zero who proved to be an exceptional opponent even at short distance, spinning on himself and backhanding Natsu with a powerful punch, sending the Fire Mage crashing into a bunch of ruins on the other side of the room. Zero glanced at the mage when he heard two distinctive voice.

 _ **SHABADOOBI, TOUCH HENSHIN ! SHABADOOBI, TOUCH HENSHIN !**_

 _ **RABBITTANK SPARKLING ! ARE YOU READY ?**_

\- "HENSH… GAAGGH !"

Before they could transform, Zero had send the same wave of dark magic at Sento and Haruto, inflicting heavy damages as they were both sent away, leaving Lucy alone to face Zero, if only she could. Indeed, the sight of her friends being manhandle so easily was quite off-putting, and the sheer aura of power that emanated from the guy made her unable to move, stuck on the ground quivering like a leaf, Happy hiding behind her legs. Too scared to move, tears in her eyes, she could only stared as Zero's magic exploded from underneath her, sending her flying as well as Happy , leaving the 5 guys not moving and laying on the ground.

\- "A… As impressive as ever, Master Zero !" Praised Klodoa, maybe more by fear of him than anything else. "Absolutely splendid ! To eliminate these irritating brats with so little effort !"

\- "You're not dead yet, right ?" Suddenly asked Zero to the laying mages and Riders, confusing Klodoa as the master smiled like a madman. "You're not dead yet, are you, little brats ?! I can still see your bodies !"

What followed could only be described as a slaughter, Zero using his magic again and again on the Riders and mages, drinking in their cries of pain as his magic shred through their bodies. When he stopped, the young comrades looked more dead than alive, clothes in shreds and covered in bloods, rings and Fullbottles scattered all over the ground around the Riders. Once he was satisfied, Zero left the place, heading back to the King's Area with Klodoa as Nirvana kept heading toward their destination, who they were slowly approaching.

\- "Master Zero… Cait Shelter is coming into view." Said Klodoa, Zero simply humming in answer. "It is the guild of the race who sealed Nirvana away. If we destroy them, we get rid of the risk of it being sealed away once more."

\- "Meaningless…" Simply said Zero, almost disappointed, Klodoa looking at him in confusion. "I said it's meaningless !" Zero said this while grabbing onto Klodoa, his hand snapping the stick in half, the skull hitting the ground while shouting his confusion over his master's behavior, only to be crushed under the latter's feet who was looking at the guild in front of them with a mad light in his eyes. "I just want to destroy, all right ?! Destroy every last damn thing ! This will be the first strike ! I need no reason ! It has physical form, so I will eliminate it !" A few minutes before that, Wendy, followed by Emu and Carla, finally made it to Erza's group.

\- "Jellal !" Exclaimed the girl, the other noticing the other persons present.

\- "Erza's with him, too !"

\- "And Kouta and Gentaro." Finished Emu, now noticing the state they were in. "You aren't looking good. What happened ?"

\- "We ended up facing one of those Oracion Seis. But we took care of it." Said Kouta as Wendy walked to Jellal who seemed confused.

\- "Who are you ?" Asked the man, Wendy looking down, visibly disappointed.

\- "Jellal's memories have been damaged somewhat…" Explained Erza, seeing how sad Wendy looked. "It seems he doesn't remember either of us right now".

\- "Did I… Know you ?" Asked Jellal, racking his mind to try and find something in his memories about the little girl, but nothing came.

\- "I should hope you haven't forgotten how to stop Nirvana on top of everything !" Accused Carla, shaking her paw angrily at Jellal.

\- "The self-destruct array will be no use at this point…" Sadly said Jellal. "I don't know what else to do. I'm sorry."

\- "Then what is going to happen to our guild ?!" Shouted Carla, pissed off. "IT's right there… right in front of us !"

\- "Calm down, kitty." Said Gentaro, ignoring her outraged gasp at the nickname. "We're going to find a solution. There have to be a way to stop th…" He was suddenly interrupted by a deep noise coming from Nirvana's front side, as if something was charging up. "What the hell is this ?"

This, was none other than Nirvana, now adorned by a canon of some sort, which was slowly getting filled by magic, loading and aiming at the guild and the village around it. All around the ancient capital, people could feel the power building up as Zero looked gleefully at his target, a mad smile on his face.

\- "NIRVANA… FIRE !"

 **Small cliffhanger, but it's not as if you didn't know what was about to happen. Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter even if it's shorter than usual. Don't forget to review or PM if you either, liked it, hated it, have advice or questions, I'll answer them all with pleasure. See ya !**

 **Next time : 7 mages, 7 Riders, 6 crystals. Unexpected defenses. Awake the dragons and burn through the darkness.**


	43. Chapter 43 : Nirvana's last stand

**Hey, guys ! I'm sorry for the little delay this time, but I just got Borderlands 3 and this took a whole lot of my time ! But don't worry, the Vault Hunter won't make me forget my stories, so here is the new chapter. Enjoy !**

 **Chapter 43 : Nirvana's last stand**

\- "NIRVANA ! FIRE !"

The large structure stood there, facing the small village-like guild, the cannon on the front filling with magic with a revving sound. The cannon itself was already almost as big as the guild and should it fire, the damages would be colossal and the members of Cait Shelter knew it perfectly. They were currently all huddled up in the main building, fearing for their lives, the only one calm being their master, Roubaul, who seemed ready to take it.

\- "Wh do you clamor like that ? This is our fate. The reckoning for our heavy sins."

\- "Righteousness… Perish before me !" On top of the town-like machine, Zero was jubilating as the cannon finished his loading finally firing a humongous blast of pure white magic at Cait Shelter, Zero laughing like a madman, ready to see the destruction of the guild… Which never happened. Much to everyone shock, the shot missed its target by a good margin, no one understanding how Nirvana could have missed, when the answer was right above them. A sudden bright magic appeared from the sky and bombed one of the leg, making it bent and thus, forcing the cannon to point upward, shooting at the sky. Now then, the next question was where the hell was that shot coming from. And when they lifted their heads up, the mages got an answer they weren't expecting.

\- "That's… the magical bomber airship of Blue Pegasus… Christina ?!" Realized Erza, as shocked as everyone else to see the flying ship.

\- "But how can it fly !?" Asked Emu, wide eyed. "I thought he had been shot down by the Oracion Seis when we first fought them ?!"

\- "Can you hear me ?! Anyone ?!" Everybody could hear Hibiki's voice inside their head, linking everyone vie telepathy. "If you're safe, then please respond !"

\- "Hibiki ?!"

\- "Good to hear you, man !" Said Gentaro.

\- "Erza-san ? Gentaro ? And Kouta, Emu and Wendy-chan ! You're all safe !" He said from his spot in the cockpit of Christina, looking at one of his archive screen, displaying chibi version of the group.

\- "I am just about safe as well…"

\- "Senpai ! Thanks goodness !" Happily shouted Hibiki, relieved to see that his idol was okay. If you consider being beaten up, bloody and tied to a pole to be okay.

\- "What's going on here ? I though Christina was down for the count. How did you…"

\- "It's a team effort." This was Shinnosuke's voice that answered, reassuring even more those who could hear him. "Lyon created an ice wing to replace the one who was destroyed and we managed to make it fly, or rather float, thanks to the combined effort of Sherry's doll magic and Ren's air magic." Indeed, the two could be seen on the deck of the boat, trying their hardest to keep the ship airborne.

\- "The attack just now was thanks to Eve's snow magic." Added Takeru, also on the boat with everyone else. "He fused his own magic with Christina's heavy ammunition but even that wasn't enough to destroy even one leg. He's out cold, right now."

\- "Thank you, everyone…" Thanked Wendy with tears in her eyes, feeling grateful that they saved her guild.

\- "I'm afraid we can't do much. We spent everything we had. We can't do anything else." Indeed, as he said that, Ren and Sherry, tired out by the effort, let go of the ship who began to fall to the ground, slowed down thank to Lyon's wings, but not enough to avoid the crash. "But don't you worry about us ! Just listen to this, you all ! It took a while, but I finally managed to find information about the Nirvana in my archive ! The way to stop Nirvana !"

Now this got everyone's attention, Riders and mages alike, who were more than ready to hear whatever Hibiki had to say.

\- "For real ?! How do we do that ?!" Asked Gentaro.

\- "As you've noticed, Nirvana has six leg-like structure, right ? Well, they are actually valves that draw magic from the Earth to power Nirvana. The Lachryma Crystals responsible for controlling the absorption process are positioned around the top of each of the legs. You have to find them and destroy them all at once, at the same time and Nirvana's functions will be stopped."

\- "At the same time ? Why ?" Asked Emu, having already an idea about the answer.

\- "If you don't destroy them all at the exact same time, the other crystals will just repair the damaged area !"

\- "But how can we do it ?!" Asked Erza, this timing not the best thing for them. Furthermore, as he was about to explain everything, they heard him cry in pain as the Christina finally crash landed in the middle of the woods, making people fear for their passengers.

\- "The telepathy won't hold much longer…"Said Hibiki, his voice slightly more strained. "So I've uploaded an exact time into each of your heads." Indeed, they all saw a timer appear in front of them, showing the same time for everyone, 20 minutes. "That's the time we have left before Nirvana fire it's second shot."

\- "How utterly futile…" Everybody gasped, hearing Zero's voice joined them in their telepathic conversation, hijacked by the dark mage. "My name is Zero. I am the master of Oracion Seis. First, allow me to compliment you. I never dreamed that there would be another in the world who could use Archive, the same magic as Brain…"

\- "The same magic as Hibiki ? Guess that explain how Brain found Nirvana." Said Kouta, frowning as he saw the seconds slowly passing.

\- "Now, hear me ! Mages of the light ! I will hereby proceed to destroy everything !" Declared Zero. "I have begun by destroying 5 of your comrades. The Dragon Slayer, the Ice Mage, the Stellar Spirit Mage and two of those Riders, one with bottles and one with some kind of magic."

\- "Natsu-kun and the others ?!" Deduced Hibiki, alarmed.

\- "You lying… As if Sento and Haruto could lose against someone like you !" Declared Shinnosuke, pissed off.

\- "Anyway… You spoke of destroying all of the Lachrymas at once, isn't it ? Well, I myself stand at this moment before one of those Lachryma crystals ! As long as I'm here, you have no hope of destroying them all at once, if you can even destroy one at all ! WAHAHAHAHAHAHA !"

And just like that, in a typical big bad guy fashion, he broke the communication with the rest, leaving them to digest what they just heard.

\- "Great… As if the situation wasn't that complicated already…"

\- "Wait ! We don't have six mages ! We don't have the one needed to destroy all the Lachrymas !" Carla statement's made people blood ran cold.

\- "I… I… can't use destructive magic… I'm sorry…" Explained Wendy, Emu and the other Riders looking at her, perplexed, but one of them tried to calm her.

\- "Hey, chill out." Said Gentaro, trying to look at the good side. "Even if Sento and Haruto are out, we have 5 Riders. With the last mages, we have more than enough."

\- "I'm afraid this isn't as easy." This time, it was Belt*san who talked. "When we learned about those crystals, I scanned Nirvana to look for them and what I got where magic readings, but also Shockers. They probably did something to protect the crystals, too. As such, it would be for the best if we could send one Rider and one mage to each crystals."

\- "…We have two mages and three Riders here." Said Erza, trying to count how many there were who could still fight. "Are there no other mages or Rider who are able to move ?!"

\- "You have me, do you not ?" Said Ichiya, making his presence known.

\- "Me and Shinnosuke are here to." Said Takeru. "This makes 5 Riders and 3 mages. We still need more !"

\- "Gray… Get up already…" Said Lyon, talking to the knocked out mage. "You're a proud apprentice of Ur, aren't you ? You can't lose to these scum…"

\- "Lucy… I honestly can't stand you…" Admitted Sherry. "Acting so full of yourself just because you're a little cute… You're stupid and clumsy, and weak, and yet… yet you always… Always put your all into everything… How can I hate you if you die ? That would leave a terrible after taste… So respond, would you…"

\- "Come on, Haruto." Said Kouta. "You're supposed to be the Magician of Hope. You can't give like that, can you ? The show must go on, after all, right ?"

\- "Sento… I know you're not the kind of guy who give up after one fail." Said Emu. "You're a scientist and you always say that failure is part of every scientific experiment… You won' t go down without finishing this… You always find them… The laws of victory…."

\- "Natsu-san…" Whispered Wendy, followed by many others, addressing the Dragon Slayer all with the same amount of trust. Even for Happy

\- "Natsu-kun…" Finally said Hibiki. "Can you hear… our voices ?"

\- "Sure we can !" Fist on the ground, Natsu was just getting up, a knee on the ground. By his side, Gray was on his knees, Lucy was leaning on a wall, Happy standing, head down, Sento gripping his Fullbottles, sitting back up and Haruto on his four, panting. They were all beaten up, bloody and bruised, but they were alive and they weren't ready to thrown in the towel. Hearing their friends brought a smile to everyone's face. "We can hear you…"

\- "Destroy all six Lachryma… At the same time…" Resumed Gray.

\- "And the lucky one gets to punch that Zero guy's face…" Added Lucy.

\- "Plus, we'll probably have to deal with Shocker…" Continued Sento.

\- "And everything in 18 minutes exactly…" Completed Haruto.

\- "We've got to hurry…" Said Happy. "We have to protect Carla and Wendy's guild !"

\- "You sure you're all in shape to do this ?" Asked Takeru. "Not that I don't trust you, but things could get ugly real quick, here." Takeru's worries were justified but someone decided to keep the mood high.

\- "Don't you worry about that. I got this covered."

 _ **DO-DO-DOCTOR ! HISSATSU ! FULL THROTTLE !**_

Out of nowhere, or more precisely from behind the group, a white floating device came and injected them with colorful syringes. The process was painful, making the all cry in pain, but the result was there. They weren't completely healed as they still had bruises over their bodies as well as some blood, but they were clearly in better shape.

\- "Thanks for the help, Shinnosuke." Thanked Haruto as Drive came in, unmorphing as Mad Doctor began to harass Haruto who chuckled at his behavior. "And of course, thank you, Mad Doctor."

\- "Well, we still have to find those Lachryma and destroy them." Said Sento, looking up. "Do you have any idea, Hibiki ?"

\- "Th…This connection won't last… Much longer… That's why I've transmitted a map into your heads…" Indeed, a map flashed in front of everyone eyes, showing them where they were as well as number going from 1 to 6. "Each Lachryma… Is marked with a number… Before the connection breaks… Each mages and Rider must decide, where they'll go."

\- "Number one !" Immediately said Natsu, gritting his teeth.

\- "I'll go with him." Said Haruto, standing beside the Fire Mage.

\- "2 for me." Said Gray, Shinnosuke deciding to go with him.

\- "I'll take number three ! Please don't let Zero be there…" Prayed Lucy, Sento putting a hand on her shoulder.

\- "Don't worry. I have a feeling he won't be there. And I'll go with Lucy for number 3, too."

\- "I shall handle number 4 ! The perfume tells me it's the closest to my location !" Said Ichiya, still immobile, tied to his pole.

\- "Where are you exactly ? We need a Rider to go with you." Asked Gentaro, only to be stopped by Takeru's voice.

\- "Don't worry, I'll go with him. I'm closer to the fourth than the others." Said the ghost Rider, heading toward his target.

\- "Then I'll take number 5."

\- "Erza !? You're all right, now ?!" Asked Natsu, who until then wasn't aware that the knight had been healed.

\- "Yes, all thanks to a certain someone." Said Kouta, ruffling Wendy's hair gently before taking a step forward. "I'll follow Erza."

\- "Then I'll…" Jellal was suddenly cut by Erza, who stretched her arm in front of him.

\- "You'll take number 6."

\- "Wait. There's someone else there ?" Asked Natsu, who was curious as to who just spoke. "Who was that just now ?!"

\- "Natsu doesn't know about your situation just yet. He still consider you an enemy. You should keep quiet."

\- "Hey !" Shouted Natsu indignantly, but it was already too late, Hibiki had lost his focus and the connection was lost. Leaving each group to themselves.

\- "Looks like Hibiki was at his limit…" Commented Belt-san. "Anyway, we have our six teams ! Let's go ! And whoever will end up facing Zero will have to beat him by themselves as the others won't be able to come since they all have a crystal to destroy !"

Everybody was now dead set, their minds solely on their objectives as they all ran toward their destination, or almost everyone. Tied to the post, Ichiya was trying to move as much as he could, but he clearly wasn't in the best of shape and his position made it difficult for him to move, or rather bounced. After a few bounces, he was laying on the ground, panting and sweating heavily, tongue hanging out of his mouth.

\- "Number four ! I must reach number four ! Everybody is counting on me ! I cannot betray their expectations ! I am not… Out of breath at all…"

\- "What are you doing, Ichiya ?" The mage looked up to the one looming over him, only to find Haruto, looking down at him curiously.

\- "Takeru ! Men, I'm so glad to see you !" Cried Ichiya, relieved to finally get some help.

\- "Seriously, though. Why are you tied like that ?"

\- "I had an unfortunate meeting with dark mages back when we split to found Wendy." Explained Ichiya, Takeru looking at him with a raised eyebrow. "Could you please untie me ? This will be really difficult for me to help if I'm tied like that." Takeru did as Ichiya asked, the mage immediately jumping up as if he just came back to life, stretching himself. "Men ! Does it feel good !"

\- "I'm happy for you. Now come on, we have a crystal to destroy."

And with that, they left, following the map in their head toward the 4 crystal to be in position when the timer will reach 0. And speaking of zero, Natsu and Haruto, still in a pretty bad shape despite Shinnosuke's help, waddled into the large circular room where the Lachryma was located, in the middle of the room. And just in front of it stood Zero, smirking at them, but also, and more surprisingly, Doctor Shinigami.

\- "So you're still alive, after all…" Said Zero, looking at the mage and Rider. "What business have you here ? Brat."

\- "You have no chance to beat the both of us, even if you were in top shape. You can give up. There's no winning for you this time."

Natsu then began to smirk, along with Haruto whose smirk was slightly smaller. This made the two bad guys curious, and almost amazed by the behavior those two had.

\- "Looks like we're the lucky ones to hit the jackpot, Natsu." Said Haruto, grabbing a ring. "Unless it wasn't just luck that brought us here…"

\- "…Maybe…" Answered Natsu with a smile that talked volume and made Haruto shake his head with a smile as his eyes went back to the crystal and mainly the technology around it. "It would seem like they are using Shocker technology to protect the crystal. Luckily we are there together : we'll need to destroy it together if we want to break it."

\- "No problem. We'll manage. But for now…" Said the Fire Mage, his eyes fixated on Zero. "Let's see who is gonna be destroyed in the end… Us, or you !"

While Natsu and Haruto were facing the two main baddies, the others were on their way to their respective crystals, on about to, like Erza and her group, already thinking about the situation.

\- "I heavily suspect Zero is at Lachryma number 1." Said Erza, frowning.

\- "That's where Natsu-san went !" Realized Wendy in shock, which didn't seemed to surprise the others.

\- "With the nose he got, I'm pretty sure that's not a coincidence." Said Gentaro, scratching his head. "I'm sure he head there precisely because Zero's there."

\- "Then we should go and back him up !" Said Wendy. "If we all fight together…"

\- "Don't underestimate Natsu, Wendy." Said Emu, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure he can handle this. Besides, he has Haruto with him. They can handle this."

\- "And we couldn't help them even is we wanted anyway." Added Kouta. "I'm pretty sure is that all the crystals are protected by Shocker soldiers. We can't let a single crystal out if we want to save Cait Shelter."

\- "Exactly. Now, let's head for our own designated stations !" Declared Erza, already turning to walk away. "Kouta with me to number 5. Jellal and Gentaro, you're number 6." As she said that, she noticed that Jellal was looking a bit weird, gritting his teeth and holding his head in what seems to be pain. "Jellal ?"

\- "No… It's nothing… Don't worry." And with that, he began to walk away, Erza looking at him before shrugging and leaving with Kouta, leaving a perplexed Gentaro, Emu and Wendy alone with a Jellal who seemed to have realized something. "Natsu… Dragneel…"

Speaking of Natsu, the Fire Mage currently going at it with Zero, or at least, he was trying to. Was it the fatigue of the day or a gap in power too large between them ? Either way, Natsu kept trying and failing to land a hit on Zero who dodged his attacks effortlessly, his hands literally behind his back. Taking a step back to avoid a punch, then crouching to dodge a lateral kick aimed at his head. Natsu even tried a Fire Dragon's Roar, but the explosion of fire didn't even scratched the dark mage who protected himself with a single hand, shocking Natsu.

\- "Hm. Your movements are more impressive than before." Admitted Zero, pointing two fingers at Natsu.

 _ **DARK CAPRICCIO !**_

Zero shot from his finger the same focused blast of magic with a cork like tail behind it at Natsu, who dodge by crouching down, the penetrating magic pierced the incurved wall behind him and disappearing inside it. Natsu though this was over with this, but he was wrong.

\- "Don't you go thinking my magic is the same as Brain's." Said Zero, moving his hand as the magic bullet suddenly reappeared right under Natsu, hitting him in the head then, following Zero's movement, it curved and came back at Natsu, this time his sides, then his legs.

\- "HAHAHAHAHAHA !" Laughed Zero as his spell was pummeling Natsu from all sides. "Which of us will be destroyed, you ask ?! I should think that is all too obvious !"

\- "Natsu ! GAGH !" Haruto would have like to come and help Natsu but he was already too busy dealing with Ikadevil. That man might look like a simple octopus, but he was also one of the 3 Shocker Generals, which meant he was more than powerful. Currently in Fire Dragon, he was trying to take the upper hand, but it was far more complicated than he originally though.

 _ **BIND, PLEASE !**_

Chains made of fire shots out of a magic circle, encircling an unfazed Ikadevil who was smirking internally when he saw Haruto coming at him immediately after the chains had wrapped around him. But he broke them all in an instant and welcomed Haruto with a strong punch to the guts, also whipping him with the tentacles that made his arms. While exchanging blows with the octopus monster, Haruto managed to grab another Ring to try and stop this onslaught.

 _ **COPY, PLEASE !**_

A clone appeared right next to Haruto, who immediately went to attack Doctor Shinigami with his sword, hoping he would be too busy with the real Haruto to dodge. But the octopus was as slippery as he was dangerous. He grabbed a hold of Haruto's wrist and dragged him in the way, the Rider taking the blows from his clone on his back before he was thrown, literally, at the clone, hindering both of their movements and allowing the octopus to unleash a flurry of laser at the Harutos, engulfing them both in large explosions, Haruto soon becoming one again as he struggled to get back up.

\- "We always underestimated you all Kamen Riders back in our world." Said Shinigami, looking at the hurt Rider. "But you can be sure that we learned the lesson and that it won't happen ever again." Haruto seethed. He didn't care if they were underestimating them or not, right now, he just needed to beat him and help Natsu take care of Zero before it was too late. Speaking of Haruto, he wasn't the only one who was tired of something.

 _ **FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FIST !**_

Igniting his fist, Natsu took the Dark Capriccio head on, punching it to try and stop it. But Dark Capriccio was a penetrating magic for a reason. Thus, Natsu, despite the power in put in the attack, was sent back, his feet digging into the floor to try and keep him standing as well as trying to help him stop this attack. Natsu growled and shouted, or rather roared, as he fought against the magic bullet which finally came to a stop, but this left a pretty nasty trace of his passage. Natsu was standing in front of two traces left by his feet that extended for about 20 meters, the Fire Mage panting heavily ad he held his left arm who was now a mess of flesh and blood.

\- "Stopping a magic designed for penetration head-on…" Commented Zero, looking impressed, even if a little bit. "Very interesting…"

Then, something happened. Out of nowhere, a magic shot came down and exploded on Natsu, sending him to the ground as Natsu, Zero, Haruto and Ikadevil, all surprised by what happened, turned to the origin of the shot. And realized that Jellal was standing there, hand smoking, a grin on his face, gaining many different reactions across the room.

\- "Jellal… What is he doing here ?" Asked Haruto, remembering Jellal for what he did at the tower of Paradise, which meant he wasn't a friend in the Rider mind.

\- "Would you look at that ? The one who, despite amnesia, unsealed Nirvana, now joining the battle." Commented Ikadevil, looking at the man intently.

\- "You…" Began Zero with a smirk. "So your memories have returned ?"

\- "Yeah." Answered Jellal with a smirk which made the heroes skin crawl. And one of them could feel his rage building up by the sheer presence of the blue haired mage. The other one was confused.

 _"His memories returned ?"_ Began Haruto in his head, feeling like something was off with Jellal _. "But… If I remember correctly, when he was in charge of the Tower of Paradise, he was under the influence of a dark mage, right ? Then is his memories returned, which memories are we talking about then ?"_

\- "JELLAL !"

Natsu for his part immediately jumped at Jellal, fists on fire, forgetting about Zero as he let his rage control him. As he got close to Jellal, the latter engulfed him in an explosion of fire, which stopped Natsu but without hurting him.

\- "Fire won't work on me." Reminded Natsu, still seething. Jellal's reaction to that however, wasn't the one they expected.

\- "I know that. I remembered." This caught the attention of the four people in the room, Zero's smile giving place to a confused one. "I remember of the ray of hope known as Natsu." He finally said with a friendly smile, his eyes showing genuine desire to help. This made Haruto smile, Ikadevil frown and Zero gasp in shock. "Fire Dragon Slayer Magic can be amplified using the power of fire."

Natsu then looked at himself, realizing that his strength came back a little thanks to Jellal's flame. As for Zero, he seemed to understand what was going on.

\- "You… You didn't get all your memory back, then."

\- "As I said, all I can remember for now is Natsu." Answered Jellal, Haruto and Natsu feeling their eyes squint as they noticed something hiding in his words. "Nirvana will be stopped ! That will never change, Zero."

\- "Wait a second !" Interrupted Natsu. "What do you mean by memory ?"

\- "I have no memory of before waking up in this place." Natsu's, but also Haruto's eyes widen at the revelation. "I do know that I was a horrible villain, but I am not aware of that at all. I must've inflicted deep scars on both you and Erza… But right now, I want to save Wendy's guild. I want to stop Nirvana. I want to be of help."

\- "BULLSHIT !" Natsu never waited for Jellal to finish before rushing at him, deadly furious and refusing to accept such things. "You're saying you forgot about that ?! What's with you, playing friends with me like that !"

\- "Please… Natsu…" Pleaded Jellal, feeling guilt filling him as Natsu shouted at him. "For now, please accept my flame."

\- "I'll never forget ! How you've ! Made Erza cry !"

\- "Geez, if you want to fight each other, can you go fight somewhere else ?" Asked Zero, shaking his head, annoyed by the quarrel. "You two are annoying me !" The then shot another Dark Capriccio at them, the bullet aimed at Natsu's back but before he could do anything, Jellal had pushed him out of the way and took the blow for him. Not only that, he did it in the exact same way Simon did back in the Tower of Paradise when he gave up his life for Erza, Natsu and Takeru. Natsu couldn't believe what he was seeing, Haruto neither, while Zero and Ikadevil were looking passively at the scene.

\- "You can kill me at any time you like, since I… am already this worn out." Said Jellal to Natsu with a smile. "But right now… Take the power to defeat that guy…" As he said that, Jellal held a hand at Natsu, a hand were a golden flame shone, almost calling on him, the Dragon Slayer looking at it with wide eyes. Among the other people present there, Zero stood there, unimpressed, while Haruto seemed confused by the flame and Ikadevil squinted his octopus eyes, feeling like something was strange with this flame, and not only his color.

\- "I don't know what you're aiming at, but as I said, we'll cease to underestimate you. Which means I won't stand there to see what this flame can do !" He then shot many lasers at Natsu and Jellal, Haruto trying to warn them.

\- "NATSU ! JELLAL ! Get out of the way !"

The warning came to late, but not the rescue. Red and blue energy bullets came from the hallway where Jellal appeared, followed by footsteps as the bullets, easily defeating the lasers, exploded on Ikadevil, forcing him away from Haruto.

\- "That guy don't remember a lot, but his desire to help us is as pure as it can be." Said Gentaro, walking into the room in Magnet State. "I know he shouldn't be forgiven for what he did in the past, but it's not like we can say no to people who want to help given our current situation."

\- "You took your time, Gentaro." Smiled Haruto as he got back up while Ikadevil seethed at the new Rider. "But I thought you were supposed to go with Jellal to the 6th crystal ?"

\- "We should have, yes. But there's been some changes. Don't worry though : we left it in good hands."

/- Meanwhile, near the 6th crystal -/

\- "You sure you can do this, Wendy ?" Asked Carla, walking in the hallway leading to the 6th crystal with Emu and Wendy, the cat looking at Wendy who had a determined expression on her face.

\- "It's something I have to do." She said confidently, Emu smiling at her.

\- "I'm sure you'll do fine, Wendy." Said the doctor. "It's like Jellal said : this power is within you."

/- Flashback -/

Before heading to the 6th Lachryma, Wendy confronted Jellal, worried about his wellbeing when he split with Erza, Gentaro and Emu were also there, curious as to how the situation could turn out.

\- "Jellal, you're not well ?"

\- "No…" Answered honestly Jellal, looking down. "But you can use healing magic, right ? Then can you go and heal Natsu who's fighting with Zero ?"

\- "I…"

\- "Don't be stupid !" Carla shouted, cutting Wendy as she shook her little fist at the blue haired mage. "How many times do you think she has used her healing magic in just one day already !? She can't use it any more than this ! To start with, this girl…"

\- "Is it possible for you to shut it ?" Emu's sudden remark drew a outraged gasp from Carla as they all turned to the Rider who was frowning. "What are you, her mom ? I'm not gonna pretend I know her better than you, cause I don't, but this girl won't ever be able to grow if you keep protecting her like that." Carla stood agape at the Rider, feeling her anger boil inside of her as Wendy was looking wide eyed at him.

\- "Then I'll be the one to heal Natsu." Suddenly said Jellal with a smile, looking at the others. "I remembered now, the unlimited power of that man named Natsu, the power of hope."

\- "I don't know how you plan on healing Natsu, but if you go there, there will be no one to take care of the 6th crystal." Reminded Gentaro to which Jellal simply smiled.

\- "Then Wendy and Emu will do it in our place, then." This made Emu and Gentaro nod, while Wendy seemed unsure, to which Jellal squatted down to be at her level. "Emu's right, you can do it. The Dragon Slayer Magic is an immense destructive magic which is used to fight with dragons. Eat the air… no… The sky… the 'Heaven'. There's also the power of a Dragon inside you."

/- Flashback end -/

\- "The power of the dragon inside me… is to protect my own guild ! Please Grandine ! Lend me your power !"

Emu smiled at Wendy's newfound confidence, Carla looking divided between worry and proudness of seeing the little girl so confident for once. However, this confidence took a hard blow when they reached the room. Of course, Emu noticed the Shocker technology that protected the crystal, but he mainly saw the platoon of Shocker Soldiers surrounding the crystal. The view of those soldiers made Wendy and Carla take a step back until their back hitting Emu's legs.

\- "So this is the Shocker presence Belt-san felt." He said before looking at Wendy. "I'm going to take care of those guys. Stay back."

\- "B…But, I want to help, too !"

\- "And you will." Said Emu, squatting to be at Wendy's eyes level. "You have that power inside of you, as Jellal said, but you never used it and since you'll be using it for the first time, you need to keep it to destroy the crystal should you be too weak to do it twice. Besides, as a pediatrician, I don't feel right in letting a child fight those guys."

With this he turned to the soldiers, putting his Driver in place, Carla and Wendy eyeing him with curiosity.

\- "You do realize that there's a lot of them and that we have less than 10 minutes right ?" Said Carla, which made Emu smirk confidently.

\- "Yes. Far more than enough, if you ask me." He said, pulling a large Gashat from his belt. "Let me show you something amazing."

 _ **MAXIMUM MIGHTY X !**_

\- "MAX DAI HENSHIN !"

 _ **MAXIMUM GASHAT ! GACHAN ! LEVEL MAX ! SAIDAIKYUU NO ¨PWERFUL BODY ! DARIRAGAN ! DAGOZUBAN ! MAXIMUM POWER**_ __ _ **X**_ __ _ **!**_

As Emu appeared inside of the large mech, Wendy and Carla could simply stare in shock and amazement at what they were seeing, the Rider facing the platoon without any doubt showing on his face.

\- "I'll clear this with No Continues !"

/- Back at crystal #1 -/

While this was happening, Gentaro had taken his place in front of Natsu and Jellal with Haruto, protecting the mages while Zero stood there, right next to the crystal, unimpressed while Ikadevil glared at the group. In Jellal's hand, the golden flame shone brightly, Natsu shivering as he looked at it, as if he could feel the power coming out of it.

\- "This is the Flame of Rebuke." Said Jellal, looking at Natsu. "I won't ask for your forgiveness, but I do want you to accept this power. I believe in you. I'll believe in the man… Who Erza believes in."

Finally getting over his state of surprise, Natsu grabbed Jellal's hand, his body immediately coating itself with the flame as he proceed to eat it, stepping out from behind the Rider and into the light once again.

\- "Thanks for the meal." Said Natsu, flames seeping out of his body. "I've received it now, Jellal."

\- "The Flame of Rebuke ?" Repeated Zero with his ever-present confident smile. "If you ate that, then that'll make you his fellow sinner."

\- "The mages of Fairy Tail, are already used to sin." Answered Natsu, stepping to the limit of the bowl-like structure. "What the true sin is... is to avert your eyes away, and stop trusting in other people !"

In a flash, Natsu had shot from his spot like a fiery missile and struck Zero hard in the guts, taking the dark mage by surprise, his confident smile disappearing, replaced by shock as Natsu then proceed to grab him by his vest and threw him above his shoulder and onto the ground. He immediately answered with another Dark Capriccio, the same bullet Natsu's Iron Fist couldn't even fully stopped. But this time, Natsu didn't even have to force himself, neutralizing the spell with a simple backhanded slap, shocking Zero and even Ikadevil, the two sweating slightly at what they were seeing on the pink haired mage's face.

\- "What is this ? Is that… Scales ?" Wondered Ikadevil, looking at what just appeared on Natsu's skin, his body shining in a light Zero seemed to recognize.

\- "Tha… That light… Dragon Force !?"

\- "This power… Is similar to when I ate Etherion…" Said Natsu, looking at himself. "This is great… I feel as though my power had doubled or tripled."

While Gentaro and Haruto were amazed by Natsu's new strength, their opponents weren't thinking the same thing. Ikadevil, for instance, also felt that power and he didn't liked it at all.

\- "I don't know exactly what this Dragon Force is, but I won't let you do as you please !" Shouted the octopus but before he could do anything, he was stopped by red and blue bullets exploding at his feet, forcing him back.

\- "And you think we'll let you do as you please ? You're fighting with us, Ikadevil !" Stated Gentaro as he grabbed a large, light blue switch.

\- "He's right. You might know better than underestimate us, but that is something we never did." Said Haruto, taking a timer out of his magic circle. "It is time to put an end to this."

 _ **COSMIC ON !**_

 _ **SET UP ! START ! WATER DRAGON ! HURRICANE DRAGON ! LAND DRAGON !**_

The 4 Dragon Style appeared in the room, with their special parts on, two on each side of a Cosmic State Fourze, Barizun Sword in hand.

\- "UCHUUUUUUUU KITAAAAAAAAAAA ! Our friendship will take on the universe !"

\- "Now, it's showtime !"

After glancing quickly in the Riders direction, Zero focused himself back on Natsu. The Dragon Force. He knew what that was. This was the final form of a Dragon Slayer, said to have the same power has the dragon. The power to destroy everything. This last word made him grin, his confidence coming back as he smirked, taking a stance.

\- "Interesting." Said Zero, Natsu turning back to look at him with a glare. "Come. Dragon's power."

\- "Let's go !" Shouted Natsu, rushing at Zero, ready for a second round.

/- 3rd Lachryma -/

\- "Come on, we're almost there." Sento, Lucy and Happy were about to reach the room were then crystal was, and they truly hoped that this crystal wouldn't be too protected because they clearly weren't in any shape to fight. Well, Sento could fight a little, but clearly Lucy wouldn't. She was currently heavily panting, still hurt despite Mad Doctor's healing, leaning on the wall.

\- "Lucy, are you alright ?" Asked the cat, looking at the pained blonde.

\- "This is not the time to show off…" Began Lucy, her voice quivering slightly as Sento and Happy noticed small tears falling down. "I just couldn't say that I can't do it. I… have no magic power left at all… But still, I want to save Wendy's guild. I want to be proud of myself. That's what I won't give up until the very end."

\- "You have every right to be proud of yourself Lucy." Said Sento, walking up to the blonde. "Even with no magic, you still want to fight for what you believe in. Exactly what a true mage of Fairy Tail would do. I'll take care of the Lachryma, don't worry." With that, he got up and walked to the end of the hallway, stopping as he saw what was inside the room. "Oh, for god's sake…"

Happy and Lucy walked, or dragged in the blonde case, to Sento and gasped in shock when they saw the Shocker Combatmen all around the crystal which seemed to be protected by some sort of technology.

\- "No… Don't tell me they…"

\- "Yes. It's the same thing that happened with Lullaby when they tried to 'rebuild it' back in Clover. The crystal is protected by an energy only someone from our world can destroy." Sento gritted his teeth. Things were starting to take a turn for the worse. "I'm going to deal with those guys. In the meantime, try to gather all the strength you can. If you can't fight, I'll use a part of your magic to destroy the crystal."

 _ **KUMA ! TELEVI ! BEST MATCH ! ARE YOU READY ?**_

\- "HENSHIN !"

 _ **HACHIMITSU HIGH VISION ! KUMATELEVI ! YEAH !**_

Now clad in the marigold and gunmetal armor, Sento dived into the battle, summoning a screen with his Televi side, enlarging himself as he pass through it, before clawing at the soldiers. Alas, they were way too many for him to deal with. Despite his size, he was assaulted from all side and he was starting to lose the upper hand he currently had. In a few moments, his body will turn back to its regular size and if that happen, he'll be in one hell of a pinch. As this happened, Lucy and Happy watched the scene powerless as their friend was slowly shrinking down. Lucy, despite her current state, gritted her teeth and grabbed one of her key, pointing it at the Rider.

\- "Open… the door to the… Bull…. TAURUS !" However, nothing happened, Lucy's magic power completely empty for now.

\- "Lucy… I thought you had no magic left ?" Asked Happy, to which Lucy answered with frustrated tears in her eyes.

\- "I know. But I just can't stay here and do nothing !" She felt weak and she hated that, looking at Sento who wasn't in the best shape to begin with getting beaten up by those black clad thugs. "I have to help him somehow. I won't ever let my friends down ! Come on…. Open. Open ! OPEN !"

\- "WE AAAAAAAAARE !"

Everything came to a stop when a sudden torrent of sand crossed the room, wiping out a good portion of the Shocker Soldiers. Sento was the first to get over it, clawing the ones around him and giving some space to jump back to Lucy, where he found a tall buff man with a large tail-shaped cannon standing behind her.

\- "Scorpio !?" Shouted Lucy, dumbfounded, the spirit simply smiling and nodding at her before disappearing, showing two little beings behind him.

\- "Your feeling touched us." Said two voice in perfect timing.

\- "Gemini !?"

The two little spirit 'danced' around for an instant before disappearing in a puff of smoke, a perfect copy of Lucy appearing out of it.

\- "We'll be your will, Lucy. You want us to break through this crystal, right ?"

\- "In five minutes in tandem with me, yeah." Answered Sento, a grin on his face as he looked back at the crystal. "Looks like things are looking good once again. Let's take care of those pawn before times run out."

 _ **RABBIT AND RABBIT ! BUILD UP ! ARE YOU READY ?**_

\- "BUILD UP !"

 _ **OVERFLOW ! KURENAI NO SPEEDY JUMPER ! RABBITRABBIT ! YABEI ! HAEI !**_

Changing into the full red armor of the FullFull RabbitTank Bottle, Sento brandished his Fullbottle Buster and ran back into action, this time alongside Taurus, summoned by Gemi-Lucy. This time, things will be different and as the time goes, they got closer to the fated moment where they'll either save Cait Shelter or witness it's destruction.

/- First crystal -/

While the different teams all around Nirvana were busy fighting the Shocker Soldiers that protected the crystals, Natsu was going at it with Zero, their fight more balanced now that Natsu was in Dragon Force. On the other side of the room, Fourze and Wizard were busy dealing with Ikadevil who wasn't in that bad of a position for someone fighting 1 on 5. After all, he was one of Shocker three Generals for a reason. Ikadevil's long tentacle arms slammed onto the ground, forcing the Rider to jump out of the way, except for Water Dragon who turned liquid and rushed at Ikadevil who spat a cloud of dark smoke at the water being to stop him.

 _ **AERO ON !**_

The turbine-like module appeared on Gentaro's leg which he used to blow the smokescreen away and back to the octopus, blinding him slightly as Land and Flame attacked. Taking some blows due to his temporary blindness, the monster quickly got over it and repelled both clones, sending them slamming into a wall with a swipe of his tentacle.

 _ **THUNDER, PLEASE !**_

 _ **GATLING ON ! ELEK ON !**_

Just then, a burst of dragon shaped green lightning followed by a flurry of electric bullets rained down on Ikadevil, creating an explosion around the monster that sent him rolling to the ground. He got up rather quickly, though, facing the Riders with a glare, the Riders sending that glare back. In the meantime, Natsu was on par with Zero, neither of them taking the advantage over the other, though this could change quickly.

 _ **DARK GRAVITY !**_

Pushing both hands toward the ground, Zero increased gravity in an instant around Natsu, sending him crashing through many grounds. The sudden increase was so strong it created a hole that led to the outside and which could have send Natsu out of Nirvana, probably what Zero intended to do from the beginning. But Natsu got lucky, his fall coming to stop just beside the hole, the mage looking up only to see Zero diving at him, forcing him to dodge and enter a large room covered in vine, Zero coming at him with a Dark Capriccio on each hands. Swiping his hands all around, the flail-like spell followed his movements, beating down all around Natsu who kept dodging like a pro, using a small opening to unleash a roar at Zero who, barely grazed, appeared out of it and hit him with a burst of dark magic, making the mage lose his focus for a moment, which Zero used to shot many bullet-like projectiles at Natsu. But Natsu wasn't done, coming out of the smoke to immediately throw a powerful fiery punch at Zero who countered with a punch of his own. However, Zero noticed Natsu flinching just a little bit, which made him grin widely.

\- "It seems like that power… you still can't fully use it !" He said, sending Natsu flying through a wall and as soon as he landed, he ran to him and kicked him while he was on the ground. "Is this all you've got !? Where's your dragon's power !? The power of the dragon that used to rule the ancient world ?!" With one last kick, he sent Natsu rolling on the ground, strained by pain as he stood a few feet away, looking down on the Dragon Slayer. "I am the master of Oracion Seis. My level is totally different from just a soldier of some guild. There's no way crap like you can handle me on your own."

Back in the crystal room, things weren't as bad as they were for Natsu, but it wasn't perfect either. The Riders were starting to feel tired, having already fought today unlike their opponent. Seeing this, Ikadevil smirked mockingly.

\- "Look at you. You're about to topple over in tiredness." He mocked. "You're fighting for nothing, here. You know that without magic, you won't be able to get past the barrier around the crystal in time. Your fiery friend down here have no chance of beating this Zero given the state he's currently in. You're all alone here, you won't stop us, this time, Riders."

Ikadevil imagined many different reaction from the Riders, but the one he got was surprising. They both began to laugh, or rather chuckle, as they got back up.

\- "Well, I'll be damned." Said Gentaro, smiling under his helmet. "You helped us realize something we forgot for a moment here."

\- "Yeah. We completely forgot that we aren't alone. We're never alone." Added Haruto. "Our friends and allies are all there, fighting to make sure this thing stop once and for all." Ikadevil frowned as Fourze summoned two Switches with his Switch Lung, inserting them in his Driver.

 _ **LAUNCHER ON ! FIRE ON !**_

 _ **RADAR ON !**_

Gentaro pointed his radar to the ground, locking onto something as a volley of fire powered missile shot out of his Module, Ikadevil immediately guessing what he was aiming at.

\- "If you think I'm gonna let you send this little meal to your friend, you've got another thing coming !" He shouted, his tentacles moving but as they were about to shot at the missiles…

 _ **ALL DRAGON, PLEASE !**_

Haruto, now in All Dragon, flew straight at him a delivered a powerful blow with his clawed hands, sending the monster away from the hole in which the missiles plunged, heading straight for their target.

\- "We have to thank you for reminding us that we aren't alone. And since you seem to now know that it is a mistake to underestimate Kamen Riders, here's another lesson for you." Said Haruto as Gentaro came and slashed the monster with his Barizun Sword, sending him even more further.

\- "Never underestimate the strength of our bonds. As long as we have people to protect and to fight with, we'll never be defeated."

As they said that, all around Nirvana, all of the Shocker Soldiers had been defeated by the Riders and mages that came to them, now all alone to prepare themselves to destroy their respective crystals, waiting for the time to come, all trusting their friends ability to make it. Natsu knew time was running short. He was currently on his knees, breathing hard, trying to gather his strength when he heard something coming toward him and Zero. When the missiles appeared, they both noticed the flames coating them. Natsu gasped, realizing someone, probably Gentaro judging by the missiles, was trying to help him. Alas, if Zero was confident, he wasn't going to let Natsu eat those flames and thus, he destroyed them all with a single Dark Capriccio.

\- "How sad… I don't what to think of this. Did they send fire thinking you couldn't do it ? What pitiful friends you have."

\- "You're wrong…" Answered Natsu. "He did that to help me… even though he is in a fight, too…" He then began to get up. "You said I can't handle you on my own ? That may be true, but I'm not alone… I can feel it… Everybody's voice… Everybody's feelings…" Images then began to appear in his head, showing Gray protecting him and Wendy from Racer with his Rampart, Lucy hodling him close as they fell down the waterfall on that raft, Happy struggling to fly despite Cobra's poison, Haruto helping him taking care of Cobra, Jura protecting them from the trap, Wendy healing him, Hibiki coordinating the assault and Jellal giving him the Flame of Rebuke. "It's not only my power… But everybody's feelings that are… supporting me… and keeping me standing up now !" He finally got up, his whole body erupting in flames. "My comrade's power is running through my whole body !"

\- "So you think a little bit of fire is going to help that poor boy to defeat that guy ?" Said Ikadevil to the Riders. "If that's the case, then you're more naïve than I first though."

\- "It's not just that. Fire or not, we trust Natsu just like we trust everyone else. Trusting your comrades is what makes you able to overcome difficulties." Began Gentaro.

\- "As long as there is trust, there will always be hope." Added Haruto. "If you put your trust in someone, then there'll always be hope that you'll succeed."

\- "That is our bonds…" Said Gentaro.

\- "… And as long as we have them…" Followed Haruto.

\- "… WE'LL NEVER FAIL !" They finished as they rushed at Ikadevil who did the same, both sides shouting as they intended to put an end to everything while in the basement, Zero, despite Natsu's 'revival', looked as confident and mocking as ever.

\- "All this talk… but now, it is time to put an end to this." He, said, moving his arms as tendrils of dark magic seeped out of his hands. I'll end you with my strongest spell.

 _ **DRAGON SLAYER'S SECRET ART …**_

 _ **GENESIS ZERO !**_

 _ **CRIMSON LOTUS : EXPLODING FLAME BLADE !**_

As the two of them were about to finish it, everyone else had taken care of Shocker and were now readying themselves to destroy the Lachryma when the time will come. Guns were loaded, swords brandished, magic rising, all trusting that Natsu and his team would managed to take care of Zero. Haruto and Gentaro were both pushing back Ikadevil more and more, the octopus monster slowly but surely being overwhelmed by the two Riders. As for Natsu, he was rushing at Zero, covered in flames, heading straight into a humongous swirl of dark magic that seemed to be made of an infinite amount of dark silhouette, shrieking and ghosting at the pink haired mage. The whole mass enveloped Natsu who struggled to stay 'afloat', quickly submerged by the stream of magic. However, as he said, Natsu wasn't alone. The voices of his friends who were waiting for him made his flames grow suddenly, the flames growing as it consumed the dark veil around him, the boy rushing through the mass as if it was nothing, much to Zero's shock.

\- "The golden flame… Is he… Is he burning through my magic !?"

\- "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH !"

With one mighty roar, Natsu finally burst through the magic, his strength and aura making Zero feel like he was staring into a rampaging, unstoppable dragon. Natsu then punched Zero in the face, the punch powerful enough to make the ground explode all around them, as well as the walls and a part of the roof. But Natsu wasn't finished. Spinning on himself, he gathered all the magic he had left, enveloping himself in a cocoon of golden fire, before bursting from the ground with a resounding boom, shooting straight at Zero.

 _ **HIDDEN FIRE FORM : CRIMSON LOTUS : PHOENIX BLADE !**_

He then collided with the master of Oracion Seis, taking him for a ride through the roof above them, and everything standing in their way, pulverizing everything as they looked like a ray of light piercing through the stone. In the main room, Gentaro and Haruto could see that only a few seconds were left on their timer, showing that they had to get rid of Ikadevil now. As they were thinking of a way, they all began to feel something, a rumble coming from under them. Ikadevil looked down at the floor, wondering what it could be.

\- "What is this power ? Is that …"

 _ **NET ON ! BEAT ON !**_

 _ **BIND, PLEASE !**_

Even if they too were curious as to what was provoking those noises, the Riders took that opportunity to catch Ikadevil, wrapping him in fire chains as well as trapping him in a net made of energy. Once caught, Gentaro used the Winch Module to grab Ikadevil and sent him into the hair, allowing him and Haruto to line up their final strike, as everyone else shot their spell at the exact same time.

 _ **CHOINE, KICK STRIKE ! SAIKO !**_

 _ **COSMIC LIMIT BREAK ! RIDER SUPER GALAXY FINISH !**_

 _ **POWER PERFUME !**_

 _ **RASSHAI ZEN DAI KAIGAN ! KENG**_ _ **Ō**_ _ **, DEND**_ _ **Ō**_ _ **, ARROW, RINGO, COWBOY, KYOSH**_ _ **Ō**_ _ **, MUS**_ _ **Ō**_ _ **, KAIT**_ _ **Ō**_ _ **, DAZEYO, JO-**_ _ **Ō**_ _ **, Dai-**_ _ **Ō,**_ _ **BUSH**_ _ **Ō**_ _ **, DASS**_ _ **Ō**_ _ **, DOKUSHO, S**_ _ **ŌRYO**_ _ **, ZEN-IN SH**_ _ **Ū**_ _ **G**_ _ **Ō**_ _ **! GRATEFUL! OMEGA DRIVE !**_

 _ **ICE MAKE : LANCE !**_

 _ **HISSATSU ! FULL THROTTLE : FULL FULL FORMULA TAIHOU !**_

 _ **OPEN THE GATE TO THE BULL : TAURUS !**_

 _ **READY, GO ! JUST MATCH BREAK !**_

 _ **REQUIP : BLACK WING ARMOR !**_

 _ **KACHIDOKI CHARGE !**_

 _ **SKY DRAGON'S ROAR !**_

 _ **MAXIMUM MIGHTY CRITICAL FINISH !**_

Haruto and Gentaro's finisher connected with Ikadevil at the same time, sending the general crashing into the crystal just as Natsu came flying into the room, piercing through the ground and crashing into the crystal, the two bad guys crushed between the crystal and their respective attacker as the crystal shattered, exactly like the 5 others, in perfect synchronism, combination of magic and Rider powers making little works of the Shocker barrier and Lachryma crystals. With the crystals now out of commission, not only did Nirvana cannon stopped working, but the whole structure began to fell apart, crashing down onto the woods, landing with an loud crash in the trees below it, right under the Nirvit of Cait Shelter who couldn't believe what they were seeing, going from doomsday to survival in a matter of seconds. Aboard the wreck of the Christina, the other members of Lamia Scale and Blue Pegasus smiled in joy at seeing this monstrosity falling apart, just like everyone on Nirvana who smiled at each other, proud of themselves and relieved that after all those fights and obstacles, they finally managed to win. Wendy had tears in her eyes, happy not even beginning to describe what she was currently feeling.

They had done it. The Oracion Seis had been defeated. They had won.

 **Okay, its done. I'm once again sorry for the delay. Just know that this kind of wait between the chapters might become something usual in the future. Thank again for reading. If you liked, review, follow and favorite it to never miss an update.**

 **See ya !**

 **Next time : The tears of the queen. A fading guild. The strongest man is coming back.**


	44. Chap 44 : Fake guild & strongest return

**Hello guys ! It's been a long time, compared to my usual rhythm, but I'm much more comfortable like that. I hope you can forgive me for the wait. Just know that it's probably going to be the same form now on. Anyway, I hope you'll like this new chapter as much as I liked writing it. Enjoy !**

 **Chapter 44 : A false guild and the return of the strongest.**

Large clouds of dust covered the woodlands after Nirvana fell down on it. The now unmoving structure was covered with large holes due to the 6 explosions that came from the destruction of the Lachryma crystals that powered the ancient capital. All of the teams were all smile, relieved that this was finally the end for the Oracion Seis, whose members were all lying somewhere, out cold, even their boss, Zero. Speaking of Zero, he was laying on the ground in the first crystal's room, surrounded by what was left of the crystal, mouth wide open but down for the count. In front of him, Natsu grinned victoriously, looking at his opponent before he finally wobbled and fell to the ground, too tired to move. Next to the entrance of the room, Jellal, still laying on the ground, looking at Natsu with a smile, glad to see that he didn't misplaced his trust.

 _"Just like I though… He went beyond my expectations…"_

\- "Whew… What a fight." Said Haruto, back in his civilian attire, laying on the ground, taking deep breath to calm himself.

\- "Yeah… That was intense." Agreed Gentaro, he too back in his civilian form as he looked up to see Ikadevil laying on the ground, and something a little bit to the side. Out of curiosity, he forced himself up and walked to the thing, picking up what looked like a futuristic hard drive of some sort.

\- "Ugh… Damn you all, Kamen Riders." The four men in the room all turned their head in perfect synch, eyes glued to the shape of the Shocker General slowly getting up, he too back to his human form, his suit shredded and burnt all over. "Don't think that this is the end. You won't stop us. We'll get rid of you all in the end, so you better prepare because your doom is on the way." He then suddenly smiled darkly, almost snickering as a low rumble got heard. "That is, if you don't die too soon". And with that, he was gone, leaving Riders and mages behind as the rumble became a full fledge shaking, the walls, ground and roof cracking and falling apart, not only in the first room, but all over Nirvana. Soon, it was the whole place that began to collapse on itself, forcing everyone to run out of the building as fast as they could to avoid becoming a bunch of magical or masked pancakes. Thanks to Shinnosuke's Formula Type, Gray and Drive were the first out, barely avoiding the stone falling all around. Wendy and Carla would have been trapped under the rubbles if Emu didn't used his large Level 99 body to cover them before receiving Jura's help to get out of there. Lucy and Happy were pulled out of harm way by the crimson clad Sento, soon joined by Ichiya and Takeru, who came alongside Kouta and Erza.

\- "Is everyone safe !?" Asked Gray, looking around to see if anyone was missing.

\- "2…4…8…10… 13… We are missing 4 persons. 2 Riders and 2 mages." Said Sento, powering down after counting the ones who were already outside.

\- "Where is Natsu-san !?" Asked Wendy, looking all around. "Jellal's not here either."

\- "And Haruto and Gentaro aren't either." Said Takeru, looking at the ruins. "They are all probably still in there."

The group looked at the ruins, worry for their friend growing with each seconds until something strange happened. More exactly, the ground suddenly swelled up under Lucy and Happy and out of the 'bubble' suddenly appeared…

\- "Love shall lift up our comrades… Don't you agree ?"

\- "Richard !" Exclaimed Sento, happy to see their square faced ally, who was holding Natsu and Jellal in his arms.

\- "Isn't he one of the Oracion Seis ?" Asked Carla warily.

\- "Don't worry. Because of certain events, he's an ally, now." Said Jura, Emu nodding next to him.

\- "The switching effect of Nirvana, I guess ?" Jura nodded in confirmation as Kouta took a step toward Richard.

\- "But what about Haruto and Gentaro ? Weren't they with them ?"

\- "We're here !" Said a voice coming from the ground as Gentaro and Haruto appeared, the first with Schop on and the latter in Land Style. "We thought this would be easier if we each dig our own hole."

\- "Natsu-san !" Suddenly, Wendy had jumped in Natsu's arms, taking the Slayer aback for a moment before he saw her tear and smile, both born from happiness. "You really did protected it just like you promised… Thank you ! Our guild's been saved."

\- "Wasn't that everyone's power, just now ?" Answered Natsu with a kind smile. "And your power too. This time…" He then showed her his hand. "Put some energy into your high five."

And with a beaming smile, Wendy did exactly as she was told, high fiving Natsu with everyone else looking at the two, with smile on their face. Soon after that, Natsu was laying on the ground, completely tired, Wendy kneeling next to him as they all gathered together to talk about this mission.

\- "Well, no matter what, the most important thing is that everyone is safe in the end." Said Emu, hands in his pocket as people nodded around him.

\- "Everyone… You did a truly excellent job." Congratulated Jura, arms crossed and looking proud of everyone.

\- "And thus it marks the end of our operation !" Said Ichiya, still in a buff form.

\- "But who is that guy ?" Suddenly asked Gray, turning toward Jellal who was standing on the side, looking down. "Is he another of those flying horse hosts ?"

\- "Well, for those who don't know about him yet…" Began Gentaro, walking to Jellal, putting an arm around his neck. "Let me introduce you all to Jellal." The one who knew who Jellal was but never saw him, like Gray and Lucy, gasped in shock as they looked at him with wide eyes.

\- "What !? He's THAT Jellal !?" Gasped Lucy, looking at the blue haired mage in shock.

\- "But he's not the Jellal we once knew." Added Erza.

\- "He lost his memories." Explained Wendy.

\- "Well… You could have mentioned this earlier…" Said Gray, not knowing how he should feel about that guy.

\- "Don't worry." Kouta said, putting a hand on the ice mage shoulder. "Jellal is back to the good-natured man he was before the Rower of Paradise." As Gray nodded, Erza could be seen walking to Jellal, who was leaning on a rock on the side.

\- "I want to thank you for all of your help." Said Erza, a small smile on her slightly bruised face.

\- "Erza… No… There's no reason to thank me."

\- "What do you want to do now ?" Asked the red head, leaning on the same rock beside him.

\- "I don't know." He admitted, looking down. "I'm sure… That we're not going to come up with a simple answer. I'm afraid… That my memories will return." The sheer thought of remembering of the horrible things he did in the past scared him, but luckily, Erza was there.

\- "I'm here for you." She suddenly said, taking Jellal by surprise, turning to look at her with wide eyes. "Even if that hatred were to return, the current you won't vanish…" She paused for a second and was about to add something when she was interrupted by someone.

\- "MEEEEN !" It was Ichiya, whose cry just grabbed everyone attention, as he was standing with his arms and face resting… on thin air.

\- "What's wrong, Ichiya ?" Asked Takeru, Yurusen floating to the guy.

\- "I was just trying to go to the bathroom." Said Ichiya as Yurusen looked around Ichiya, finally noticing something.

\- "Hey ! There's strange letters on the ground !"

\- "Wait… Is it… a spell ?!" Realized Jura as they finally noticed that they were trapped, the spell surrounding them all.

\- "It's the same kind of magic than the one Freed use. Noticed Sento, looking closely at the ground. "Who did that ?"

His answer came in the form of a whole army of men, all wearing the same uniform and holding staves in their hands, surrounding the group as a man, with black hair and glasses, walked to the front of this army, standing directly in front of the barrier, facing the mages and Riders.

\- "There will be no more violence. So refrain from moving for a short while." Said the man before introducing himself to the group. "I am the head of the newly reformed council's 4th custody enforcement unit. My name is Lahar."

\- "I wasn't aware that the council was already reformed ? When did that happened ?" Asked Shinnosuke as everyone wondered why the council was here.

\- "We were reborn in order to enforce laws and justice. We will not forgive any form of misconduct."

\- "Then why are you here ? None of us did anything wrong." Said Shinnosuke, taking the defense of his group.

\- "There is one among you. Our purpose is to arrest the Oracion Seis. The one who code named Hoteye, please pass through."

In the group, people gasped, but no one louder than Jura who was stopped by Richard who put a hand on his shoulder.

\- "It's alright, Jura." Said Richard, who didn't seemed to be bothered by his situation. "My good nature may have awoken but the sins from my past have not disappeared. In order to start over, I must make things right." Jura said nothing for a few seconds before a smile graced his lips.

\- "If that's the case, I'll search for your brother in your place." He declared, Richard looking surprised, but also happy to hear that. "Tell me what your brother's name is."

\- "His name is Wally. Wally Buchanan."

\- "Wally !?" Repeated Erza, eyes widening just like Natsu's, Happy's and Shinnosuke's, as this was a name they knew pretty well. "I know that man." Revealed Erza, much to Richard and Jura's shock, a smile appearing on her lips as she remembered her old friend. "He's a friend. He's doing well. Last I heard, he was traveling across the continent."

Hearing this, Richard's eyes filled with tears as he fell to his knees, tears of happiness falling freely from his face, smiling people all around him.

\- "Even though I'm one who recently turned to the light, it already bestowed up me such a wonderful miracle ? Thank you !"

After that and once Richard had calmed down, he was escorted to the mobile jail behind the guards, arrested but happy. As the group couldn't help but feel bad for the repented mage, Shinnosuke noticed that the guards haven't moved yet, sign that they weren't finished.

\- "There's no Oracion Seis left here that you could arrest. Why are you still here ?"

\- "To be honest, our goal wasn't just the Oracion Seis." This took most of them by surprise as Shinnosuke frowned even more. "Infiltrating the council and causing it's destruction. Firing Etherion. There is an even greater villain among you." Said Lahar, pointing at the only among them who could be accused of such things. "Jellal ! Come with us ! We have permission to eliminate you if you resist !" Everyone knew that this was wrong, all of them voicing their disapproval and surprise, mainly Wendy and Natsu as Erza looked down, pain filling her, even more when Lahar added a precision. "This man is dangerous. He will never be allowed to walk free in this world ever again !" Without letting anyone the time to react, guard had grabbed Jellal and put handcuffs on him, but Jellal showed no resistance, letting them do as they wanted. "Jellal Fernandes. You are under arrest for the crime of federal treason."

\- "Wait, please ! Jellal has lost all of his memories ! He doesn't remember any of that !" Wendy jumped in, tears in her eyes, trying to reason Lahar, which was a lost cause.

\- "Under article 13 of the penal code, that is no cause for pardon." Said Lahar as he turned to a guard. "You may now release the enchantment." As the soldier did as he was told, Jellal turned to Wendy.

\- "It's all right… I have no intention of resisting." He said at a tearful Wendy. "I never did manage to remember you in the end… I am truly sorry, Wendy."

\- "She tells me you saved her, a long time ago." Said Carla, arms crossed, Jellal nodding at that.

\- "I see… I do not know how much trouble I may have caused all of you, but I am glad to hear that I at least saved somebody, once." Said Jellal as he looked at Erza who had a hard time looking at him, the pain and unfairness of the situation too great to handle. "Erza. Thank you for everything." With that he turned around, stopping as he walked by Lahar who talked to him without even looking at him.

\- "Is that all you have to say ?"

\- "Yes." Answered the prisoner.

\- "It is almost certain that your sentence will be either death or life imprisonment. You will never meet any of these people again."

While people stood there, wondering if they should do or say something, either seething their frustration or crying it, Erza stood there quietly, her whole body shaking.

 _"I have to stop this… I have to stop it, now, or Jellal will be gone…"_ She didn't noticed it, but Natsu saw her clenched fists and shaking body _. "Just when he had finally awaken from his bad dream… I can't let him fall back into the darkness again ! I can't let him go !"_

\- "HE'S NOT GOING ANYWHERE !" As soon as she ended her thoughts, Erza saw Natsu fighting his way through the guards, trying to reach for Jellal, much to everyone surprise as they all looked at in shock, even Lahar, his men and Jellal as Natsu literally fought against the council for the tattooed mage. "He's one of us ! We're taking him back with us !"

\- "R… Restrain this man !" Ordered Lahar, just as awestruck by Natsu's behavior as everyone else was, guard immediately rushing to stop Natsu… Only to be stopped by Gray and Gentaro.

\- "Go for it, Natsu !" Said the Ice mage as he slammed into a guard and took care of the other with Gentaro, the latter unmorphed.

\- "Gray ! Gentaro ! What are you…"

\- "There's no stopping Natsu, now !" Said Gray, visibly pissed. "And besides, this pisses me off !"

\- "Yeah ! Jellal may have done bad things in the past, but he helped us defeat Nirvana and they're not showing even a shred of gratitude !" At this point, Erza, Jellal and Shinnosuke were the only one not moving since in the confusion, the guards also tried to arrest the Riders who simply tried to defend themselves and their friends, the three aforementioned people looking at the scene with shaking bodies, trying to stay calm. Which was not the case for the others.

\- "It is unjust to arrest a good man !" Stated Jura, cracking his knuckles.

\- "Besides, I have the feeling he won't even have a fair judgement." Said Sento, keeping the guards busy. "There's enough unfairness in this world as it is, I won't let anything else add to it."

\- "Please ! You can't take Jellal away !" Cried Wendy as a guard grabbed her by the arm, only to cry in pain and letting her go.

\- "This man was manipulated by something much more dangerous than Oracion Seis or Nirvana when he did what he did to the council." Said Emu, clutching in his hand the wrist of the guard who had tried to grab Wendy. "In all fairness, he's as much a victim as everybody else !"

\- "You mustn't be taken away from Erza !" Shouted Natsu who was coming close to Jellal. "You've got to stay by her side ! For Erza's sake ! So come with us ! We're all here with you ! You're one of us, right ?!"

\- "Arrest the lot of them ! they are guilty of obstruction of officers in the line of duty, and assisting in the escaping of a prisoner !" Ordered Lahar, the guard now going into the fight with the firm intention to arrest them, magic shining on their staves. Seeing this, the Riders pulled their Driver out, clearly not wanting to end up in jail with Shocker still out there while the mages where about to use their magic to. This was about to became an all-out brawl when someone ended everything.

\- "ENOUGH ! STOP THIS !" This was Erza, whose shout was strong enough to grab the attention of everyone, who turned to her in shock. "I apologize for the commotion. I will take full responsibility." Looking at her, her friends could see that it hurt her to do this, but she had taken a decision. "You may… Take Jellal… Away…"

This made everyone stop dead in their track. They knew she was the kind to follow the rules and orders, but to go as far as letting her dearest friend get taken away, this was new for them. They knew she was hurt, but they realized that if this had gone too far, this would have made an even bigger mess. So everyone stood quiet as the guard finally took Jellal away. However, something suddenly came back to Jellal who smiled tenderly at the memory.

\- "Of course… The color of your hair…" He then turned to look at Erza, a gentle smile on his face that made Erza's eyes widen as she realized he probably already remembered. But this was too late already. "Farewell… Erza."

\- "… Farewell." Was all she could say, eyes hidden by her hair, biting on her lips to prevent a sob from coming out as the steel door slammed shut. A few minutes later, the enforcement unit left, taking Jellal with them, away from them.

Away from her.

As soon as they were gone, Erza walked away from the group as they all settled down right there, all of them looking down, angered by what happened.

\- "God damnit." Said Gentaro, cutting through the silence. "Why did we let those guy take our friends away ? If we transformed, we could have…"

\- "This wouldn't have solved anything, Gentaro, you know that." Said Kouta who looked as disappointed as everyone. "If we helped them, they would have become fugitive, which meant he couldn't stay at Fairy Tail or anywhere else for what matters. Besides, this would have made us criminals. It's… better that way. In a way."

\- "Where did Erza go, I wonder ?" Asked Happy, looking down sadly.

\- "I think we should give her some time alone…" Said Lucy, who had let her hair down, looking at where Erza had disappeared, wondering what the red head was going through at the moment.

Well, she was currently sitting on top of a hill, against what was left of a wall. Her head was down, her mind going back to a special moment of her life, back when she was a slave in the Tower of Heaven, a moment she knew Jellal remembered now, given what he said before being taken away.

/- Memory -/

\- "Jellal Fernandes ? That's gonna be a pain to remember !" Had said a young Wally when Jellal introduced himself to them.

\- "Coming from a boy named Wally Buchanan ? I just know I'm going to forget that one."

\- "What about you, Erza ?" Asked the dark haired boy to the young red head who sat with them.

\- "I'm Erza. Just Erza."

\- "That's kind of sad…" Stated Jellal before walking to her, grabbing her hair gently, much to her embarrassment. "Such beautiful scarlet hair… That's it ! Why we call you Erza Scarlet ?"

\- "Erza… Scarlet…"Repeated the young girl, already liking that name.

\- "It's the color of your hair. That way, I'll never forget it !"

/- Memory end -/

As the memory ended, tears fell down on Erza's face from her two eyes, taking advantage of the fact that she was alone and far from the others to let it all out. As she cried, the sun rose, stained with a beautiful scarlet tint that no one ever saw before, just like Erza's hair. Warm and full of passion. If one could just raise your head to the sky, you'd be able to behold such a beautiful sight… If only you could.

/- Later, Cait Shelter -/

Once Erza was done crying her heart out, she walked back to the group who said nothing to her as they all left quietly, joining their friends who crashed with the Christina to make sure they were all in one piece. Once they were all reunited, they headed to Cait Shelter where they were all welcomed like heroes by Wendy's guildmates who, for a moment, where sure they were all done for. Currently, we found the girls, Lucy, Sherry, Wendy and Erza in a room, the latter being the only one who stayed in her usual clothes, the other now wearing new one offered by the guild.

\- "Ahh ! So cute !" Gushed Lucy as she looked at her clothes.

\- "The whole community here is part of the guild. And fabric-working is something of a local specialty." Explained Wendy, the blonde looking down at her.

\- "Is this a style passed down among the Nirvit, then ?"

\- "Come to think of it… I suppose… Maybe that's right ?" Wondered Wendy, apparently not knowing if this was true or not, which wasn't surprising.

\- "Of course… You weren't aware that the entire guild was made up of the descendant of the Nirvit tribe." Said Sherry, explaining why Wendy didn't know, being the only mage of the guild that came from outside. Lucy turned to Erza, who had been quiet ever since they came here, sitting on a crate.

\- "Don't you want to try something on, Erza ? You'd look great !" Asked the blonde, trying to motivate and cheer the knight up.

\- "Yes… I suppose…" Was her answer, smiling a little though it was clear she was still pained by what happened with Jellal. While Lucy stood there, feeling her friends pain, Sherry addressed Wendy about something she had on her mind for a long time.

\- "Say, Wendy. How long has Cait Shelter been a member of the union of guilds ?" She asked, grabbing the little girl attention. "Though it feels a little wrong to say it, I've never heard of your guild before this mission began."

\- "Come to think of it, me either." Admitted Lucy, Wendy looking a little embarrassed by that.

\- "Is that right ? Wow… Our guild really isn't very well known, is it…" As she said that, Carla suddenly walked in, looking as serious as ever, paws on her hips.

\- "Not that I care, but… Everyone's waiting for you." The girls nodded and followed her outside where they met with the boys who were gathered in the middle of the village, facing the Cait Shelter members, Roubaul ready to make a little speech.

\- "Fairy Tail. Blue Pegasus. Lamia Scale. And you, Wendy and Carla." Began the old man. "Congratulations on defeating the Oracion Seis and halting Nirvana. As a representative of the local union of guilds, I, Roubaul, offer you my thanks. Thank you. Thank you ever so."

\- "You are most welcomed ! Master Roubaul !" Jumped in Ichiya, back in his usual form with the Trimen by his side. "Ah, the conflict with the Oracion Seis was just one fierce battle after another ! It was far from an easy task ! Yet our bonds of comradeship ultimately led us to victory !"

\- "That's our Sensei !"

\- "He just love stealing the spotlight…" Commented Gray, looking at the four clowns.

\- "Did he actually defeat anyone in the end ?" Asked Lucy, Takeru walking up to stand by her side.

\- "Well, he did help me take care of the soldiers protecting the Lachryma, but I don't think he did much more before that." Said Takeru as he remembered a tied up Ichiya hopping all around.

\- "Both of you did excellently." Congratulate Jura, much to the joy of his two guildmates.

\- "I'd say, they truly were great." Added Belt-san, Shinnosuke smiling at them. "Without them, defeating Racer would have been far more complicated, if not impossible."

\- "I think we all did great in this battle." Added Sento, standing beside Jura. "Neither Oracion Seis nor Shocker got their hands on this dangerous weapon. This was a battle won thanks to the effort of everyone."

\- "I think this calls for a party !" Shouted Natsu, grinning broadly as the Trimen and their mentor already began to dance and sing along.

\- "A party, huh ?" Said Gray, already bare chest.

\- "Stop stripping !" Shouted Lucy as she looked at Lyon… Who had done the exact same thing. "You too !"

\- "Can't they at least try not to strip ?" Asked Emu, sweat dropping.

On the side, Erza was looking at the dancing and singing mages with a small smile, Kouta looking at her with a pained one, only able to imagine what she must feel right now. She tried to keep a strong appearance. She was probably the most hurt deep inside and but stuck to her image of a strong woman and managed to smile through the pain, something Kouta could only admire. However…

\- "Now, friends of Cait Shelter ! Will you not join us ?!" Asked Ichiya, with his cheering squad, which had been joined by the Fairy Tail mages minus Erza, behind him, coming to a sudden stop when faced with the silence and stoicism of the mages, which surprised everyone there, even Wendy and Carla.

\- "Wh… What with the long faces ? Is there something wrong ?" Asked Gentaro who felt this was not the moment to go and make friends.

\- "My friends… I must sincerely apologize to you all… For concealing the truth of the Nirvit tribe."

\- "If you're talking about your ancestor creating Nirvana, we really don't mind that at all." Said Haruto. "What's in the past is in the past, there's no need to bring him back."

\- "I don't mind either, master…" Confirmed Wendy, which only seemed to sadden Roubaul even more as he heaved a sigh.

\- "Everyone… I ask that you listen carefully to what I am about to reveal." Began the master. "First of all… We are not the descendants of the Nirvit Tribe. We ARE the Nirvit tribe. The man responsible for constructing Nirvana 400 years ago… was I." Now THAT was a revelation no one expected, people gasping in shock as they realized what that implied, though no one could be as shocked and disoriented as Wendy who was shaking, probably in fear of what that could mean, Emu noticing her discomfort.

\- "400 years ago, in hope of putting an end to the wars that ravaged the world, I created the magic of reversal, Nirvana. Nirvana became our home and nation, a symbol of peace for many long years. But a great power will always find itself opposed by another. For all the darkness that it turned to light, Nirvana had taken more and more darkness upon itself."

\- "I'm taking a wild guess here by saying that it's a matter of balance, right ?" Said Sento. "Just like their can't be any light without shadows."

\- "Exactly. Where darkness is born, there must be light and where light is born, there must be darkness."

\- "That would explain why Sherry and Richard 'switched side' basically at the same time." Added Gray as Roubaul kept going.

\- "The darkness that had been lost from the targets of Nirvana came to settle upon the Nirvit themselves. It was hell. We fought amongst ourselves, almost to extinction. I was the only one that survived." Revealed the old master, which made eyes widen as they realized what that meant. "No… I suppose even that is no longer quite accurate. Even my own body perished many years ago now. I remain a little more than a spirit. In order to atone for the sin I committed… and in order to find one with the power I have not, who might destroy Nirvana in my stead… I have watched over this place for 400 years." Once he said that, he looked up with a smile as Emu took a step forward.

\- "Wait. If Nirvana is destroyed now, then…"

\- "Yes… My task is finally over." As he said that, the member of Cait Shelter behind him began to disappear one after the other, much to Wendy and Carla's sadness.

\- "No ! What is this ?! Why are you ?!" As they disappeared, they all smiled at the little mage and her cat while the other mages looked all around, feeling pained for Wendy. "No ! You can't… You can't just disappear !"

\- "I must apologize for deceiving you all this time. Wendy." Apologized Roubaul. "All the members of this guild… were but an illusion that I created.

\- "What ?!" Shouted Natsu who, just like everyone else, couldn't believe it.

\- "But why did you do that ? Why create a false guild just to watch over Nirvana ?" Asked Kouta, who felt like they played with Wendy.

\- "In order to watch over Nirvana, I lived alone in this abandoned village. And I would have keep it that way, if that boy didn't appeared before me 7 years ago."

\- "Let me guess : blue hair and a tattoo on his face ?" Said Shinnosuke, making Erza looked up with wider eyes.

\- "Yes. Taken aback by his clear and earnest gaze, I could not help but agree to take care of the little girl he had brought. Even though I had sworn to lead a solitary life… He had said to her that he would take her to a guild and she seemed so sad that she might have been deceived that I created a guild of illusionary companions."

\- "He created an entire guild, just for Wendy's sake…!" Realized Lucy, the blonde shaking as tears threatened to fall, which was already the case for the young girl, who was in full denial.

\- "No ! I don't want to hear this !" She said, covering her ears. "You… You can't all disappear !"

\- "Wendy… Carla… You no longer have any need of illusory companions." Said Roubaul as he pointed at the group behind her. "You have found yourselves true companions now. Your future awaits you… it is only just the beginning." As he said that, Roubaul began to disappear, Wendy immediately running to him in a desperate tentative to keep him here. "Everyone… thank you so much. Please, take good care of Wendy and Carla." And with that, he was gone, just like the mark Wendy and Carla had, the young girl falling to her knees just where Roubaul stood seconds ago, crying her eyes out, her sobs and wails filling the air as no one dared to move, not knowing what they could say to comfort her. Or almost. Surprisingly, or not, it was Erza who walked up to her and knelt behind the girl, putting her hands on her shoulder.

\- "It is always sad to part with those whom you love… But your companions will help you bear that sadness."

\- "I… I don't know if…"

\- "We all know what it's like… to lose someone we were close to." Said Emu, walking to stand beside Erza, squatting down to be at Wendy's level. "No matter the world, it is something that can break someone completely." Memories flooded the others minds as they remembered of the one they lost. "Even I. I saw one of my closest friend literally die in my arms, killed by a man I knew very well. And if I managed to get over it and fight, it was mainly thanks to my friends. The worst that can happen to someone who just lost someone is to be left alone to deal with it. But you won't be. As long as we're here, as long as you have friends, you'll never be alone."

\- "He's right." Agreed Erza, gently turning the little mage around to face her. "So come with us. To Fairy Tail."

Wendy's only response was to cry even more, jumping in Erza's arms, bawling once again as the others looked at the scene with a smile on their faces. This final twist put a definite end to this long a perilous mission and now was the time for the mages to go home and for Wendy to head back to her new one, a place named Fairy Tail.

/- Later -/

After witnessing Cait Shelter 'disbanding', the mages decided that it was time to head back home. The Fairy Tail delegation was currently aboard a boat, sailing to Magnolia, everyone using that time to rest after such a rough and long day of fighting. Among them, someone was particularly happy and peaceful and it was none other than Natsu, who was leaning against the railing, letting the sea breeze blow through his bangs and scarf, eyes closed in bliss.

\- "Ah… The sea breeze on these ships are really the best…" He said, for once in his life able to handle being on a vehicle and as such, he was able to appreciate the pros of traveling by boat. He was so happy that he even began to ran on the deck like a little kid. "These vehicles are just so amazing !"

\- "Ah ! The Troia will soon wear off, you know !" Wendy's sudden comment came at the exact moment Natsu fell to the ground, face all green from nausea that came back at him like a boomerang, making him crawl to the little girl.

\- "J-Just one more time…"

\- "Sorry, but the effects will diminish if it's cast continuously…" Said Wendy, much to Natsu's pain and Gray's amusement.

\- "Just let him suffer…" Said the ice mage, as Lucy laughed at Natsu and Erza smiled at the scene.

\- "Wendy and Carla, you're both really coming over to Fairy Tail, right ?" Asked Happy, Carla crossing her arms and turning her head away from him.

\- "I'm only coming because Wendy said so…"

\- "I'm so excited ! I'm looking forward to joining Fairy Tail !" Said the young Dragon Slayer, still a little sad after what happened to her old guild but more than enthusiastic to join another guild.

\- "And I'm sure everyone will love you, there." Added Emu, putting a hand on her head as she looked up and smiled at him. Erza smiled at them when she noticed, among the Riders, someone who seemed rather down.

\- "What happened to Gentaro ?" She asked, the others Rider saying nothing thought they all smiled. And it was Lucy who explained, since she was there when 'it' happen.

\- "Well, as you know, the Stellar Spirits who had contracts with Angel decided to come with me." She said, her hand hovering next to her key ring, which had now 3 more Golden Keys. "Gentaro walked in when they were talking to me and he's been that way ever since." Now, everyone had a smirk on their faces as they understood the situation, bar Wendy and Carla who didn't.

\- "What do you mean ? What's wrong ?"

\- "Nothing, Wendy? Don't worry." Began Kouta. "It's just that in our world, Gentaro fought monsters based of the constellations. He can't help himself but see the ones from his world with the characteristic of the Stellar Spirit and it always leave him like this." She nodded, looking at Gentaro who had been mentally hurt by the images he got when he saw Aries, Scorpio and Gemini. Ms. Sonoda with bi-colored hair and a huge cannon strapped to her lower back, a pair of doll-sized Yuki but the most painful was when his mind put the Ram Stellar Spirit clothes on Yamada. THIS was not something he wanted to see.

\- "Why is my mind doing this to me ?" He complained, hands on his face as he tried to force those images out of his head, which proved to be impossible, much to his discomfort.

\- "Anyway, it seems like we're reaching the end of the trip." Noticed Takeru, seeing that their boat was reaching Hargeon, much to Natsu's relief.

\- "Yes ! Please, make it quick, I have to get out of this thing !" He managed to say despite his nausea. However, this wasn't the end for him.

\- "Really ?" Said Yurusen who floated in front of the pink haired mage, Wendy gasping as she saw the small ghost appeared, Takeru reassuring her with a smile and a nod. "You do realize that you'll have to take the train from Hargeon to reach Magnolia, right ?" Natsu's face became even more greener as realization hit him like a ton of brick. "I wish you good luck. Try not to die ! Hi hi hi hi !" And with that, he was gone as Natsu slumped on the deck, wailing like a dying animal as everyone laughed at him. As they finally arrived, they disembarked and immediately walked to the train station and boarded the train, dragging a half-dead Natsu behind them. As the train got closer to Magnolia, they could see Wendy becoming more and more stressed, wondering if everything would be as her friends said. But the reassuring words of everyone helped her a lot as they exited the train and walked to the guild, Natsu being the first to enter, just like he always did.

\- "We're home !" He roared as he kicked the door open, everyone stopping whatever they were doing to look at their friends who all walked in. However, they all stopped and became silent as they noticed Wendy, who walked in shyly with Carla by her side, flanked with Erza on one side and Emu on the other.

\- "Welcome back, everyone." Said Makarov before looking at the young girl. "And whose this cute little one ?"

\- "This is Wendy Marvell, the mage that represented the Cait Shelter guild in our group." Said Emu.

\- "If she's from Cait Shelter, then why is she here ?" Wondered Makarov as well as everyone else.

\- "Well… This is a pretty long story." Began Erza as she started to explain everything that happened during their mission with the other guilds. Nirvana, their fight with the Oracion Seis, the presence of Shocker and the truth about Cait Shelter. People were completely quiet after what they just learned, feeling sorry for the girl but also happy to become her new family. Once the explanation had been done, Wendy took a little step forward and bowed to everyone.

\- "For both myself and Carla… Thank you for inviting us to Fairy Tail ! Please take care of me !"

And with that, the guild jumped back to life again, everyone trying to get a closer look at their new and young member, assaulting her with many kind of questions, for her or Carla, Emu protecting her from embarrassing questions and also from getting trampled as everyone was coming to her like a stampede.

\- "Master ?" Simply asked Erza, the old man sitting as always on the bar knowing what she was asking for.

\- "Well done ! After all that, it should be peaceful for a while now. Let's welcome both Wendy and Carla !"

\- "Lu-chan ! Welcome back !" Shouted Levy as she literally jumped on her blonde bestie, almost sending them both to the ground, everyone laughing at the display of affection. And speaking of displaying emotions.

\- "With deep worry, I cannot steer my eyes away from the heavy rain…" Said Juvia, so relieved that Gray was back that she was literally flooding the guild with her tears, Gray himself being one of the drowning people. But despite everything, Wendy was in heaven, looking in admiration at everything, her eyes wide in amazement. As she looked around, she finally noticed with a gasp that she was facing Mirajane, the barmaid crouching to be at her level, a kind smile on her face.

\- "Although Carla is probably the same as Happy, what kind of magic can you use, Wendy ?" Asked Mira, the little mage pointing at her with admiration as she turned to Carla.

\- "Carla, this is the real Mirajane-san !" She said, probably knowing her from the Weekly Sorcerer. However, Carla wasn't happy by what she just heard.

\- "Hold it ! Don't put me on the same level as that male cat !"

\- "As for me…" Finally said Wendy, arms behind her back. "I use Healing Magic. I'm the Sky Dragon Slayer."

A collective gasp put the guild on hold as they all turned to look at the blue haired girl, shocked by what they just heard. Wendy looked at all those people looking at her with disbelieving gaze, the little girl looking down, understanding that they didn't believed her. But that was what she though. Soon, the guild erupted in cheer once again, everyone bloating at how cool she was. However, there was one thing she heard that grabbed her attention.

\- "Awesome ! That gives us three Dragon Slayers, now !"

\- "Huh ? Three ?" She repeated, confused until she felt a hand on her shoulder, turning around to see that this was Haruto who was looking at her with a kind smile.

\- "Yeah. There's you, Natsu and Gajeel. He's right up there." He said, pointing at the grumpy mage who was leaning on the railing of the second floor, looking straight at the young girl who felt intimidated by the tall man. "This is Gajeel Redfox, the Iron Dragon Slayer. He may be rough around the edges, but he's a good guy." As he said that, he noticed that Gajeel seemed tensed by something, with a few beads of sweat running down his face. _"That being said, I wonder what's going through his mind right now… He seems… stressed."_

Haruto wasn't the only one to notice, Takeru standing by the pierced man, hearing what he was saying under his breath. And needless to say, what he said was… surprising.

\- "C… Cats…" he muttered to himself, looking at Happy who was with Natsu and then at Carla who was standing next to Wendy who was now answering everyone's questions. "They're Dragon Slayers too… Where's my cat ?! Why don't I have one ?!"

While Takeru sweat dropped after discovering what was bothering Gajeel, Makarov turned his head to Sento who was looking with high interest at a device that seemed to come from their own world.

\- "What is this thing, Sento ? Did you found it during your mission ?" Asked the master, grabbing the scientist attention.

\- "Hm ? Oh, yes, we did." Confirmed the Rider. "It belonged to one of the three generals of Shocker but he let it go when Haruto and Gentaro defeated him."

\- "And what is it, exactly ? You said nothing about it until now ?" Asked Erza.

\- "Well, this look like some kind of hard drive, a device from our world that is used to store informations and data." Explained the scientist, flipping the object in his hand. "If we can access and decrypt the data stored inside, we could learn a lot about Shockers plan and, hopefully, where they are hiding."

\- "And what will happen if you discover where they are hiding ?" Wondered Makarov, even though he had a pretty good idea.

\- "Once we'll found them, we'll go wherever they are, take them out and once this will be done, then our mission will be over, and we'll go home." This made Makarov nod, albeit a little sadly. He knew that they weren't there to stay. They told them about their mission and objectives first things when they came here, but they were now part of their family and he knew some of his children will have a hard time letting them go. Noticing Makarov's frown, Sento smirked before adding something. "That being said, it might take a lot of time for us to decrypt that hard drive, so this isn't going to happen anytime soon. Besides, it would be really nasty of us to make them all worry about it on a day like this one, isn't it ?"

Makarov smirked back and nodded at that before jumping on the bar and officially starting the party in honor of their new members Wendy and Carla, everyone cheering in answer as music filled the air and chaos spread like wildfire in the building, everyone drinking, eating and singing like they always did, Wendy looking at the show with pure joy in her eyes.

\- "This place sure is fun, huh Carla ?" She said, her feline friend sitting on a table right next to her, still as straight faced as usual.

\- "To me, it's average…"

Everyone was so engrossed in the party that no one noticed that Mystogan was there, standing by the railing of the second floor, looking at Wendy for a moment before turning around to leave, disappearing in the air like an illusion as the party kept going for long hours, celebrating their new friends and the success of a very perilous mission.

/- Several days later -/

Things had settle down at Fairy Tail and everything was back as they were before, with a few but noticeable changes, taking the shape of a small blue haired girl and a white cat. It took a little bit of time, but Wendy and Carla were now fully integrated in the guild. That day, when Lucy walked into the guild and said good morning to her friends, she noticed the little mage sitting at a table, reading a book with Carla drinking tea next to her.

\- "Hello, Wendy."

\- "Hi, Lucy-san ! How are you ?" She asked cheerfully at the blonde who was taking her jacket off to hang it on a coat hanger.

\- "I'm fine, thanks. And you, how's it going ? Have you settled in yet ?"

\- "Yep !" Was her answer, though Carla did add something.

\- "I'm intrigued about the idea that there's a girls' dorm."

Indeed, one of the thing that not everyone knew about Fairy Tail was that they add a dorm for their female member. Named Fairy Hills, it stood on a hill, hence the name, not far from the headquarters.

\- "Speaking of this dorm, Lucy-san, why aren't you part of it ?" Asked Wendy, curious as to why Lucy was living on her own rather than with the other girls.

\- "I only just found out about that, you know…" She began when comical tears ran down her face. "And on top of that… The dorm's rent is like 100.000… Even if I wanted to apply, I wouldn't be able to pay it…"

\- "That point isn't much of a surprise." Quipped Kouta, reading the newspaper, eating a parfait with Shinnosuke next to him who was playing chess against Freed, who was flanked by his friends Evergreen and Bickslow. "You keep teaming up with Natsu, which means half, if not the totality, of the reward is used to pay back the damages."

\- "No need to remind me of that…" Cried Lucy, thinking back at all the money she could have if Natsu stopped destroying town o each and every mission.

\- "And what about you ?" Wendy asked the Riders, both looking at her wondering what she was talking about. "Did you made any progress on those Shockers ?"

They both looked at each other before turning to look at another table where a waitress was putting down a full tray of coffee, in front of what looked like a mountain of used cups, the only thing visible of the drinker being a tuft of brown hair peaking through the top of the pile, clicking of a keyboard coming from behind it.

\- "Sento's spent almost all of his free time on trying to crack the hard drive we found." Explained Shinnosuke, moving a tower to take one of Freed's bishop. "And he has yet to found anything useful, but he won't get off the computer until he found something. Hence the coffee." The girls sweat dropped, wondering how a guy as easily excited as Sento could be with that much coffee in his body, seeing a waitress run away from the table as Sento's arms shot to the air, grabbing his head in frustration. Before any of them could ask anything about Sento's sanity, they heard a loud ringing noise coming from the guild's bell, startling everyone, but not for the same reasons. In fact, those who weren't part of the guild when Lucy and the Riders joined were confused while everyone else seemed ecstatic.

\- "What's that ?" Asked Lucy, looking around to locate where the sound was coming from.

\- "Isn't that the guild's bell ?" Asked Shinnosuke, lifting his head to look at the roof where the bell was.

\- "Why is it ringing ?" Wondered Wendy, looking just as confused as the others Riders.

\- "Wait ! Could it be ?!" Began Gray, looking like he got an idea of what this could be, and Natsu seemed to share the though.

\- "Gildarts has come back !" Exclaimed the fire mage, probably the most enthusiastic out of everyone. As for the ones who didn't knew about what this bell meant, the name Gildarts was much more familiar. Except for Wendy and Carla.

\- "Gildarts ? Who is it ?"

\- "He's a member of the guild but I've never met him before." Said Lucy to the little Dragon Slayer.

\- "Not only that, he's one of the guild's S-class mages." Added Emu as he walked up to them. "And from what we know, he's supposed to be the strongest mage of Fairy Tail…"

\- "Wow …" Was all Wendy could say, already amazed by the man while all around them, the guild members cheered and looked like they were celebrating his return.

\- "Why are they celebrating so much, though ?" Asked Kouta, his parfait in his hand as he got up from the tables he was sitting at. "I get they can be happy that he's fine, but that's a little bit too much, don't you think ?"

\- "Everyone has more than enough reasons to be making a ruckus, you know." Said Mira, walking up to the group. "It's been about three years, after all… Since he had last returned."

\- "Three years ?! Wat has he been doing since then ?!" Gasped Lucy, wondering like everyone else what kind of job he had been doing for so long.

\- "He's been on a job, of course. While doing S-Class jobs, he's also been given SS-Class jobs too." Eyes widen at the mention of SS-Class jobs, but what Mira added was even more shocking. "Furthermore, it's said that he's been given the task to undertake a 10-year quest, too."

\- "10-year quest ? What does that mean ? What kind of job is that ?" Asked Belt-san, curious.

\- "Those are jobs that have been going on for the past 10 years, which means there isn't anyone who's been able to achieve that kind of job before. And what's even more incredible about Gildarts… is the he's coming back from a 100-year quest…"

\- "A… A 100-year quest !?" Exclaimed everyone who heard her, shocked at what this could mean. Just how strong was that man to take on such a job. While everyone was starting to move all the furniture out of the way for an unknown reason, the girls and Riders heard something coming from outside, more precisely from a loudspeaker.

\- "Magnolia is changing into a Gildarts shift. All the townspeople quickly get to your set position ! I'll repeat…"

\- "Gildarts Shift ? What's that, now ?" Asked Takeru, as confused as everyone else when Haruto, who had been doing some shopping in the city, came back, still dumbfounded by what he saw outside.

\- "Huh, guys ? Why has the town changed shape ?"

Thinking he got mad, they walked outside and, shockingly, saw that he was indeed saying the truth. The whole town had changed shape, the building pushed to the side to create a large street that led straight to the guild, with tall walls on both side of the street, as if to protect the town from Gildarts.

\- "W…WHAT THE HELL IS THAT ?" Shouted Emu, shocked by what happened to the town. "Why do they have to do that for that man ?!"

\- "Gildarts uses a magic that smashes everything he touches into pieces. When he's not careful, he walks through the town crashing private houses." Explained Mira with a smile, smile that didn't appeared on Lucy and the Riders' faces.

\- "What is he ? Strong or stupid ?" Commented Sento, who had been forced out of his work when they began to move everything. "Restructuring a whole town just for one man ? He must be pretty dumb to simply walk around without looking at where he's going."

\- "Here he is !" Finally exclaimed Natsu as everyone stood in front of the door as the man walked in.

\- "*Sigh*" With a sigh and a tired look on his face, Gildarts entered the guild. He had shoulder-length light brown hair that were slicked back as well as a stubby beard and light blue eyes. The rest of his body was hidden behind a long black high-collared cloak with shoulder pads. As he walked in, he looked around with a bored look on his face, as if he didn't recognized everybody, which could be the case since he's been gone for a pretty long time. He might not look like it, but even the Riders could tell he was strong by his aura alone.

\- "Gildarts ! Fight with me !" Shouted Natsu, being the first to break the silence.

\- "Can't you at least wait for, like, 5 minutes ?" Asked Kouta to the pink haired mage as Mirajane took a step forward, a smile on her face as usual.

\- "Welcome back." She said, grabbing the man attention.

\- "Miss, I'm sure that a guild called Fairy Tail was somewhere around here…" He asked the white haired barmaid.

\- "Is that guy serious ?" Asked Shinnosuke, sweat dropping. "Can't he read a sign ? The name of the guild is written in big letter just outside."

\- "That's right here." Answered Mira, not bothered by Gildarts apparent amnesia. "And I'm Mirajane."

\- "Mira ?" Repeated Gildarts, head tilted to the side with a raised eyebrow as he looked at her. Suddenly, his face lit up like a kid discovering the gifts under the Christmas tree. "You look so different ! Oh and so our guild had been renewed !"

\- "So, he doesn't recognize it by its appearance…" Sweat dropped Lucy.

\- "A powerful idiot… Great, another Natsu…" Commented Sento with a sigh as the said idiot could be seen rushing at the newcomer.

\- "Gildarts ! I said fight with me !"

\- "Oh ! Natsu ! Long time no see." Casually said Gildarts as he slapped him as he got within range, sending the boy flying to the roof in an instant. "Maybe next time." As Natsu embedded himself in the wooden roof, the Riders and Lucy looked in shock, having a hard time believing that Natsu had been sent flying as easily. Then again, this could be expected from the strongest mage of the guild.

\- "Y…You're… So strong." Stated Natsu from his spot in the roof, looking at Gildarts with admiration, just like every other mage in the guild.

\- "You haven't changed, old man." Said Gray.

\- "You're the real man !" Added Elfman.

\- "Well, there are some faces that I've never seen before… This place has changed a lot."

\- "Gildarts." Called Makarov from his spot on the bar, grabbing the returning mage attention.

\- "Oh ! Master ! Long time no see !"

\- "How was the mission ?" Asked Makarov, not beating around the bush as Gildarts began to laugh while rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

\- "Nope. I'm not good enough for that."

This raised a wave of surprised gasp from everyone, not believing that a man as strong as Gildarts could have failed, making them wonder what kind of quest that 100-year quest could be.

\- "I see… Even you couldn't do it…" Sighed Makarov.

\- "Sorry for leaving a stain on your name." Apologized Gildarts, which Makarov brushed aside.

\- "No… It's good enough that you came back unharmed. As far as I know, you're the first person who came back from this quest."

\- "Alright. Then I'm going home. I need some rest." Gildarts said as he turned around, walking to the door when he suddenly came to a stop when he passed by the Riders, looking at them attentively, making them wonder what he wanted with them, looking at him rubbing his chin with a thoughtful look on his face.

\- "How strange… You guys seemed familiar, but I've never met a single one of you in my life before." He said, looking closely at each Rider, who looked at each other, probably thinking the same thing as Gentaro spoke first.

\- "Did you, by any chance, met weird people while you were on your mission ?" Asked Fourze, Gildarts racking his mind to see if he remembered something.

\- "Well, not during the mission, but while I was on my way back." He said, grabbing everyone's attention. "A group of weird guys appeared before me. They said they wanted me to work with them, but they didn't looked like they could be trusted."

\- "What do they looked like ?" Asked Haruto, already fearing for his answer.

\- "Well, there was a little army of a 100 men all wearing weird black suit with large red belt. Their boss looked like some sort of werewolf." Listening to his description, people suddenly tensed as they realized that Gildarts met Shocker. "Why ? Is there a problem ?"

\- "Those guys you met are part of a group called Shocker. Just like us, they come from another world." Explained Sento, making Gildarts eyes go wide. "It's a bit long to explain everything, so just know that we are fighter from another world who came here when our enemy, this Shocker group, came to your world. Did they say anything else ?"

\- "Well, not really. They just said they'd like me to help them with their projects. But I didn't wanted to."

\- "They probably felt that you weren't your run of the mill mage and wanted you to lend them your power." Deduced Takeru. "I guess they didn't liked it when you refused."

\- "No, not really. They attacked me, but even though they were tough, mainly that werewolf guy, but I took care of them all without really breaking a sweat. Gahahahaha !" The riders seemed impressed, something their fairy friends noticed.

\- "Why the long face ?" Asked Gray.

\- "That werewolf guy… It's probably colonel Zol, one of the three Shocker general." Explained Kouta.

\- "You mean, like that octopus guy we met when we fought Oracion Seis ?" Reminded Wendy, which Emu confirmed with a nod.

\- "They're both on the same hierarchic level, and probably in term of power too. To be able to take a 100 soldiers and a general at the same time, this says a lot about that man power."

\- "Well, I hope you'll be able to get our world rid of those guys, I met them just once and that was enough for me to know that they are dangerous. Anyway, I'm going home for now." Finally said Gildarts. "Oh, and Natsu. Come to my place later. I've got something for you. Well, then, later." And he finally left… Passing through a wall that crumbled like dust as he touched it.

\- "Why don't you go out from the door !" Shouted Warren, pointing at the door he walked in through a few minutes before. And while the mages all put the furnitures back where they were before, Sento immediately walked back to his computer where, to his surprise, he saw that the files finally got decrypted. Hair rising in excitation, he immediately opened one of them and quickly, he was met with a term that seemed pretty important to Shocker. One Sento never heard before : Anima.

 **Alright ! It's finally done. I hope you're not bothered by those delays between chapters, but i'm much mort comfortable that way. If you like the story, don't forget to review, favorite and follow, that gives me the motivation to continue. See ya !**

 **Next time : Dragon story. Magnolia goes missing. The secrets of the Exceed. The world with limited magic : Edolas**


	45. Chapter 45 : Anima and the other world

**Hey ! Would you look at that ?! I'M ALIVE !**

…

 **No seriously, sorry for the delay, but there was a lot of things going on for me recently so I didn't had as much time to write as I wanted. Besides, I suffered a slight writer block on this chapter, which explain why this chapter is also a bit shorter than usual.**

 **Anyway, here we are once again and this time, it's new world time ! I hope you'll like this chapter, despite its length and the delay, though it's probably going to be that way from now on. Anyway, let's go !**

 **Chapter 45 : Anima and the other world**

Gildarts returning had shook the whole guild awake, as no one expected him to return so suddenly. Everyone was really happy to know that the powerful mage was back home, but no one was as excited by his return than Natsu. After being pulled out of the roof Gildarts had send him into, he immediately decided to start go and see his idol as soon as possible. He was however not the only one to go. Indeed, he was flanked by Gentaro, the Rider having been send by his friends for a very particular reason.

\- "Do you think he got some rare flame from a foreign country for me ?" Wondered Natsu, grinning like an idiot as he was trying to figure what Gildarts wanted to see him for.

\- "I wonder what it is." Answered Happy, walking next to his partner before turning to Gentaro who had Burgermeal on his shoulder. "And you Gentaro ? Why are you coming with us ?"

\- "Me and the guys had some more questions for him." Answered the Rider. "We'd like to know where he met those Shockers. This could give us a lead on where we can start looking for them."

The two partners nodded before noticing that they just reached their destination, large grins splitting their face as they walked to the door and opened it immediately, the older mage already waiting for them.

\- "Hey !" Simply said Natsu as he waved at Gildarts.

\- "Thanks for inviting us." Added Happy.

\- "Oh, welcome, Natsu and Happy." Began Gildarts as he looked at his guests, noticing Gentaro's presence when he walked through the door. "Oh ? You're one of those guys from another world, right ?"

\- "Yes I am. Kisaragi Gentaro, nice to meet you."

\- "Nice to meet you too. But why are you here ?"

\- "I had some questions. Or just one, to be more precise." Began Gentaro. "You said you met our enemies, the Shocker. Where was it exactly ?"

\- "Well… On my way back, I had to walk through a pass in a mountain. That's where they found me." Explained Gildarts, trying to remember. "It was near Mount Katalto, near the border of Fiore, west from Crocus, the capital."

\- "I heard of those mountains." Suddenly said Happy. "It is a pretty dangerous place with a lot of ruins and caves everywhere."

\- "So the perfect place to hide." Resumed Gentaro, smirking slightly. "Looks like a good place to start. Thanks for the info, buddy !"

\- "Heh, no problem, boy." Grinned Gildarts as he finally turned to Natsu, his grin turning slightly mocking. "And you, Natsu… How's the relationship with Lisanna, huh ?" Seeing Natsu's lack of answer, whose face became too serious for Gildarts, the old man began to crack up. "Come on, don't be so shy. Gahahaha…"

\- "Lisanna is dead. 2 years ago."

Gildarts laughter died in his throat as he realized, seeing Natsu, but also Gentaro's and Happy's faces, that they were dead serious, which made him regret immediately what he just did, his whole body shaking slightly as he took in the news.

\- "I… I see… That's why Mira was…" Gildarts finally understood why some things felt off when he came back. "Whoa… I… I'm sorry Natsu."

\- "If it was all you had to said, I'll be going." Said Natsu, already walking to the door, ignoring the pained look he received from Happy.

\- "Where Natsu and that Lisanna that close ?" Asked Gentaro, trying to understand as much as he could about his friends.

\- "They were best friends. They did a lot of things together. They even worked together to make me hatch from my egg."

Not wanting to ask how a cat can be born from an egg, Gentaro simply nodded as Gildarts spoke again, his voice serious, stopping Natsu as he was about to walk out the door.

\- "Natsu… I met a dragon… during my mission." Eyes shot wide open as everyone turned to Gildarts, shocked by what they just heard. Speaking of the latter, he was looking down on his chair, seemingly remembering a bad moment. "I don't think it's the red one you're talking about though. This one was black."

\- "So it wasn't Igneel…" Deduced Happy, looking serious.

\- "Could it be Gajeel's one, Metalicana ?" Wondered Gentaro. He never saw the dragon nor heard about what it looked like, but this was the only dragon among the three he knew who could fit the description.

\- "I don't think so, it didn't looked metallic at all." Simply answered Gildarts, not looking at them as Natsu was slowly making its way toward Gildarts.

\- "Where… Where was it ?"

\- "At the sacred mountain, Zonia. That's how I failed the mission. Dammit." Of course, as soon as he learned where it happened, Natsu headed to the door, determined in going there but Gentaro stopped him on his way out.

\- "Hey, buddy ! Wait a minute !"

\- "What're you gonna do by going there ?" Asked Gildarts.

\- "I'm going to go ask about Igneel's whereabouts of course !"

\- "Natsu, that black dragon won't be there." Tried to reason Gildarts. "He's flying around the continent… or perhaps even the whole world."

\- "I don't care ! There may be some clue !"

\- "Natsu. Look at this." When they turned to look at Gildarts, they were petrified in horror at what they saw. Standing up, he had opened his cloak to show the wounds hidden underneath. His abs were wrapped in bandages that also covered the left side of his torso. He also had some wrapped around his arms, but the most shocking sight was the fact that his left arm and leg were replaced by prosthesis and judging by Natsu and Happy's reaction, Gentaro understood that those weren't supposed to be there. "Everything happened in a moment. He's got my left arm and leg, and an organ too. I don't know about Igneel but, that black one is surely an enemy of the human. And a human… Can't beat him."

\- "T…That's what Dragon Slayers are there for !" countered Natsu, even though everyone could feel that what he just saw. With my magic… I can…"

\- "I won't stop you if you really want to do it."

With this last comment from Gildarts, Natsu turned around and ran away, leaving his friends behind. Happy was about to go after him when…

\- "Happy, you support Natsu, right ?" Said Gildarts, grabbing the cat attention. "Human can't go against that thing but, perhaps a dragon can make it."

\- "So you think Natsu can beat the thing that did all of this to you ?" Said Gentaro, looking at the older man.

\- "Maybe not right now, but I'm sure one day, he'll be able to make it." Said Gildarts. "This boy has a lot of potential."

Gentaro nodded, agreeing with that, looking at where Natsu had disappeared before walking out with Happy, following Natsu's trace. After some times, they finally found him, laying in the water by a river bed, looking at the sky with a resigned look on his face, the two guy arriving just in time to hear him sigh.

\- "How's my dad doing ?"

\- "I'm sure he's fine and proud of you." Answered Gentaro, looking down at the Slayer who looked up at him. "Though he's probably very happy to see how far you're ready to go to find him, I'm pretty sure he'd be sad to see you get killed for being too reckless."

\- "I guess… But I finally got a lead on something that could lead me to Igneel. I have to follow it."

\- "Natsu, you saw exactly the same thing as me." Reminded Gentaro, walking down the slope to help Natsu up. "Gildarts is the strongest mage in this guild and that dragon he met almost killed him. I now a Dragon Slayer is made to, well, slay dragons, but it's not just a matter of magic and you know it." Natsu nodded as he looked down, visibly angered that he couldn't do anything, which prompted Gentaro to put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry man, I'm sure one day you'll found Igneel. But for now, all you need to do is get stronger and wait for the right opportunity."

\- "…Thanks, man." Finally said Natsu, a small smile on his face, Happy jumping on his shoulder as Gentaro smiled at him. He was still pained knowing that he couldn't do anything for now, but he decided to let it go for now. After all, just like Gentaro said, he'll have other chances to found his dad. "Let's go back for now."

The two then headed back to the guild, where everyone was busy with their own activities. The two guys headed to the bar where Lucy was seated with Levy, speaking with Mira. Close by next to the bar, Gentaro saw his friends Rider talking animatedly about something, Gentaro making its way to them.

\- "Yo, guys. What's the matter ?"

\- "Oh, Gentaro." Shinnosuke was the first to notice him, the others turning to the Rider. "You're back."

\- "Did you learn anything useful from Gildarts ?" Asked Emu, straight to the point.

\- "Yep, I think I got something." Said Gentaro, the others now listening attentively. "He said he met Shocker near a place called Mount Katalto. Apparently, it's a place renowned for his numerous caves and ruins."

\- "A perfect place to hide, then. That could be exactly where they are currently hiding." Concluded Sento. "Then we'll have to go and look to see if they are hiding there. But I think it would be best if we only sent a small party for now."

\- "Why would we do that ?" Said Haruto, tilting his head in confusion. "If they are hiding there, it would be best if we all got there to get rid of them as soon as possible."

\- "I don't think it's a good idea to do that and for three reasons." Said Sento, counting down the reasons. "First, we don't know if they are there. Secondly, if they really are hiding there, we need to scout those mountains to see if they really are there and evaluate the threat. And thirdly, we'll need to leave some of us here to protect the town."

This last reason made Sento's friends frown in curiosity, wondering why he felt so serious when he spoke those words about the town needing protection.

\- "What are you talking about ? Did you discover something in those data ?" Asked Kouta, straightening up.

\- "Yes. One of the file I decrypted was talking about a phenomenon in this world called Anima. I don't know much about it yet, but it's something that apparently happen at random all over the continent. And judging by their data and a little equation of my own, I discover than one of those Anima could happen close by and soon. If Shocker is interested in those things, we'll need some of us here to help the mages in case Shocker come for this Anima thing."

\- "Okay, so we need to decide who's going to scout this Mount Katalto and who's going to stay here to protect the town." Resumed Takeru.

\- "Yes, but I think I've already an idea on whose going to go scouting." Said Belt-san. "I think Shinnosuke and I need to go. If Shocker established its HQ there, I'll be needed to get as much information as I can. Besides, to avoid raising suspicion, it would be best to use a single vehicle, and the Tridoron is the only one who can fit many people inside."

\- "I agree. And I think Gentaro and I should come to." Said Sento, Gentaro looking at him as if waiting for his arguments. "We both have a great versatility thanks to our numerous Switches and Fullbottles, which can only be useful since we know nothing of the place we are going to. And besides, as a scientist, my knowledge might be needed to understand whatever they're trying to do."

\- "Then I guess it's settled. Sento, Gentaro and Shinnosuke will go to Mount Katalto to check if Shocker is there and, should they be there, try to see what they are working on, while Emu, Haruto, Takeru and I will stay here." Concluded Kouta, the others nodding, agreeing with the plan. "Then you'd better prepare. The sooner you'll leave, the sooner you'll be back and be here should something happen with that Anima."

\- "You're right. Let's go prepare, guys. We have a long journey waiting for us."

/- Time skip, two days later -/

It had been two days since Gentaro, Sento and Shinnosuke left to look for what they hoped was Shockers HQ in this world. In the meantime, the others Riders, along with the mages, were doing their usual things at the guild, the Riders keeping an eye opened for this Anima that could happen sooner than later according to Sento's calculation. So everyone was back at the guild, or almost everyone. Indeed, in an alley in Magnolia center…

\- "No good !"

\- "Mrroow ?"

\- "You too !"

\- "Meow !"

\- "And you too !"

\- "Meowww…"

While everyone was resting at the guild, Gajeel could be seen walking almost aimlessly in the back alleys of the town, stopping every time he saw a cat, only for him to pick it up, look at it, and letting him go while shouting his disappointment. And judging by his wobbling walk and gaunt face, he had been doing this for a pretty long time. He even managed to trip on a bottle and land flat on the ground where he laid unmoving, literally struggling to get up.

\- "Salamander and that newbie kid had a cat…" He said to himself, almost shameful. "I'm a Dragon Slayer just like them, so why don't I have one ?" As he complained, he lifted his face and saw something landing in front of him, a small strange red bird he felt he had seen before.

\- "So that's what you've been doing for the last few days, huh ?"

Gajeel's eyes shot wide open as he realized with horror that he knew what that bird was and also what his current situation was. Someone just saw him, the almighty and cold Iron Dragon Gajeel, crawling on the floor in a dirty alley, looking for a cat. Turning his head slowly, he felt a little bit relieved to see that it was Haruto who had seen him, knowing he wasn't the kind to mock people like many others would have done. Yet, he didn't felt reassured by the smirk on the Wizard face.

\- "What the hell are you doing here ?"

\- "I was talking with Levy when we began talking about you. She noticed that she hadn't seen you since Wendy joined the guild so I volunteered to go and check on you." Explained Haruto, the Garuda PlaMonster landing on his shoulder. "But who would have known that he would be in an alley looking for a cat just to be like his fellow Slayers."

\- "You better not say a word about this to anyone or I'll make you regret it." Warned Gajeel, trying to be as intimidating as he could given his current situation, but he didn't needed to.

\- "No worry, I know how to keep a secret." Said Haruto with a smile before suddenly contemplating something. "You know, now that I think about this, I found it rather strange that two Exceed, which are rather mysterious creature, ended up with two Dragon Slayer. I wonder if there's a deeper meaning to this ?" The two stood there, thinking about it for a moment before returning to the alley, where they noticed something. A black cat was sitting right in front of them, not moving at all, looking at the two of them almost defiantly, which seemed to please the Dragon Slayer.

\- "Oooooh …"

\- "Looks like you've found the one, isn't it ? Need some help ?"

\- "Eh, why not. That cat is mine."

/- Meanwhile -/

\- "7/7/777 ?"

Back at the guild, Lucy and Wendy were talking calmly when they began to talk about the Dragon that taught Fairy Tail's Dragon Slayer. On the table, Carla, as always, was drinking some tea and this time, they were joined by Emu who was sitting in front of Wendy, listening to her while reading a newspaper.

\- "The dragon who taught Natsu-san and I Dragon Slaying Magic vanished on the same day." Revealed Wendy.

\- "And if I remember correctly, Gajeel's dragon, Metalicana, disappeared on the same day, too. That is quite too much to be a simple coincidence." Said Emu. "Metalicana, Igneel and Grandine… I wonder where they are all hiding ?"

\- "Could it have been hiking day ?" Suddenly said Lucy, way too serious given what she just said, which made Wendy laugh.

\- "You say some strange things sometimes, don't you, Lucy ?"

\- "Yes, she does." Added Emu with a mocking smile. "Looks like Natsu is right when he say that you're weird."

\- "Hey !" Lucy's outraged shout made the two other laugh even more, much to Lucy's embarrassment, making her cross her arms and turn her head with a huff and a pout.

\- "Carla !" Cutting short to Lucy's pouting, Happy suddenly arrived, carrying a big fish with a bow tied around it, heading straight to his feminine counterpart to which he presented the fish. "This… is a fish I caught. I thought I'd give it to you, Carla."

\- "I don't want it." Was her immediate answer, as cold as ever, crossing her arms and looking away. "I… Don't like fish."

\- "Oh…" But Happy was as hopeful than Carla was cold. "Than what do you like ? Next time, I'll…"

\- "SHUT UP !" This made Happy… well, shut up effectively, as Carla jumped off the table, under the mages and Rider shocked eyes, not expecting such an outburst from her, especially when Happy was nothing else but nice. "Just stay away from me."

\- "What the hell is wrong with her ?" Wondered Emu, frowning at the retreating cat.

\- "She didn't have to say it like that…" Added Lucy, looking at the sadden Happy in front of them.

\- "Carla ! Don't you think you're being a little too mean ?!" Shouted Wendy, disappointed in her Exceed behavior who didn't eve listened to her and walked out of the guild, Happy running after her with his fish in his arms.

\- "Doesn't it seem like Carla's being strangely cold to Happy ?" Said Lucy, resting her head in her hand.

\- "I wonder why ?" Sadly wondered Wendy, looking at the door when a hand landed on her head.

\- "Don't worry, I'm sure she'll get better with time." Said Emu, reassuring Wendy with a smile. "Though I have to admit, to me, she act as if she's hiding something from us all."

\- "Carla !" While Lucy, Emu and Wendy wondered what was wrong with Carla, the feline had been caught up by Happy, whose tail was dragging on the floor, sign that he felt hurt and bad.

\- "What is it ? I told you to stay away from me, didn't I ?"

\- "Did… I do something wrong ?" Asked Happy, looking down while shaking slightly.

\- "That's not it at all." Reassured Carla, though it didn't helped Happy a lot. And what she said next didn't helped either. "You can't protect Natsu." This made Happy look up in confusion as to why she was saying this, only to see the cat-girl clenching her little paws. "I protect Wendy. I'll protect her no matter what." And with that, she walked away, leaving Happy behind her.

\- "I… I can protect Natsu too, Natsu said I'm his ally !"

\- "You can't." Countered Carla. "You don't even know what you are, cat."

\- "Then she could at least tell you what you are instead of acting like an ice queen." Happy jumped when he heard that familiar voice behind him, turning around to find Kouta, who was carrying many bags, probably foods for the guilds. "What is her problem, anyway ?" Neither Happy nor Kouta had an answer for this as the sky slowly darkened, leaving the two to wonder why Carla was acting like this. "Let's head back, Happy. She need to be left alone for now." As they turned around, they stopped immediately, as they found themselves in front of Gajeel and Haruto, both of their faces covered in clawing wounds. The two sides looked at each other without a word, until Happy decided to break the silence.

\- "What's with those wounds ?"

\- "SHUT UP !" Was Gajeel's immediate answer as he stomped his way back to the guild.

\- "What the hell happened to you two ?" Asked Kouta to his colleague.

\- "I'm afraid I can't say, I'm sworn to secrecy." Answered Haruto, following Gajeel, and leaving Kouta and Happy behind, the two of them looking at each other before shrugging, deciding to walk back to the guild, that day already way too much for them to handle. And alas, this wasn't the end of it. Only the beginning. Soon, the dark clouds covered the whole town and a downpour fell down on the city, drenching the people who were rushing to get back home, or outside depending on what you had to do, like Wendy. The little Dragon Slayer was currently one of the only person still outside, having run out to found Carla when the Exceed left. And it's completely drenched that she finally found her companion, standing in the middle of a street all by herself.

\- "I finally found you, Carla !" Said the young girl as she came to a stop next to her feline friend who looked up at her.

\- "Wendy. You'll catch a cold if you don't use an umbrella." Chided Carla.

\- "Who said she isn't." Said a new voice as rain stopped falling on the two, who both lifted their head to see Emu, standing in between them with a large umbrella, protecting them both from the rain. "I'm a doctor, I decently can't let someone out in the rain like this." He said, smiling at Wendy who smiled back at him while Carla simply shrugged and looked away. Which was starting to piss Wendy who squatted down to be at Carla's level.

\- "Carla… we just entered the guild, so I think we need to try and get along better with everyone."

\- "That isn't necessary. As long as you're here, everything's fine to me." Simply said Carla, turning around as Wendy puffed her cheeks in annoyance, tired of her friend repeating the same thing over and over again.

\- "Hey, whether you like it or not, you're now part of this guild, Carla." Said Emu, frowning at the cat. "What are you going to do ? Push everyone away every time they try to be friendly to you ?" Carla turned and opened her mouth to answer but stopped as they all heard footsteps getting closer to them. Looking at where the footsteps were coming from, they all saw a tall man approaching, his face hidden by a dark cloak and with many staves on his back. Emu's eyes widen at the sight while the girls were curious.

\- "Who are you ?" Asked Carla as the man got closer, Emu looking at him with a slight grin.

\- "It's been a while, Mystogan." He said as the mage came to an halt, nodding quickly at Emu before turning his attention on Wendy.

\- "Wendy." Three pairs of eyes widen hearing this voice that felt strangely familiar, Mystogan lifting a hand to his head. "To think you'd come to this guild…" He then pulled on his hood, taking it off and revealing his face to the group who stood there in complete shock at what they were seeing. Blue hair, red tattoo on the right side of his face and blue eyes. The man standing in front of them was none other than Jellal.

Or was he ?

\- "Jellal ?!" Shouted Wendy, eyes wide in disbelief.

\- "Wh… What is the leaning of this ?!" Asked Carla, just as shocked as everyone else. "You should have been captured…"

\- "Unless… You're not Jellal… But someone who look exactly like him." Deduced Emu. "That explain why you always hide your face. I can't imagine what would have happened if Erza saw your face back when Jellal was under the influence of the darkness back then." Mystogan then nodded, confirming his theory, before looking down at Wendy.

\- "Seven years ago, I, knowing little of this world, allowed myself to be known to you as Jellal."

Saying this made Wendy gasp as her eyes filled with tears, realizing what that meant. However, Carla and Emu stumbled over his sentence, and mainly the part where he said 'this world'. What did he meant by that ?

\- "D…Do you mean… You're the Jellal… From 7 years ago…" Stuttered Wendy, tears falling down her face, Emu putting a reassuring hand on her head. "I've been waiting… so long to see you again."

\- "I'm sorry I couldn't have come sooner." Apologized Mystogan as Wendy wiped her tears away. "However, now is not the time to be rejoicing…" This made everyone curious, then worry as they saw Mystogan wobbling on his feet. "We must leave this town at once." As soon as he said that, he fell to his knees, taking them all aback.

\- "Mystogan !" Shouted Emu, leaving his umbrella to Wendy as he rushed at the weakened mage, fear filling his whole being. "Don't you go dying on me. I have my fair share of watching people die under the rain." The memory of Kiriya dying in his arms still haunted him some nights and he clearly didn't wanted to add another drama to this list. "Why should we leave the town ?"

\- "I failed my mission… The Anima has grown too big, and can no longer be suppressed by power alone." Emu's eyes shot wide open in fear when he heard the name Anima. Was he talking about the same Anima that was mentioned in Shocker's data ? "Magnolia… will soon disappear." Now that was something neither Emu nor Wendy and Carla wanted to hear. Frozen in horror, they tried to get more details.

\- "Wh… What do you mean ? I don't understand…" Said Wendy, fearing that she heard him right.

\- "It's going to end. This disappearance is already a decided matter. At the very least… I'd like to spare you…" Explained Mystogan who sounded like he was resigned.

\- "What about Fairy Tail !? What about everyone at the guild !?" Shouted Wendy, fearing for her new family. And Mystogan answer only added fuel to this fear.

\- "It means… They'll all die."

As soon as he said that, Wendy turned on her heels and began to ran toward the guild, letting go of the umbrella and thus letting the rain drench her, but she didn't cared. She had to warn everyone about what was about to happen.

\- "Wendy !" Shouted Carla, who was still by the boys side.

\- "You cannot go ! At the very least, I can take you out of the town with me !" Said Mystogan, but Wendy wasn't having none of it.

\- "Me surviving alone ? Impossible." Stated Wendy, surprising Mystogan. "After all, I am now a member of Fairy Tail !"

\- "But the guild is too far away ! There's no way you'll reach it in time !" Reminded Carla, which was true, but…

 _ **BAKUSOU BIKE !**_

Both Mystogan and Carla turned their head just in time to see a yellow bike rushing past them and coming to a stop in front of Wendy, taking the girl by surprise, before noticing the hand the driver was offering her.

\- "Need a ride ?" Asked Emu with a smile. "We're not letting our friends disappear just like that." She smiled and nodded, grabbing the hand and sitting in front of Emu who put a small helmet on her head as they sped up toward the guild, leaving an awestruck mage and shocked Exceed behind.

/- At the same time, at the guild -/

\- "Aaah…. There's nothing better than a date with the boyfriend on rainy days like this one." Said Cana hugging her 'boyfriend' close, as Mira walked passed her.

\- "Cana, just make sure you left behind some of your 'boyfriend' we serve to guests, alright ?" Asked Mira, Cana's boyfriend being none other than a full barrel of alcohol. Cana pouted but noticed that Mira was now wearing a vest, which she shrugged off. Which was not the case for Kouta, who seemed curious.

\- "Hmm ? You're going somewhere, Mira ?"

\- "Just to the church. I'm off now, Elfman !" She called her brother, who was also ready to go, following her sister out, which confused some people.

\- "Why would they go to the church on a day like this ?" Wondered Kouta, sitting down at the bar next to an equally confused Lucy.

\- "It's because it's almost the anniversary of Lisanna's death." Explained Cana.

\- "Lisanna ? Isn't that their sister, or something ?" Asked Haruto, joining the group.

\- "Their younger sister, yes." Explained Levy with a sad smile. "She died in an accident during a job, 2 years ago. When it gets close to the anniversary, they start going to the church."

\- "I see…" Kouta looked at the brother and sister who were leaving the building, remembering of those he lost himself.

\- "That reminds me… You remind me a little of Lisanna, you know." Suddenly said Cana to Lucy, much to her surprise.

\- "Oh really ?"

\- "Like the way you get along with Natsu." Added Levy, Lucy looking at Natsu who was sleeping soundly against the request board, the blonde smiling as she looked at him.

\- "Hmm.. So a while back, Natsu and a girl…"

\- "Is that envy I hear in that voice ?"

 _ **LUCY KICK !**_

To Kouta's teasing, the response was immediate and a Kamen Rider was in an instant sent flying through the building , much to everyone laughter. Laughter that echoed in the building and drown out the growing rumble coming from the sky above the town. While at the guild, no one was aware of what was happening, in the streets, Emu and Wendy drove as fast as they could to the guild to try and warn everyone before it was too late as the clouds began to swirl, creating an opening in the sky that shone on the town just as Emu and Wendy reached their destination.

\- "Everyone !" Shouted Wendy, taking her helmet off as she unmounted the bike and ran toward the guild's gate. "We're in big trouble ! The sky… *Gasp* !"

\- "What the hell ?!" Muttered Emu when suddenly, the guild warped right under their nose, as if the building were made of rubber and being stretched toward the sky. And it wasn't just the guild. All the building around them were being sucked away by the huge hole that teared up the sky, forming a large tornado that took the whole town with it, up to the very last brick. And in a matter of seconds, nothing was left.

\- "… no way…"

\- "Please tell me it's a nightmare…"

Neither Wendy nor Emu could believe what they were seeing, or rather not seeing. Where once stood a whole town full of people and shops now stood a vast empty white ground. Some kind of bubbles floated all around the two, but they were too tetanized to noticed them. Wendy, who fell to her knees, had her eyes wide open, looking everywhere, trying to see if someone or something, somehow, managed to subsist. Emu was hammering the screen of his phone, trying to join one of his gone friends, but he couldn't get any kind of signal. And it was slowly starting to frighten him.

\- "No… it can't be… A town can't disappear just like that… what the hell is going on, here ?!" If he listened to his brain, he would let his frustration and anguish take the better of him, but he still had someone he had to stay strong for.

\- "The guild… disappeared." Slowly said Wendy, weakly getting up. "The town too… Everything… Wh… What in the world happened here !? Is anyone here !?" She shouted in a desperate attempt to reach someone, but to no avail, which made her fell to her knees once again, tears swelling in her eyes. "Wh…Why am I still here ? The town and the guild, everything disappeared… why am I…"

\- "Wendy. Wendy, look at me." Wendy lifted her head, meeting Emu's soft gaze. "I know that this is frightening, but since we are still there, then we can try and look for a way to bring our friends back." He told her, the girl wiping her tears with a sniffle. "It is true that there is a lot of unknown and I don't know where to start. But we can still do something to help everyone. We're going to change this with our own hands, okay ?"

\- "… okay." Wendy's smile was back, along with her determination. Emu was right : they had to do everything to get their friends back. However, her determination was soon tested when something crackled next to her, the ground bulging weirdly. Instinctively, Emu pulled Wendy behind him to protect her from whatever was about to come out of the ground. But when the ground finally cracked open, the first thing they saw was a tuft of pink hair, followed by a black eyed familiar face, then by a scaly scarf.

\- "Natsu !?" Exclaimed Emu, not expecting such a development.

\- "Emu ? Wendy ?" Said Natsu with the same tone, still not over the fact that he literally came out of the ground like a mole before looking all around. "Huh ? Where are we ?"

Both Wendy and Emu were relieved that they weren't the only one who survived such a catastrophe. But that left a lot of questions.

\- "You… don't remember anything, do you ?" Asked the girl to her dragon brother, who seemed completely lost and… half-awake ?

\- "Well, I was asleep, so… But where are we ?"

\- "We are at the guild. Well, where it was, to be precise." Said Emu, confusing Natsu even more as he pulled himself out of the ground.

\- "A hole in the sky suddenly opened up… and then everyone, including the guild and the town were swallowed up." Explained Wendy. And of course, Natsu's first reaction was…

\- "Wendy… Did you hit your head somewhere ? this is really bad." Checking out Wendy's head for the bump that came with what he though were hallucinations, much to her frustration.

\- "She's not having some kind of dementia, Natsu. I saw it too, it really happened as she said." Confirmed Emu, making Natsu frown, trying to process everything. "That being said, what I'd like to know first is why we're the only one who survived." As soon as he said that, Wendy gasped in realization as she noticed something.

\- "Could it be ?! Only Dragon Slayers were left behind !?"

\- "That's right." Before emu could counter her theory, Carla, wings deployed, had confirmed her Slayer words, the young girl relieved to see her companion was still here. However, Carla looked rather down, almost sad, even. "Looks like the special magic Dragon Slayer possess really helped us out. I'm glad that at least you two could survive."

\- "That's unforgivable !" Suddenly shouted Natsu. "What about the others…."

An angel passed.

\- "… Wait, do you mean they really did disappear !?" As always pretty slow to understand things, Natsu began to call for his friends, but of course no one answered. As for Wendy, she had a question.

\- "But if we escaped that thing thanks to our magic, why is Emu still here ?" she asked, the Exceed turning to look at Emu with a frown.

\- "I have no idea."

\- "I think I do." Suddenly said Emu, catching the girl's attention. "Out of the four Rider that were still in town, I'm the only one who has no special abilities on my own." Seeing their confusion, Emu began to explain. "Takeru had always been able to see ghost and he even was one for a time and he still got some of the traits he had back then. Haruto is a mage, in a way, meaning he have magic in him. And Kouta is basically a god, so…" Eyes shot wide open when they heard the word 'God' leaving his mouth, but they decided that it wasn't the time for that. "As for me, even if I was 'infected' with the Bugster Virus, I have no real power, or at least nothing science can't explain, unlike my friends. That could explain why I'm still there and not them."

\- "So, what really happened to everyone then ?" Asked Natsu, who realized shouting was doing nothing at all.

\- "They disappeared. Well, to be accurate, they were swallowed up and erased by Anima."

\- "So that thing was the Anima ? What is it exactly ?"

\- "Anima, that hole in the sky just now, was the gate to the world on the other side, Edolas." The mention of Edolas, or rather another world, shocked the little group, who stood completely frozen in shock. And Emu more than the other as he remembered that Shocker was studying those things. Did they knew what was on the other side ? What were they working on ?

\- "NATSU ! What is this ?! Where is the town ?!" For a few seconds, they forgot their conversation to look to the side where they saw Happy who was flying straight at Natsu, apparently distressed by the town suddenly disappearing. However, they soon got back on their main subject.

\- "Carla, do you know anything about this ? And speaking of which, why were you and Happy saved ?"

\- "That's because I came from Edolas, the world on the other side." This shocked the group, but Carla wasn't done. "That male cat too." Happy blanched as he heard her, and alas, this wasn't most shocking thing she had to say. "He and I… are the reason this town disappeared."

A pregnant pause followed as they all processed what they just learned. Happy and Carla were from another world and where the one responsible for the disappearing of the town ? This was a lot to take in and Emu knew this was just the most basic explanation there was. And they needed more details.

\- "I don't know if you're right or not, but I think we all need to know everything about what's happening so you better start explaining."

\- "Very well." Agreed Carla, wings disappearing and landing on the ground softly. "Here's the situation. Edolas is a world separate from this one"

\- "You mean the one where Emu and the other come from ?" Asked Natsu, only to received a small slap to the back of his head by the doctor.

\- "No we're not. Do you even listen when we explain things to you all ?"

\- "Anyway. Right now, Edolas is starting to lose its magic."

\- "Lose its magic ? Is something stealing it away, or something like that ?" Theorized Wendy as Emu was wondering if it has anything to do with Shocker since they seemed to be interested in this Anima.

\- "Not really. Unlike this world, the magic of Edolas is limited. If it keeps being used, the world itself will someday disappear." Explained Carla, sending a slight shudder down her comrades spines at the mention of a disappearing world. "In order to save this dried-up magic, the king of Edolas developed a spell to absorb magic from another world… in other words, this one."

\- "And I'm guessing Anima is that spell. Taking magic from this world to their own." Deduced Emu, Carla nodding in confirmation.

\- "Exactly. Anima is a hyper-dimensional space magic. The plan, which started 6 years ago, involves opening Anima in various places around the world, but it didn't bear the kind of fruit they were expecting. Because someone on the other side went around closing up Anima." As she said that, Carla's mind trailed back to Jellal, or rather Mystogan, who was the one behind those closing. "However, this Anima right now was too enormous and without any kind of defense, the guild was swallowed right up."

\- "But why did it absorb Fairy Tail ?" Asked Natsu, still half-confused by the situation his brain was still trying to process.

\- "Think a little but, Natsu. She already said that Anima is used to provide Edolas with more magic." Said Emu to the Slayer, letting them understand the situation on their own. And of course, Wendy was the one who get it first.

\- "There are tons of powerful mages in Fairy Tail !" She realized with a gasp. "Is that why they were targeted ?!"

\- "Just how selfish can you bastards be, huh ?!" Shouted Natsu, shaking his fist at the sky. "Give everyone back, damnit !"

\- "A…And that's… Mine and Carla's fault ?" Asked Happy, who had been unusually quiet, looking at his feminine counterpart with worry in his eyes.

\- "Indirectly. We received a different mission from the kingdom of Edolas, and were sent to this world."

\- "But I thought you and Happy were born in this world ?" Reminded Emu, to which Wendy agreed.

\- "It's true ! You were born from an egg ! In this world !"

\- "That's right." Admitted Carla, looking down in what seemed to be sadness. "Let me just tell you, I've never been to Edolas even once. Just like you said, I was born and raised in this world." She slowly began to tense, fist clenched and shaking slightly. "But the knowledge of Edolas and our mission was inserted into our bodies. We should have both been aware of everything from the moment we were born !" she then turned toward Happy, pointing an angry finger at him as she snapped. "And yet, how do you somehow not know a thing !?"

Happy's head slumped as he saw her distress and the tears forming in her eyes. It wasn't his fault if he couldn't remember anything. Before he could say anything, Carla had turned around, keeping her head high.

\- "Anyway, that's the way things are. Since we are beings from Edolas, this occurrence is our fault."

\- "Didn't you just mention something about a different mission, Carla ?" Asked Wendy, which made the Exceed stop dead in her tracks, shaking once again.

\- "I can't say what that is."

\- "Tell me, Carla. I want to know what I am." Asked Happy, desperately trying to get answers to the many questions that piled up in his mind.

\- "I just said I can't say what it is, didn't I ?! Remember it yourself !" Snapped Carla one more time, one too much for Emu.

\- "Head trauma, traumatic events, physical deficiencies..." Eyes turned to Emu who just casually said things that had nothing to do with their current discussion. "Those are things that can causes amnesia. Things that can happen to anyone and upon which we have no control. So instead of trying to bite Happy's head off whenever he tries to get answers about who he is and what's his role in this, you could simply answer them, or at least keep your own insecurities from making you act like you're the only one who's concerned by what's happening. Besides, you said that you can't tell us, but in truth, you just DON'T want to tell us, which means that this mission is something that won't please us, am I right ?" Carla gritted her teeth, but the look in her eyes proved that Emu was right. "I'm pretending that I understand this situation better than you, because I don't, but given the situation, it would be in everyone's interest for you to stop acting so cold toward us."

\- "Come on, who cares." Suddenly said Natsu, grinning as he slammed a fist in his other hand. "Now that we've made things clearer, how about we head out already ?! To that Edolas place."

\- "Things aren't clear at all ! You really don't understand a thing, do you ?" Shouted Carla, annoyed by Natsu's denseness.

\- "It's Natsu we're talking about. Don't be so surprised." Reminded Emu as Natsu didn't paid any attention to her.

\- "Everyone's in Edolas, right ? Then we've gotta go save 'em." Added Natsu, looking at the sky.

\- "Well ? Carla…"

\- "Probably." Said Carla, answering Wendy even if she didn't looked that happy about the situation. "I think they are there, but I don't know if they can be saved. I don't even know if we'd be able to return from Edolas…"

\- "Well, if none of my friends are here, then there's nothing that really keep me tied to this place." Said Natsu, already decided. Just like Wendy who agreed with him. This made Carla look down, not knowing what she should do.

\- "We have to get them back one way or another. As for coming back here, if Anima can open a portal between the two worlds, then there's a way to come back." Reminded Emu with a smile of his own. This was too much for Carla who had no choice but to comply.

\- "I'm also technically a member of Fairy Tail… It'll give me a guilty conscience to know that this happened out of my responsibility to my homeland. Well, it's not like I can't take you all there…" She finally looked ready to do it, but she wasn't completely done. "I just need you to promise me a few things."

\- "And they are… ?"

\- "First, by returning to Edolas, I can give up my 'mission'. I can't risk being caught by a member of the kingdom there… So we'll have to disguise ourselves." Everyone nodded at that as Carla turned to Happy. "And male cat, you will promise not to inquire any further about our mission." Another nod from the Exceed. "Thirdly, I don't know a thing about Edolas beside what I've told you. So I can't be a navigator."

\- "No need to told us this, you've never been there so it's kind of obvious that you know nothing about this place." Reminded Emu as Carla turned to him, suddenly very serious as she pointed at him.

\- "And lastly… If the male cat and I end up doing something like betrayal to you, then Emu, you will kill us without hesitation."

Silence fell on the group as every eyes shot wide open at that last request from the female Exceed. They weren't expecting something like this and it only comforted them in believing what Emu said about their mission being something they might not like. But since they had to go to Edolas and that they won't be able to without her, Emu had no choice.

\- "Very well. But I'll be the one to judge if you betrayed us or not. I'll be the one to decide your fate." This seemed okay for Carla who nodded as she opened her wings and flew to grabbed Wendy's back.

\- "Alright. Then we're going."

\- "Wait, Carla ! How are we going to go to Edolas ?" Asked Wendy, looking over her shoulder at her Exceed.

\- "Our wings are wings in order to return to Edolas. We're going to enter Edolas from the traces of Anima. We'll use our wings to break through."

\- "But then how is Emu going to follow us ? I'm not sure we can carry him along with Natsu and Wendy." Said Happy, already on Natsu's back as Carla bit her lips. This wasn't something she thought about. But before she could think of a solution, Emu already had one.

\- "I think I have an idea." He said, pulling Jet Combat out and handing it to Happy and Carla. "If you both infuse enough of your magic in this, this should give me the power needed to follow you. It's only a theory, but we have nothing else and I think time is running out, right ?"

Carla didn't know if this could work, nor how infusing their magic in this thing could help, but they had no choice because, as he just said it, the traces of Anima would soon disappear, and their opportunity to go to Edolas with it. Grabbing onto the Gashat with Happy, she infused her magic inside the trinket which began to glow and when the light died out, the Gashat had turned white and light blue, the fighter jet on it now replaced by winged cats, flying at high speed in the sky.

\- "Alright, let's try this."

 _ **BANG BANG SHOOTING !**_

 _ **JET EXCEED !**_

\- "DAI DAI DAI HENSHIN !"

 _ **A GACHA ! HIK**_ _ **Ō**_ _ **! HIK**_ _ **Ō**_ _ **! HIGHSPEED FELINE ! HIK**_ _ **Ō**_ _ **! HIK**_ _ **Ō**_ _ **! JET EXCEED !**_

In a flash of pixelated light, Emu was transformed into a new version of Snipe usual Level 3. Instead of an orange jet shaped armor, Emu was wearing a white cat ears shaped helmet, a pair of white feathery wings on his back and a chest plate designed to look like real fur. And instead of the usual gatling gun, he was armed with feline claws that were stuck to his wrist. Natsu and Happy seemed to appreciate the sight, while Wendy and Carla, who have never saw a Rider Hybrid before were awestruck by what they just witnessed.

\- "Well, it looks like this works." Stated Emu, checking at himself before looking at Carla. "So, are we all good or what ?"

\- "Yes, we are. Let's go then !" And in a flash, the two Exceed, their partners and Emu shot to the sky, looking like a bunch of shooting star that rose from the ground. "Male cat ! Release your magic ! And Emu, try to stay close to us !"

\- "Okie-dokie !" Answered Happy, accelerating even more.

\- "Don't worry, I'm just behind you !" Shouted Emu, trying to be heard through the wind that was howling around them.

\- "NOW !"

With one last cry, the group of five reached the traces of Anima and shot right through it, a deafening boom, similar to the ones that usually echoed when something manage to broke the sound barrier. The air rippled around them as they became thin trails of light, before turning into nothingness. Once the boom ceased to echoed through the empty ground that was Magnolia. As the lights died out, the only thing left was a deafening silence as wind slowly blew across the flat ground, no trace of mages, Exceeds or Rider left as they just pierced through the Anima, going on a mission to save their friend, in a world they didn't even knew the existence until now : a world named Edolas.

 **And done ! God dammit, that was long but as I said, I had a lot of things going on recently and I had a hard time finding time to write. Once again, I'm sorry. I hope that you liked this chapter, don't forget to review, fav and follow if you liked it and I'll see you later for the next chapter of this story. See ya !**

 **Next time : A confusing world. The giant Lachryma. On to save our friends !**


	46. Chapter 46 : Edo-Fairies

**And here we are, chapter 46 and the real beginning of Edolas ! This chapter is a bit short, I admit. But to be honest, the Edolas arc isn't my favorite, by far, so I had a hard time to find a way to turn things around on something that please me and that will, I hope, please you. Anyway, I hope you'll like it and don't forget to let me know what you though of it.**

 **Let's go !**

 **Chapter 46 : Edo-Fairies**

Deafening rumble and darkness was all the group of five could hear and see as they were going through the Anima. They felt like they were inside a washing machine, slowly feeling sick with the swirling clouds around them. They were starting to wonder if they succeeded when they finally saw a light starting to shine in front of them. The light in size and intensity as they got closer to it. Soon, the light engulfed them and after a moment of complete blindness, they finally reached the other side. Appearing out of thin air in the middle of the sky like shooting stars, the 5 comrades took in what they had before them and stared in awe.

\- "This is Edolas…" Stated Carla, amazed by what she saw.

\- "My roots…" Added Happy, still feeling uneasy by what he recently learned as Natsu awed at what he was seeing.

\- "It's undoubtedly another world, no doubt about that." Said Emu, looking at the unreal landscapes that stretches as far as eyes could see. The lands were of many tints of blue and purple and made up of many different sized floating islands that were covered in a fauna and flora that they've never seen before. Strange four winged creature flying in the sky, floating river, bubble covered trees and many other weird things that proved they weren't in Earthland anymore. "So, what are we going to do now ?"

Before anyone could answer, the Exceeds' wings disappeared, making them and their passengers plummet to the ground, passing through many trees and branches before crashing through the roof of a house.

\- "Ughh… What the hell hap…" Began Natsu when suddenly… *CRASH* "OOF !" Something fell on him, crushing him against the ground.

\- "Ouch… sorry, Natsu." Said Emu, who had just fell on Natsu, now back to Bang Bang Shooting Level 1. "Something happened to my wings."

\- "I told you, didn't I ? We can't use magic freely, here." Reminded Carla, making the other nod.

\- "That explain why Jet Exceed became Jet Combat again. The magic probably was expelled when we arrived."

\- "You're right… This feels weird." Stated Wendy, looking at her hands, feeling like something happened to her magic.

\- "Where are we ?" Asked Happy, looking at the room they were in. "This looks like some kind of storehouse."

\- "That's perfect. We'll probably find what we need to disguise ourselves." Stated Carla as they al began to look around the room, even Emu. After sometimes, they all found what they were looking for and were all ready to head out and explore this place. However, Natsu noticed something through one of the storehouse window.

\- "Hm ? What is… WHAT ?! It's Fairy Tail !"

\- "Ehh !?" Indeed, much to everyone shock, just in front of the storehouse stood a building with the name Fairy Tail above the door and the same emblem on a flag above it. However, this building seemed to be build inside a large tree with a large round door and many circular window all over it.

\- "It's shape is a bit different, but this is Fairy Tail ! It's gotta be !" Shouted Natsu as he and Happy began to ran toward the building, leaving their friends behind.

\- "Hold on !" Ordered Carla, her orders falling into deaf ears as the two partners kept running toward the familiarly named building.

\- "Everyone's alright !" Added Natsu, ecstatic as he saw familiar faces through the windows.

\- "Well that sure didn't take long !" Commented Happy, just as joyous as the Dragon slayer. However, their happiness was cut short when they were tackled to the ground by Emu, who was wearing a white robe that looked a lot like a plague doctor, without the mask ha replaced with simple glasses.

\- "Hold your horses, you guys ! Something isn't right…" He said, looking thought at their 'friends'. "Look at them closely".

Natsu raised an eyebrow at the Rider before focusing on the people inside the building, his eyes first stopping on Juvia, who seemed… strange.

\- "Juvia's going off to work now." She said, still referring to herself in third person but something with her was definitely weird, and it could come from her clothes, wearing a miniature hat on her head, a white sailor suit-like top tied up just below her chest to show her mid-section and an ultramarine mini-skirt with tan tight, high-heels and white gloves. However, it's her face that made Natsu and the other feel weird. She was displaying a confidence that she never shown before. However, this was nothing compared to what came next.

\- "W…Wait, Juvia-chan !" Said a pretty familiar voice, coming from a man who was waling up to Juvia. "I wanna go too… Kinda."

\- "Just looking at your outfit is making me hot… How many layers are you wearing ?" Snickered Juvia at… Gray. Yes, Gray. A Gray that was thrice as thick due to the uncountable layers of clothes he was wearing. Besides, he was acting all shy with Juvia, while it should have been the opposite.

\- "Call me again when you're wearing less." Said Juvia, turning Gray down and walking away.

\- "B…But I get cold easily !" Countered Gray, following Juvia.

\- "WHAT THE HELL !" Natsu finally voiced his incomprehension, his brain literally unable to process what he just saw, the others just as confused and shocked as he was. And it was only the beginning. They could see Jet and Droy, looking like tough guys, lecturing a whimpering Elfman who had nothing manly on him anymore. Alzack and Bisca were all over each other in a corner of the room a,d sitting at a table was another huge shock for the 5. Cana, sitting gracefully on a stool, wearing a plain and non-revealing outfit with a bergère hat, who just turned down alcohol, stating that she didn't drink alcohol. And this seemed to be too much for everyone in our disguised group.

\- "Wh…What the hell is going on here ?" Asked Natsu, sweating profusely at what he just saw.

\- "Has everyone gone nuts ?" Added Happy, just as shocked.

\- "Looks like it." Began Emu, looking perplexed. "Unless…"

\- "Oi. Who the fuck are you ?" Before anyone could say anyone, something, or rather someone, appeared right in front of them, squatting down and giving them a full view of their crotch forcing them to look up before gasping in shock. "What the hell are you sneaking around here for, huh ?"

They were more than surprise to see that the one who was questioning them with such venom in her voice was none other than Lucy who, like almost everyone in this place, changed her wardrobe. She was now wearing a revealing, black leotard with a large erect collar that is exposed at the front and is cut to reveal her stomach and ample cleavage. She also wears a pair of long thigh-high boots that appear to be held up by thin overlapping belts. The leotard was decorated with a single metal shoulder-guard on the right shoulder and a sheet of white fabric attached to her right hip cascading down to her knee. She was also wearing a single white sleeve over her forearm and a black tattoo on her upper left arm.

\- "LUCY ?!"

\- "Just what… is the meaning of this ?" Finally said Carla, completely lost as top why they were all acting like that. Nothing made sense to her. Besides, try to think when all of your friends look at you as if you were strangers was pretty much unnerving. Speaking of unnerving, the way Lucy was inching herself closer to Natsu, as if to get a good look at him, was making the Dragon slayer feel weird, not knowing how he should react.

\- "Natsu ?" She asked, as if she was trying to confirm it was really him. And when she saw that it was him… "It's you after all, Natsuuu !" She shouted happily, crushing, yes crushing, Natsu with a hug.

\- "That's Natsu ?" Asked Max, who just like everybody else was acting weird, almost not believing that this was Natsu.

\- "What's with those clothes ?" Asked Warren.

\- "And what's with the little girl, that dude and the cats ?" Asked Macao.

\- "Where have you been until now ?" Lucy asked Natsu, shaking slightly. "Do you know how worried I was ?"

\- "Lucy…" Simply said Natsu, not knowing what to say, not liking the idea that he could have worried Lucy, when suddenly…

\- "DEATH PENALTY !" Shouted Lucy, sitting on Natsu's shoulder in a flash, legs wrapped around his neck and twisting her knuckles on his temples, much to the Earth Land mages shock. As the people in the building all reacted differently at Lucy's torture, displaying even more the changes that happened to them.

\- "Is this… all a result of being in Edolas ?" Theorized Happy. "Everything has been completely reversed."

\- "Lucy ! Look at you bullying Natsu again ! Enough already !" Now, this was a voice Emu, Wendy and Carla didn't knew, which didn't seemed to be the case for Natsu and Happy's whose eyes widen as they turned to look at the source. "Jet and Droy, you need to stop bullying Elfy, too !" Scolded a white haired girl, who bore a striking resemblance to Mira and Elfman, which mad Natsu and Happy stood in shock, and the name Natsu managed to utter shocked the others.

\- "Lisanna…" Ha said, looking at the girl completely awestruck as tears pooled in his and Happy's eyes.

\- "No way…" said the cat before they both jumped, literally, on the white haired girl.

\- "LISANNAAAA !"

\- "HEEEEEYYY !" Shouted Lucy, jumping and kicking the two in midair, proof that she at least didn't forget how to do her famous Lucy Kick, before grabbing Natsu by his collar and pulling his face to her. "Since when did you become so animal-like, huh ?!" She asked in curiosity and what Emu identified as a bit of jealousy.

\- "But… Lisanna's alive… right there." Said Natsu, pointing at Lisanna while crying before being dragged away by Gray.

\- "C'mon, just sit down. What do you say we have a little chat for once in a while, friend ?" Said Gray, way too friendly with Natsu who kept crying a bit.

\- "Wh… Why is Lisanna here… ?" Wondered Happy, laying on the ground.

\- "Mira-san's younger sister… she should be deceased !"

\- "Unless they weren't 'reversed'" Suddenly said Emu, making the others confused, except Carla who seemed to have reached the same conclusion. "Look at Mira." Indeed, much to everyone surprise, Mira was exactly the same, personality and wardrobe wise. "And then look this way." Added Emu, pointing at another side of the room where they saw a second Wendy, or rather, a much older and… developed... Wendy, which made the little Wendy's eyes go wide in shock.

\- "They weren't reversed. These people probably lived all their life here in Edolas. They may look and sound like them, but they aren't our friends." This statement made Natsu, Wendy and Happy gasp is shock. "It would seem like this world is populated with doppelganger of the one living in Earth Land, who lived their own life which lead to those completely different personalities. If those were our friends, then where's Erza ? Where are Takeru, Kouta and Haruto ? And this building… It's not ours, meaning it has always been here."

\- "So this Fairy Tail has always existed in Edolas !?" Realized Happy, as Natsu began to tense.

\- "Then where are all the people we know ?!"

\- "How should I know !?" Answered Carla. "that's what we're here to find, right ?" With that, she grabbed Happy's paw and began to run for the door. "It's just going to cause us trouble to stay here any longer. We're off."

\- "Carla ! Where are you going ?!" Asked Wendy, wondering what her friend had in mind.

\- "To the royal city ! There should be some clue to where the absorbed guild went !" However, as they were about to exit the building, someone else entered it, running at the one inside, his stress evident on his face.

\- "Fairy Hunter !"

This sudden announcement gave birth to a collective gasp from the local Fairies while the one from Earth Land simply stood there in confusion as everyone began to move around them, some of them even starting to panic.

\- "Hey, cats ! Just where do you think you're going ?! It's dangerous outside !" Roared Lucy at the two Exceed who stopped in their tracks, looking at her in confusion as many others were starting to panic.

\- "They already found out this location !?" Said one of them, sweat running down his face. "Those bastards from the kingdom… They're chasing us down again…"

\- "Kingdom… The ones that sent us to Earth Land." Remembered Carla as Happy's eyes began to fill with tears.

\- "Are we… enemies of Fairy Tail ?"

\- "How much longer is it going to take for that damn transport field, Levi ?!" Shouted Lucy at Levy, whose clothes and attitude, just like everyone else here, was the complete opposite of what she was in Earth Land.

\- "I'm taking care of it right now, you asshole !" Swore Levy, which sounded strangely to the Earth-lander ears as they've never heard that voice insult anyone. Suddenly, everything began to shake as something was approaching from above.

\- "The atmosphere… is shaking…"

\- "Wh… What is that ?"

As Natsu shouted that, head lifted to look at the sky, they noticed a humongous, blue dragon-like creature getting closer and closer to the guild, something standing on top of it.

\- "Fairy Hunter !? Who is that ?!" Wonder Carla, eyes wide as she watched the beast approaching them.

\- "The kingdom is after Fairy Tail !? For what ?!"

\- "Isn't it obvious ?" Answered the older Wendy, cutting her younger counterpart. "Under orders from the king, all magician guilds were abolished. This is the only one that remains in all of the world. How could you follow Natsu here without even knowing that ?"

\- "Eh ? But then, this means…"

\- "That in this world, Fairy Tail is considered a Dark Guild." Said Emu, finishing Wendy's sentence, the news taking its toll on the Earth Land natives.

\- "Alright ! Transport field opened !" Warned Levy as she pushed a lever and just as the beast was about to break the building down in one swipe of his clawed hands, the whole guild disappeared inside the ground, digging a tunnel in the ground. After a few minutes in the dark, the guild resurfaced again, now standing in the middle of some kind of desert.

\- "Wh…What happened ?!" Wondered Happy who, just like his friends, was laying on the ground from the sudden moving.

\- "I think… They moved the entire guild somewhere else…" Explained Emu, slowly sitting up.

\- "That was pretty amazing…" Stated Wendy, her head still spinning while all around them, the members of the Fairy Tail of Edolas cheered as they managed to escape their doom.

\- "You sure took your sweet time, though !" Groaned Lucy, shoving her face close to Levy's with a deep scowl. "You could have fucking killed us !"

\- "Shut up !" Retorted Levy, sporting the same expression. "Try doing it yourself once in a while !"

 _"Yep… Definitely another world…"_ Sweat dropped Emu as he looked at the two bickering girl.

\- "But what the hell was that thing ?" Asked Natsu, still not over the beast that attacked them so suddenly.

\- "What's wrong, Natsu …? Been so long you forgot ?" Wondered Mira, looking at Natsu, still believing that he was their Natsu. "That was one of the Royal Magic War Division captains… Erza Knightwalker, also known as Fairy Hunter Erza."

\- "Wha… Erza's… our enemy ?" Now this wasn't something the 5 travelers need to learn so soon. They may know that this was the Erza from Edolas they were talking of, this didn't changed the fact she could be as strong as the one they knew and if this was the case, they were in a for a difficult time.

\- "Anyway, now that this is settled, maybe you could tell us about yourselves." Said Lucy, walking to Emu and Wendy, arms crossed and a scowl on her face. "When did you met Natsu ? Where are you coming from ?"

\- "Well, I have to warn you : you might have a hard time believing us as it is pretty farfetched." Began Emu, their hosts gathering around them. "We came from another world, named Earthland. It's very different from yours in many points, the main one being that our world basically has unlimited magic."

\- "O-kay… It is farfetched, indeed. But why did you two came here with two cats for ?" Asked Gray,

\- "Hum… it's three, not two." Corrected Emu, gaining confused glances as he pointed to Natsu. "This is another thing you should know about our world : its inhabitants are the same, though with different life and, as a consequence, personalities. In our world, we are all part of a guild named Fairy Tail, with the same emblem and the same members. And you are all part of it too, in our world, but there's differences. For instance, in our world, Erza is part of Fairy Tail." This made people gasp at the idea of having Erza working with them which was kinda strange to them. "Another example is that our Lucy and Levy are best friends." The Edolas counterpart of said girls looked at each other in surprise, before looking away in disgust.

\- "So this Natsu…" Began Droy, pointing at the Dragon Slayer. "Is your Natsu and not ours. Guess that explain why he's not acting like normal."

\- "But then, this girl is me ?" Gasped Edo-Wendy, looking down at her younger counter part in shock, much to the little mage embarrassment.

\- "Well, it's all good and all, but why did you came here ?" Re-asked Gray, mentally wondering if this other world he was going out with Juvia.

\- "Well, from what we know, your king is using a magic named Anima to suck magic from our world to yours." Started Emu, gaining everyone's attention once again. "But one of those absorption took a whole town with it and our friends with it. All of your counterparts. And we came here to saved them all."

\- "So yeah… Could you tell us the best way to get to the capital ?" Suddenly said Natsu, people gasping at him as if he was crazy.

\- "Our friends' life are all in danger." Added Wendy, looking at them with pleading eyes. "We have to go and save them or they'll be turned into pure magic."

\- "Well, I'm sorry to break this to you, little me, but you'd better off giving up." Said Edo-Wendy pretty harshly, earning a gasp from them. "Nobody stands up to the kind of Edolas and lives to tell the tale. The power the kingdom wields cannot be overstated."

\- "In this world, magic is a limited resource." Added Elfman. "It can't last forever."

\- "And in fear of that, the king has been trying to keep all the remaining magic for himself. Isn't that right, Juvia-chan ?!" Cheerily said Gray, turning to the blue haired girl.

\- "As a result… A royal decree was sent out ordering the disbanding of all mage guilds." Juvia then began to explain a darker part of this decree. "To begin with, everyone tried to resist. But the royal army's magic militia crushed all the other guilds, one by one… until the only one left was us."

\- "And it's not like we've escaped unharmed, either ! We've lost half our members already… even the master was killed…" Their sorrow at the memory of their lost friends was seemingly too much for some of them as they began to openly cry, a sight that pained their guests. "It's all we can do just to keep them from catching us. So you really shouldn't get involved with them. You're better off just going back to your own world."

\- "I don't care about all this !" Natsu's sudden statement made everyone lift their head and look at him. "I'm gonna save my friends, no matter what !"

Apparently, they weren't used to see Natsu, or rather Edo-Natsu, act with so much confidence, everyone staring at him with wide eyes, impressed by the young man's determination.

\- "Besides, even if we wanted to, we currently have no way of going back home." Added Emu. "The only ones here who can help us in finding a way back are at the capital. So whether you want to help us or not, we're going there anyway. So where's the capital ?"

\- "… West from here, but it's pretty far away. At least days on foot." Finally said Lucy, eyes glued on Natsu's burning gaze.

\- "It doesn't matter. Let's go, guys. We've lost enough time as it is."

With that, the 5 left the building, leaving a shocked and confused guild behind as they headed to the unknown to save their friends, hoping they won't be too late.

/- At the capital -/

The Royal Capital of Edolas was a huge circular city, surrounded by tall wall, with a humongous castle in the middle, towering over the much smaller houses that covered the whole city. And right in front of the town stood a gigantic Lachryma, standing as tall as the castle where some people were busy looking at the magic stone.

\- "Oh, wow ! Have you seen it, Erza ?! That huge Lachryma !" Shouted a man wearing a white cape, with purple hair with a white streak and arrow shaped eyebrow. Erza, well, Erza Knightwalker to be more precise, was standing by his side, also looking at the crystal through a window.

\- "I saw it when I arrived, Hughes. A beautiful thing it is, indeed."

\- "That's the magical power of tens thousands of humans from Earthland, you know !" Explained the man named Hughes excitedly.

\- "Hmm. To be more precise, it is the magical power of approximatively one hundred mages, and the lives of a multitude of people besides." Explained a man wearing a pink armor, named Sugarboy, who had his blonde hair in a pompadour.

\- "Do we have to sweat the details, Sugarboy ? All I'm trying to say is : this thing is amazing !" Finally added Hughes as the three were suddenly joined by someone.

\- "Erza-san. Have you still not succeeded in eliminating Fairy Tail ?" Aske the man, a short, elderly guy with horn shaped eyebrows and strangely shaped nose.

\- "Byro…" Simply said Edo-Erza as she turned to look at the man who was laughing a little bit.

\- "Ngushushushu… And to think they call you the 'Fairy Hunter'…" Mocked Byro. "Fairy Tail is the only guild remaining to be eliminated. Shertainly, they are adept at running away, but I feel his majesty would like to shee some results shooner rather than later." He explained, also displaying his slight defects of pronunciation. Edo-Erza simply stared at him as the other calmly took her side.

\- "Do not fret. The day when this goddess will rid us of those fairy pests is soon at hand." Said Sugarboy, which only made Byro laugh more.

\- "Ngushushushu…"

\- "Enough of that ghastly laughter, Byro." Exclaimed a tall and bulky newcomer, who was, strangely, an anthropomorphic black feline with a white muzzle, wearing an armor of the same kind as the others. "I don't appreciate people making excessive noise. Hughes, that goes for you too."

\- "Hmm… You seem in a nasty mood, Pantherlily." Noted Sugarboy as the cat-man walked past them all with a single hmm.

\- "He isn't too pleased about the arms race we have got ourselves into." Said Erza as she watched Lily walk away.

\- "Surely that should be a happy development for a military man as himself." Said Sugarboy, but Erza had some things to add.

\- "Still, considering our country has united almost the entire world, it is true enough that there would appear to be little need for further arms development."

\- "Hmm… There are still a few rebellious factions out there, are there not ?" Reminded Sugarboy, though this didn't convinced Erza completely.

\- "But we are capable of handling those ourselves, surely ?"

\- "What the heck ! where did this amazingly complicated discussion come from ?! I don't get it at all !" On that, the three knights walked away, not noticing the sinister grin that had appeared on Byro's face, who seemed to know more than he looked.

At the same time, something else was happening in the throne room.

\- "Your majesty ! Your majesty !" Shouted a young girl as she ran bare footed all the way to the throne, suddenly coming to a stop in front of it with a salute addressed to the old man who was sitting on the throne, the king of Edolas, Faust. She was named Coco, the Assistant Chief of Staff of the castle. "We have confirmed that extraction of magical energy from the giant Lachryma can begin according to plan in four days' time !"

\- "Insufficient." Was the king simple answer, which confused Coco who, after cocking her head to the side, ran to the door, then back to the throne.

\- "Your majesty… what did you just… ?"

\- "I said that it will be insufficient." Repeated Faust, which made the girl ran at full speed in a circle, right in front of her king.

\- "If I can speak freely, your majesty ! That Lachryma contains the magical energy of an entire Earthland magical city ! It will be more than enough o supply our country with magical power for the next ten years !"

\- "The glorious Kingdom of Edolas… cannot be bound by limitations." Said Faust, stopping Coco in her tracks as the king rose from his throne. "More… bring me more magical power… I must have an eternity ! A supply of magical power that will never die !"

Coco said nothing as she stood there, looking at her king, not noticing someone who was standing in the shadow in a corner of the room, looking at Faust with a smirk.

 _"This old man's desire are unfathomable."_ Though the silhouette who stood in the darkness of a pillar. _"Working with him is definitely the best idea we had. This world is perfect for our plans and this time, we'll make sure that nothing stands in our way. This mission will be successful and nothing else."_

/- Somewhere in the desert -/

\- "Do you think it'll be much further to the capital ?"

Our group of five was still in the desert, trying to reach the royal capital before it was too late for their friends. But for now, all they could see was sand and mushroom shaped rocks. The only one who wasn't feeling tired or down was Natsu, who was too busy jumping after a strange looking frog to care.

\- "You do know that we've only just set out, right ?" Reminded Emu. "And they said that it would take about five days on foot. So we aren't even close, no."

\- "With our Aera not functioning properly, walking is the only option we have." Said Carla, arms crossed with her usual scowl on her face.

\- "Can we really not use magic anymore ?" Asked Wendy, feeling tensed at the idea of being in a world they knew nothing off without being able to defend themselves.

\- "I cannot say… But I foresee hard times ahead." Sighed Carla as Emu put a hand on Wendy's head.

\- "Don't worry. My Gashat apparently still work so I'll defend all of you if you really can't fight. So keep on smiling, okay ?" Wendy looked up and smiled at him, reassured to know that they could at least count on someone should things take a turn for the worst and speaking of that...

\- "Happy, help me out here !" Called Natsu, pointing at the escaping frog. "We should take it back as a souvenir for Lucy !"

\- "Does it have to be a frog, though ?" Asked Emu, sweat dropping as Natsu kept leaping after the frog until he finally landed head first into something soft and squishy that made him bounce off, looking up to see he had landed straight onto the belly of the same kind of frog, except this one was tall as a 3 story building.

\- "GUAAAAAAHH !" Shouted Natsu as he took a few step back.

\- "IT'S HUGE !" Shrieked Wendy, just as terrified as the frog was starting to raise his webbed hand.

\- "Natsu ! It's attacking us !" Cried Happy, the Dragon Slayer smirking as he cocked his fist back.

\- "All right, then ! Fire Dragon's…" Little by little, Natsu's eyes widen and sweat poured down his face as he realized with horror that he just forgot something about this place.

\- "I CAN'T USE MAGIC !" He cried as he turned around and began to flee, realizing that their magic won't work in this world, Wendy and the cats following him, hoping to escape the large frog that was tailing them. But…

 _ **GASHAT ! LET'S GAME ! METCHA GAME ! MUTCHA GAME ! WHAT'S YOUR NAME ?! I'M A KAMEN RIDER !**_

Looking back, the mages saw a strange, white and strangely familiar guy jumping on floating brown block to distract the frog, making it forget about its first targets. He kept kicking and punching at the frog, the mages and Exceed looking at him with wide eyes.

\- "Those pink hair… Emu ?!"

\- "Yeah, that's me !" Confirmed the Rider, still busy bunny hoping all over the place. "I'll explain everything, but for now, I have a frog to fight. DAI HENS…"

However, before Emu could kick it up another level, someone came to their rescue. Brandishing a whip made of some kind of blue energy, the savior expertedly slashed at the frog, knocking it out in a matter of seconds, much to everyone confusion, then happiness as they realized who had saved them.

\- "It's Scary-Lucy !" Happy was the first one to voice their happiness, followed by Wendy.

\- "Scary-Lucy-san !"

\- "Enough with the 'Scary' already !" Shouted Edo-Lucy in a manner that sounded a lot like their own Lucy.

\- "How about Edo-Lucy ?" Tried Emu with a slight grin as Edo-Lucy snapped her head to him.

\- "That… will do, I guess."

\- "What are you doing here ?" Asked Carla, surprise of her presence here just like everyone else. As for Edo-Lucy, she seemed almost embarrassed, trying to save face by looking away with a scoff.

\- "Well… You know… It's pretty dangerous around these parts… I was just… you know…" She said, rubbing her head, apparently not wanting them to know she wanted to help them, even though it was pretty easy to guess. "I… It's not like I was worried or anything, all right ?!"

\- "So, in this world, Lucy is some sort of tsundere, hmm ?" Noted Emu, which made Edo-Lucy snap at him.

\- "I'm not a fucking tsundere, you hear me !?"

\- "Well, what do you know… You really are Lucy after all !" Said Natsu with a smile, putting a hand on her shoulder, his comment only unnerving her even more.

\- "What's that supposed to mean ?!"

 _"She even retorts the same way as Lucy…"_ Smiled Emu as Wendy looked at the blonde with relief painted on her face.

\- "Follow me. You just can't go on a journey if you don't know where you're even going." Said Edo-Lucy as she lead the way, the others following her in the desert. While they were walking, a question came to her mind and she turned to Emu to get some answers. "By the way, what was that magic you used ? This looks like nothing I've seen before."

\- "Yeah, what was that white armor ? I've never saw you use it before." Added Happy, now everyone looking at him as they walked.

\- "Well, to answer your question, Edo-Lucy-san, I come from a world whose neither Edolas nor Earthland. To make it easier to understand, let's just say that me and some friends came to Earthland from our world because our enemies traveled to it and our job is to bring them back or destroy them. And those armors are what we use to fight." Edo-Lucy nodded, understanding at least the basic of it. "As for that armor in particular, you already know that my armors are ordered by Levels. Well this was just Mighty Action X at Level 1. This is not the form I use the most, but to fight a frog, I guess it could have been enough."

\- "I see."

\- "It's fascinating and everything, but we just reached our destination. For now, at least." Said Edo-Lucy, grabbing everyone's attention as they turned to look in the same direction, noticing the town that was stretching out in front of them. "Welcome to Luen."

They entered, the town, who was bustling with activities, just like any other town. However, just as they should have expected it, they saw many stores, but not a single one was selling magical goods. In facts, some stores were closed with large panel on the doors preventing anyone from entering as if it had been condemned.

\- "So with magic being prohibited, I guess any kind of business linked to it had to close, right ?" Asked Emu, already knowing at least a part of the truth.

\- "Yep, you're right." Confirmed Lucy, walking with her hands behind her head. "Until recently, magic was traded commonly. But when the Kingdom started to hunt down guilds, they also banned magic trading. Even if you're carrying it's considered an offense."

\- "Then what happens to people who are naturally able to use it ?" Asked Wendy, making the blonde turn around and look at her with a surprised face.

\- "Wha… They could just give it up on it, right ? More importantly, what do you mean by people who naturally can use magic ?" Her last statement made the two Dragon Slayer confused as Carla spoke up.

\- "It seems that Magic is treated as a 'thing' in this world. Since the magic of this world is limited, then there's nobody who had magical power within their body, unlike us. Things that has magical power is substances such as Lachryma. Magical tools are made by combining it with weapons and daily necessities."

\- "So in this world, they call Magic the objects that have it." Concluded Emu with a nod.

\- "So mages in this world are only mages when they use tools ?" Natsu didn't know what to think of this, and he didn't had the time to think about it more than he already did. Edo-Lucy had just led them into an alley who had a hole in the back.

\- "Where are we going now, Edo-Lucy ?" Asked Emu, the blonde turning toward her comrades.

\- "There's a black market in the basement. We'll need it if we're traveling." The reaction were numerous among the mages and Riders. Wendy felt a bit tensed at the idea of going to this kind of place, Emu was neutral while comforting the young girl while Natsu and Happy were a bit more excited about it. They had no idea what this market would look like, but if they had to visit it to be able to find and save their friends, then they'll do it anyway.

/- Later, in a cafe -/

\- "AHAHAHAHAHAHAH !"

After buying what they needed at the market, including weapons for Natsu and Wendy since they couldn't use their magic, they headed to a café to eat something and rest before continuing their journey. While they drank, the Earthland travelers told Edo-Lucy about her counterpart and needless to say, the fool-mouthed and rude blonde couldn't believe it, which explained her current state, which was laughing her ass off.

\- "I am writing novels ? *wheeze* On top of that I'm a daughter of a high-class family… And using magical keys…. AHAHAHAHAH !"

\- "The noisy part is exactly the same though." Added Natsu with the same smile on his face.

\- "Don't say that I'm noisy !" Shouted Edo-Lucy, going from laughter to anger in a split second.

\- "And the bipolarity is still there, too." Noticed Emu, much to the blonde annoyance. Sitting with them at a table, Wendy didn't took part in the conversation, to busy trying to figure out how the cylinder they had bought for her at the black market worked.

\- "This thing that we bought just then… how do we use it ?" Asked Wendy to the blonde, who immediately pushed the object under the table.

\- "Idiot ! Don't show a magic in front of people." She scolded before calming down. "I've told you that right now the magic is banned in the whole country."

\- "Speaking of that, magic used to be a part of daily life right ?" Asked Emu.

\- "That's right… Those royal servants took on of our culture away from us." Answered Edo-Lucy with a glare. "In order to monopolize it by themselves."

\- "Then if we defeat those royal servants, this world may get the magic back." Deduced Natsu with a smirk which made Edo-Lucy's eyes go wide in disbelief before exploding.

\- "Wh… What a stupid thing you're talking about ! There's no way that we can fight against the royal army."

\- "If that's the case, why did you followed us, then ?" Countered Emu, slightly amused by the contradiction between her words and her actions.

\- "I just wanted to show you the way to the royal city… I have no intention of fighting !"

\- "I see. Thank you." Thanked Natsu, which, strangely, made Lucy flush slightly, something that didn't escaped Emu.

\- "There they are ! Block the exits of the town !" Their little moment of peace was broken suddenly when voices and footsteps approached them, revealing a bunch of soldiers coming at them. "You must be a mage of Fairy Tail ! Do not move there !"

\- "We've been discovered already !?" Shouted Carla in shock as Natsu jumped over the table, grinning as he brandished what looked like a sword's handle and guard, without any kind of blade.

\- "Alright ! Let me try the 'magic' out that I just got… Here I come !"

As soon as he landed on his feet, he activated the sword as large flame erupted from the guard, creating a large fire blade that he used to swipe at the guard. However, Natsu's joy was short lived as the flame dissipated, showing that the guard were unharmed, hiding behind what seemed to be magic shield.

\- "Shields !? Dammit… one more time !" Said Natsu, but as he lifted his sword to activate it once again, nothing happened.

\- "I told you that the magic is limited ! Every magic has its number of uses." Explained Edo-Lucy, drawing a gasp out of Natsu.

\- "It's one time only ?!"

\- "It could have been used around 100 times if you've controlled the output !"

\- "Capture them !" Shouted a knight as they began to rush at the mages. But…

 _ **A GACHA ! DO-DO-DOREMIFA-SO-LA-TI-DO ! OK ! DOREMIFA BEA**_ __ _ **T**_ __ _ **!**_

The knights were all stopped when a flurry of energy made musical notes rained down on them, coming from Emu, in Beat Quest Gamer Level 3, who walked up to stand in front of his friends, Edo-Lucy looking at him with surprise filling her eyes, just like the knights who weren't expecting that kind of development.

\- "As things are, I guess I'm the only one who can defend everyone. So be it." He said, taking a fighting stance while behind him, Natsu was being scolded by Edo-Lucy for wasting his weapon and Wendy was trying to force open the cylinder she had in her hands. "In that case, I'll clear this with No Continues !"

*Pop* As soon as he said that, a weak 'pop' could be heard coming from Wendy who finally managed to open her tool. But as soon as it opened, wind began to blow out of it and in an instant, it was a real tornado that exploded out of the cylinder, taking mages and rider with it as it send them flying.

\- "WHAT DID YOU DO, WENDY ?!" Shouted Edo-Lucy over the wind.

\- "I'm sorry !" Cried Wendy as they were all taken for a ride which send them crashing somewhere else in town, forcing the knight to look for them once again. The good news being that they had landed in an very small condemned storage room, meaning that they were out of sight for now.

\- "We fooled them somehow, but we can't get out of the town like this." Said Edo-Lucy, looking through a hole in the wooden palisade that separated them from the street.

\- "How inconvenient the magic in this world is." Grumbled Natsu, Wendy nodding by his side.

\- "Well, you are both used to using magic as something that is a part of you, you're just not used to this kind of use, that's all." Said Emu, going back to his civilian clothes.

\- "What should we do, now ?" Asked Happy.

\- "Is there any other exit ?" Wondered Carla.

\- "It's not that easy." Said Lucy when a voice interrupted them.

\- "Here they are ! It's Fairy Tail !" The 6 of them were at first shocked, wondering if they had been found when they realized that it couldn't be the case. Heading toward the door of the room, they opened it slightly and looked through the crack, eyes going wide in shock as they realized that the guards did founded a Fairy Tail member, but just not the one they were expecting. "You must be Lucy." Said a guard to the blonde they just arrested. "Come this way !"

\- "Let go of me. I am Lucy but what's this all about !?"

\- "Lucy !?" Gasped Natsu, not expecting her to be here.

\- "Me !?" Shouted Edo-Lucy, taken aback by the sight of her doppelganger.

\- "But what is she doing here ? I thought she was absorbed with everyone else ?!"

\- "I've got to help her out !" Decided Natsu as he immediately ran out of the room to go and help his partner and best friend. Wendy and Emu followed close behind as they saw Lucy taking one of her keys out.

 _ **OPEN THE DOOR TO THE SCORPION…**_

\- "Lucy-san ! You can't use your magic in this world !" Warned Wendy, when something unexpected happened.

… _ **SCORPIO !**_

\- "WE ARE !" Shouted Scorpio as he, unexpectedly, appeared next to Lucy who immediately attacked.

 _ **SAND BUSTER !**_

A large and powerful blast of sand shot out of Scorpio's tails, sending all the Royal guard to the ground, shocking her friends who couldn't believe what they were seeing.

\- "Did she just used magic !?" Said a shocked Natsu.

\- "How can it be ?!" Added Wendy, just as shocked as everyone else.

\- "Well, her Stellar Spirit magic isn't like every kind of magic. This is the only reason I can think of right now." Explained Emu as they all walked up to their blonde friend.

\- "Lucy !" Hollered Natsu, who came to a stop a few meters away from Lucy who turned her head and smiled widely as she noticed them all.

\- "Natsu ! Wendy ! Emu ! I missed you guys !" She shouted happily as she hugged Natsu. "What is going on here…" Her voice trailed of as she noticed someone standing to the side, someone which made her eyes go wide in shock. "IT'S ME !"

\- "D…Don't tell me this is the Earthland's me ?" Rhetorically asked Edo-Lucy who quickly noticed many other guard coming from them. "Guess we'll talk about it later."

\- "Natsu ! Take care of them !" Ordered Lucy, pointing at the approaching guards.

\- "We can't use our magic." Simply said Natsu, something Lucy wasn't expecting to hear.

\- "Eh !?"

\- "Lucy, for an unknown reason, they can't use their magic in this world, but you can do it." Said Emu as he walked up to her. "As of now, you and I are the only ones who can protect them." Lucy stayed silent for a moment, her eyes trailing to the Exceed and Wendy whose eyes were begging her to do something, which made her straighten her pose.

\- "Perhaps, am I the strongest mage now ?" She wondered, head tall, with a slight blush on her face.

\- "Whatever, do something !" Shouted Natsu, to which Lucy happily agreed, grabbing another key.

 _ **OPEN THE DOO TO THE RAM : ARIES !**_

\- "I… I'm sorry… I'll do my best…" Shyly said the pink haired spirit as she appeared in front of Lucy. Her appearance made the people from Edolas stop and look at the spirit in shock, since they never saw this kind of magic before.

\- "Aries ! Can you beat them ?!" Asked Lucy.

\- "Y-Yes ! I'll try !"

 _ **WOOL BOMB !**_

Aries then conjured a massive amount of magical wool that swipe the guard away as well as making them feel all relaxed, giving the others the time to escape, praising Lucy on the way, making the blonde feel like she was on cloud nine, being the hero for once. They ran out of the city until they finally came to a stop in a forest full of mushroom, now sure that they had lost the guards. Once there, they all sit on a bunch of roots and dead trees as explanation had to be made.

\- "So, Lucy. How did you manage to escape the Anima ? You were in the guild with everyone else, right ?" Asked Carla, arms crossed sitting next to Wendy.

\- "Well, I didn't do anything, I was saved by my spirits." Explained Lucy. "When that Anima absorbed the town, Horologium saved me. He said that he felt like the space was twisted or something. He sheltered me in another space for a while."

\- "Well, that explain how you managed to escape being sucked with the town, but how did you ended up here ?" Wondered Emu.

\- "When I ended up all alone in the middle of the nowhere the town has become, Mystogan came up to me." This surprised everyone as Lucy kept explaining. "He then told me about this world and he flew me here."

\- "But who on Earth is that guy ?" Asked Natsu, as lost as everyone about that guy. How could that guy know so much about this place and even send people there ?

\- "Why you alone can use the magic in this world ?" Asked Happy, addressing another thing they still had no explanation for.

\- "Hmmm. Perhaps… I'm a legendary hero or…"

\- "No way." Instantly, Lucy's dream was shot down by Natsu.

\- "You ruined my feelings." She pouted before looking down at the ground sadly. "To be honest, I don't know. This fight will be at a disadvantage if Natsu can't use his magic."

\- "You jerks' are seriously going to fight against the kingdom ?" Asked Edo-Lucy, looking at them all as if they were crazy.

\- "Of course we will." Confirmed Natsu.

\- "It is for all of our friends." Added Happy.

\- "You guys can't even use magic properly and still… Against the kingdom…"

\- "Excuse me ! I can use magic !" roared Lucy indignantly before getting up, her ego swelling a bit too much. "Under such a circumstance, let me; Fairy Tail's strongest (at the moment) mage take care of this ! I'm getting fired up !"

\- "I feel shameful but…" Began Natsu.

\- "We don't have choice but to rely on her." Said Carla.

\- "Go Lucy-san !" Cheered Wendy.

\- "Excuse me." Lucy, who had been on cloud nine at the idea of being the strongest, was brought down to Earth by Emu, sitting on a slump, showing her a Gashat with a slight smirk. "Not that I want to shot down your newfound confidence, but you're not the only one here who can still fight." Lucy then gasped as she felt her ego plummet to the ground as she realized that even despite the circumstances, with Emu here, she might not be the strongest of their group. "But as we know nothing about this place, I alone won't be able to save everyone. But we can do it, both of us, if we work together. So Lucy, you wanna to it ? Do you wanna change our friends fate with our own hands ?"

\- "What kind of question is that ? Of course, I want to !" She said confidently, feeling her confidence swell even more as she stood in the middle of her friends. "I'll show everyone that I can do it and save everyone !"

 _"Those guys…"_ Thought Edo-Lucy as she looked at the strange bunch in front of her, feeling something bubbling inside of her, something that felt like hope. _"They're so mysterious… Perhaps, if it's these guys… I feel like they really can change the world…"_

/- Meanwhile -/

While our friends were feeling ready to take on the Royal City, something was currently happening in a secret room under the castle. Many people could be seen there, working on something that only one person in the kingdom knew about.

\- "So, is it going to be ready on time ?" Asked an old man standing on a walkway overlooking the room where many people were either welding metal plates together or pushing around carts full of material.

\- "Don't you worry, Faust. Everything is going according to the plan." Said the one standing beside the old man, now identified as Faust, king of Edolas. "It will be ready just on time for you to use it."

\- "I do hope so. I already respected my part of the deal. I really hope you'll respect yours." Warned Faust.

\- "Don't worry. Everything will happen according to our deal and the delay will be respected. It will soon be ready for you to use, just as we promised." Satisfied, Faust left the man alone and left the cave, as he had others things to do. But as soon as he was gone, his 'friends' walked to another room, one even the king didn't knew about, a grin on his face as the door opened, showing 6 tubes, filled with different colored liquid and containing strange beings. The mysterious figure walked inside the room to stand in front of the tube, a smirk on his face. "And even if your plan happened to be a failure, Faust, this won't be the case for mine." He said to himself, toying with a grey coins of some sort, with an 'X' engraved on one side.

 **Aaaaaand, it's done. A bit short, but as I said, Edolas isn't my favorite arc so I had a hard times deciding on how I should turn this chapter around. Anyway, don't forget to review, follow or fav if you liked it. I'll see you in the next chapter ! See ya !**

 **Next time : Looking for a plan. Edolas' fireball to the rescue. The already mentioned betrayal happen ? Another shadow from another world.**


	47. Chapter 47 : To the capital

**Hey everyone ! How Halloween treated you this year ? Lots of sweets and fright, I guess. For me it was much more peaceful as I lost someone recently, which is also why I took a bit more time to write this chapter. But I intend on keeping this 2 weeks rhythm to write. It gives me more time for myself and I don't have to rush to finish a chapter and keep my deadline. I hope it doesn't matter to you and that you understand my reasons. Anyway, enough with the talk, let's get down to business.**

 **Chapter 47 – To the capital**

After leaving Luen and reuniting with Lucy, Emu and company, led by Edo-Lucy, had finally reached the town of Sikka. They were all currently resting in a hotel, Wendy, Emu and Natsu with the Exceed waiting in the dining room while the two Lucy were in the bathroom, taking a bath together. This was pretty weird when Emu though about it, but he said nothing, too busy reading the local newspaper when he felt something vibrate in his pocket. Vibrations the Dragon Slayers managed to perceive.

\- "What is this ?" Wondered Natsu, looking at Emu with a slight confused frown.

\- "Emu, why are you vibrating all of a sudden ?" Asked Wendy as Emu was reaching for something in his coat.

\- "It's my phone. But why is it…" His sentence died in his throat as he saw what was on his screen. It was a simple notification, but not any kind of notification. It was the kind that appeared when you received a message, just like this one, coming from his bank about whatever offer they had, but this wasn't why Emu was so shocked.

 _"How… How can I receive a notification from my bank ?! I'm in a completely different world !"_ He though before beginning to really think about it _. "That being said, I'm not in Earthland anymore. Does this mean that…"_

\- "Hey ! Look at that !" Emu was pulled out of his though as he and the 4 others lifted their head when they heard Lucy's voice, not knowing which one, coming from the bathroom as one of the, Edo-Lucy according to the tattoo on her right arm. "She even had the same body as me !"

\- "DAAAAAAHH !" Cried the other Lucy, their friend, as she ran out of the bathroom with a towel around her body, wrapping another one around her twin who didn't seemed bothered by the idea of showing her body to others. "Don't go outside looking like that !"

\- "Edo-Lucy-san !" Gasped Wendy in slight outraged. "Natsu-san's here !" Emu glanced at Natsu who was busy eating something, not paying real attention to the half-naked blondes in front of him.

\- "Like I care about that." Retorted Edo-Lucy, hands on her hips, much to her twin's shock.

\- "I DO !" She shouted, her face red at the idea of being seen naked by Natsu.

\- "The Doublucies sure are lively." Commented Happy, who was standing on a table with Carla.

\- "Do you… Think you just said something clever now ?" Sweat dropped Carla, looking at Happy in resignation as Edo-Lucy kept trying to flash Natsu, much to Lucy's horror. However, if Natsu began to react, it wasn't in the way they expected it, Natsu barely holding back a laugh.

\- "Wh…What's so funny ?" Asked Lucy before looking down at Natsu with a teasing scowl on her face, hands on her lips while her counterpart stood just behind her with the same expression on her face, arms crossed on her chest. "I get it… You just barely managed to keep some comment about how Edo-Lucy has a better body than mine or something ?"

\- "Is that jealousy I hear, laced in the teasing ?" Teased Emu.

\- "NOT AT ALL ! JUST SHUT UP !" Roared Lucy at the Rider while Natsu finally managed to tell something, still fighting back his laugh.

\- "Don't take a bath with yourself !"

 _"Now that he mentions it…"_ The two Lucy's suddenly felt weird, realizing that they literally took a bath with themselves, every trace of teasing now gone from their faces.

\- "Really though, there's no way to tell you apart." Commented Wendy, gaining an approving nod from Emu.

\- "True. Except for the tattoos that is. It is almost as if you used Mighty Brothers XX on yourselves."

\- "Mighty Brothers XX ? Is that one of your Gashat ? How could this have anything to do with the Doublucies ?" Asked Happy.

\- "I'll show it to you one day."

\- "Hey, I know !" Suddenly said Natsu as he got up, struck by a 'great' idea. "You can do a mirror mimicry skit !"

\- "I'm not doing that !" Shouted the twins at the exact same time and in the exact same way, much to everyone concern.

\- "They even act the same." Said Wendy with a sigh.

\- "It's quite sad." Added Carla as Edo-Lucy finally turned to her 'sister' with a question.

\- "Say… Do you have any kind of spirit that could do something about my hair ?"

\- "Yeah… Cancer, why ?" Lucy was quite perplexed by Edo-Lucy sudden question, but her answer made it pretty logical.

\- "If I could change my hair, it would made it easier to see the difference between us."

\- "Oh, it's a good idea ! Wait a minute."

 _ **OPEN THE GATE TO THE CRAB : CANCER !**_

A few minutes later, the stellar hairstyle finished his work, leaving Edo-Lucy with a much shorter haircut, fixing any kind of confusion between the two blondes.

\- "You sure it's alright ?" Asked Lucy, now clothed, as she looked at her counterpart.

\- "Hm ? Is there some custom about treasuring one's hair in Earthland ?" Asked Edo-Lucy, slightly confused by her twin question.

\- "Well… I think all girls are like that-ebi !" Said Cancer, making Edo-Lucy rub his head in slight embarrassment.

\- "Girls, huh ? In this world, it's gonna become ridiculous to think of things in terms of men and women. We're all desperate to survive, you know."

\- "But everyone in your guild looks like they're enjoying themselves." Remembered Happy, which made Edo-Lucy look at him with a proud smile on her face.

\- "Of course they do. If you don't manage to make a smile somehow, your heart will break in a snap. Also, there are people in this world who need us. That's why… even if we fall into darkness, we are a guild, and will continue." This mentality pleased the mages and Rider form Earthland who smiled at Edo-Lucy whose smile suddenly became much more nostalgic before adding something. "But… just that alone isn't enough."

\- "Eh ?"

\- "Nah… nothing."

After that, with one last 'ebi', Cancer disappeared, leaving the group of 7 alone in their hotel room as the sun was starting to set on Sikka, prompting them all to go to sleep as tomorrow would probably be one hell of a day. And it proved to be true since something happened even with the boys, Wendy and Carla still sleeping.

\- "I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS !" Everyone woke up with a start due to Lucy's shout, the blonde clearly angered by something. "What is this ?!"

\- "You're really wound up this early." Commented Natsu as he stretched his arms.

\- "What's wrong ?" Asked Happy, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

\- "The Edolas me ran away !" She shouted, thrusting a paper in the boys face, Emu taking it before reading it out loud.

\- "The Royal City is a three days walk to the east. I'm going back to the guild. See y, good luck."

\- "I thought she was going to help us ?!" Growled Lucy, clearly angered to be let down by herself. "What kind of nerve does she have ?!"

\- "She's just like Lucy." Innocently said Happy, making the blonde fume even more.

\- "Shut up !"

\- "There's no helping it…" Reasoned Wendy. "She did say that she was never intending to fight."

\- "Well I won't forgive her ! As the same person, I can't !"

\- "I'm not sure she completely let us down." Suddenly said Emu, making everyone turn to him.

\- "What are you talking about ?! Of course she let us down !" Lucy was so angry Emu wondered if she would listen to him, but he had to try anyway.

\- "Well, I noticed that in this world, if people were different in term of behavior and attitude, they are the same when it comes to their feelings." Seeing that no one saw what he meant, he gave them an example. "Take Alzack and Bisca. In our world, everybody know they are crazy in love with each other, just too shy to try anything. If their Edo-version were their opposite or were completely different, they would hate each other, a little like Edo-Lucy and Edo-Levy." The memory of what happened at Edo Fairy Tail came back to the Slayers and Exceed, understanding what he meant. "But Edo-Alzack and Edo-Bisca were all over each other, just like the Edo-Strauss siblings are as close as ours."

\- "So you're trying to say that my doppelganger, deep down, is the same as me ?" Lucy didn't know if he was right, but it was worth believing at least.

\- "Well, I'm not 100% percent sure of that, but I'm pretty I am right."

\- "So wait, when Edo-Stripper said he liked Edo-Juvia, does that mean …"

\- "That Gray, deep down, returns Juvia's feeling ? Probably, yes."

\- "Kukuku…" Suddenly cackled Natsu, a dark aura appearing around him. "Blackmail material… This is perfect."

\- "Anyway, Edo-Lucy or not, we have to go and find a way to reach the capital." Said Carla, already standing next to the door. "Let's get moving."

/- Later, Sikka's street -/

One second, Lucy looked like she wanted to rip her doppelganger chest open for letting them down. The next, she was strolling in the street with a big smile on her face, followed by the others who were busy looking around at the busy people going by.

\- "She's back to normal already." Said Happy, looking at Lucy who was humming happily in front of them.

\- "I guess she's happy about finding some rare book." Said Wendy with a smile, talking about the book Lucy was currently clutching to her chest.

\- "Looks like a book is all it takes to make her feel better." Added Emu with a smile, hands in his pockets as he walked by Wendy's side. "Everyone have its own way to feel good."

\- "Aren't you all interested in learning a little bit more about this world ?" She asked, turning around, getting a nod from Wendy, a shrug from Emu and a frown from Natsu that clearly said no. "This historical narrative tells so much. This world is interesting !" She said, raising her book above her. "For example, over 100 years ago… A race called the Exceed used to live here."

\- "Sounds boring." Was all Natsu said and as if life decided to spice things up for them, a loud rumble coming from above got their attention as a shadow began to loom over the street they currently were on.

\- "What's happening ?" Asked Lucy, getting closer to Natsu in fear of what might happen.

\- "Up there !" Shouted Happy, prompting every to lift their head to see what was making this noise as well as hiding the sun from them.

\- "That's… An airship !?" Indeed, a large flying vehicle just arrived, currently hovering above the town. Though they wondered what that thing was, they had no time to ask questions as footsteps came their way.

\- "Hurry ! We're leaving at once !" Those were soldiers from the Royal Army, all running toward the Airship who was starting to get closer to the ground. The mages and Rider hid behind some barrels to observe the scene without being seen. "Two more days until the giant Lachryma's magic extraction ! If we're late, we'll miss the event of the century !"

\- "A giant Lachryma, huh ?" Repeated Emu who was looking at the soldiers from above a barrel. "It's probably Magnolia."

\- "Two days until the extraction ? If we walk there, we won't make it in time !" Realized Lucy, as she remembered the note left by her twin, telling them that reaching the Royal City was a three days' walk.

\- "Once the extraction begins, we'll never… be able to return them to their original forms again." Reminded Carla, which only added to their current distress, wondering what they could do to save their friends.

\- "How about stealing that ship ?" Suddenly said Natsu, shocking his companions.

\- "Normally, it's 'sneak on to that ship', isn't it ?" Said Carla.

\- "I don't like hiding."

\- "It's rare for you to want to ride on stuff, Natsu." Realized Happy, to which Natsu grinned confidently.

\- "As long as we have Wendy's Troia, we don't need such a-"

\- "I can't use magic here."

\- "Motion repealed." Suddenly said Natsu, sweating as he realized that he couldn't count on Wendy's magic in this world.

\- "Motion sickness or not, we have to steal that ship." Decided Emu. "We'll never make it in time otherwise, so it's our best option, if not the only one we have."

\- "I agree !" Said Lucy with a smile. "If we don't steal it, our friends are done for."

\- "But how are we going to do it ?" Wondered Wendy, slightly worried, her question making Lucy stand up confidently.

\- "With my magic !" She simply said, taking a pose. "Don't you know ? I'm in my prime right now ! Besides, I realized when we were in Luen that this Earthland's magic is more advanced than this world's. Just watch me !" And with that, Lucy ran key in hand at the guards who stood by the airship, wondering what that girl wanted.

 _ **OPEN THE GATE TO THE LION : LEO !**_

\- "Sorry to keep you waiting, ma'am." Apologized… Virgo, standing where Lucy expected to see Leo, shocking the blonde.

\- "WHAT THE HELL !? What's the meaning of this !?" Roared the blonde while Natsu and Wendy walked up to her, Emu standing a little behind, feeling bad for Lucy. She was so confident in her ability, feeling this might be her time. Oh how life was cruel, sometimes.

\- "Brother's in the middle of a date right now so he can't be summoned."

\- "B… Brother !?"

\- "Yes… Leo-sama ordered me to call him that."

\- "That guy is such an idiot !" Cried Lucy, feeling her nerves breaking down. "Now what should I do ?! I was planning on having Leo take care of everyone…"

\- "Ma'am… Excuse me for being presumptuous, but if I go all-out here…" Began Virgo… before starting to dance. "I could even dance."

\- "GO AWAY !" Shrieked the blonde as Virgo disappeared while the guards were starting to become way too close for comfort.

\- "Lucy, Aquarius !" Asked Happy, trying to help Lucy.

\- "I can't ! There's no water !" Panicked the blonde.

\- "Taurus, then !"

\- "I can't right now ! It would be against our contract ! What should I do ?!" She cried, Emu feeling really bad for her while Natsu and Wendy took position, their magical tools in hands.

\- "We've got no choice ! Time to play by their rules." Said Natsu, taking his sword out, this time igniting it correctly.

\- "I know how to use it now !" Stated Wendy, pointing her magic tube at the guards.

 _"Well… At least they can defend themselves. It would be really shameful if they couldn't defend themselves without magic."_ Though Emu as he saw the Slayers starting the fight with the Royal Army… Only to be swept away as if they were the weakest fighters in this world.

\- "Natsu and Wendy aren't doing good at all !" Cried Happy. "They did better than Lucy, though."

\- "I'm sorry !" Cried the blonde, not even trying to deny the Exceed. Meanwhile, Emu was dying internally.

 _"I know they fought their whole life with magic but come on. How can you be that bad ?"_ He cried as he grabbed a Gashat _. "And here I hoped they could do it without me… *sigh*… Let's go save those poor mages."_

 _ **GACHAN ! DOUBLE UP ! ORE GA OMAE DE ! OMAE GA ORE DE ! (WE ARE !) MIGHTY ! MIGHTY BROTHERS DOUBLE X !**_

As Wendy and Natsu were getting manhandled by the guards, they were suddenly freed from their hold as the soldiers all took a few steps back to put some distance between them and the mages savior.

\- "Are you alright, Wendy/Natsu ?" Said two voices at the exact same time, addressing two different people who didn't even realized it.

\- "Yes. Thank you, Emu" Answered Wendy.

\- "I'm alright. Thanks for the help." Answered Natsu.

\- WHAT THE HELL !?" Shouted Lucy, making the Slayers look at her, seeing her shocked face who was looking to Natsu then Wendy and back and forth, much to the two Dragon Slayers confusion who then looked to their savior. Or rather saviors.

\- "EHHHHHHHH !?" Was their reaction as they noticed that they were saved by two different colored Ex-Aid.

\- "Wait ! I think I heard Erza talk about it after we beat Phantom Lord. Something brothers, or something like that." Remembered Natsu, the two brothers turning to him. "A power that split you in two different guys !"

\- "It's Mighty Brothers XX." Said R-Emu, slapping a hand on Natsu's shoulder. "But yeah, that's right."

\- "Don't go thinking we see you as weak." Said L-Emu, reassuringly patting Wendy's head. "But as things are right now, it would be better if you let us take care of this kind of thing." With that, they both turner to the guards who had yet to move, wondering what the hell they were fighting as the Emus posed.

\- " Let's clear it together with super co-op play !"

With that, they both rushed at the guards who could do close to nothing to stop them. At least at first. The mages hope was soon replaced by anguish as Carla noticed the worst possible things for them.

\- "This is bad ! The airship…" Turning their head, they realized that the airship was already taking off, making all of them grit their teeth in frustration.

\- "If we don't get on that, we won't make it…" Shouted Wendy over the guards who were piling up on them, and alas, despite the Emus best efforts, the airship escaped them, leaving them alone and frustrated, dealing with guards who didn't knew when to stop, but as they though all hope was lost, something they didn't expected happened. A deep rumbling noise was slowly approaching, growing along with a strange silhouette.

\- "What the hell is this ?" Said the twins at the exact same time, looking at what they identified to be some kind of vehicle. Vehicle that expertedly drifted its way through the guards, knocking them all down like a bowling ball taking down pins.

\- "A magic four-wheeler !?" Said Lucy, sitting on the ground as she looked at the vehicle.

\- "It has Fairy Tail's symbol on it !" Added Happy, which meant there was a good chance whoever was driving it was an ally.

\- "I heard about what happened from Lucy. Get in." Said the pilot, much to everyone's joy as they all get in the vehicle, even Natsu despite his usual motion sickness kicking in, being dragged by Emu, back to its civilian clothes. "We're gonna fly. Don't fall off." Said the guy as he pulled a lever making the vehicle shot like a bullet, its wheels on fire, escaping the guards and heading off to the East.

\- "You really saved us !" Said Lucy, sitting next to the pilot with Happy on her knees.

\- "Thank you so much !" Thanked Wendy, sitting in the back on the right with Carla on her, next to Emu who sat in the middle and Natsu, sick as hell, who sat on the left.

\- "You want to get to the Royal City, right ? This sucker's way faster than that flying hunk of junk."

\- "You're really god send." Stated Emu. "If you weren't there, we would have no chance of reaching the Royal City in time."

\- "No need to thank me. After all, that's what I'm here for." Said the guy as he pulled his goggles off his eyes, revealing a shockingly familiar face. "The fastest man in Fairy Tail… Natsu the Fireball, that's me."

\- "NATSU !?" Everyone was shocked to discover that Edo-Natsu just saved them, and driving a car to top it all.

\- "Lucy was right." Said Edo-Natsu. "You look exactly like her. And…" He then looked to the back, where his double was suffering from the transport. "That's the other me ? How pathetic."

\- "Our Natsu doesn't do well on moving vehicles." Explained Wendy, making Edo-Natsu scoff lightly.

\- "And he's supposed to be me ? In this world, I'm the transport magic specialist, you know."

\- "Speaking of which, this vehicle doesn't have an SE plug." Noticed Happy.

\- "An SE Plug ? What is that ?" Wondered Emu as this was a term he never heard before.

\- "A Self-Energy Plug. It converts the driver's magical energy into fuel." Explained Carla.

\- "I see… There isn't any need for SE Plugs here because no one has any magic. Which means that it runs purely on magic ?" Realized Lucy with a gasp.

\- "Their transport technology is much more advanced than ours." Stated Carla as, without warning, Edo-Natsu drifted to a sudden stop, apparently in the middle of nowhere.

\- "Hey ! What was that for ?!" Complained Lucy.

\- "Not exactly." He said, as if arguing against Carla and Lucy's statement. "Since magical energy is limited, the amount of fuel that can be converted from magic is also limited. It isn't easy to get hold of now, either. That is why this is as far as I'm taking you. Get off."

\- "Wh… You can't…" Tried to say Wendy, but Edo-Natsu's mind was already set.

\- "Any further and I won't be able to get back to the guild."

\- "Woohoo ! I've been revived !" Cheered Natsu as he jumped out of the car, already feeling much better.

\- "Looks like we don't really have much choice." Sighed Emu, getting out of the car too, followed by the girls and cats who were almost pushed out of the car.

\- "Going against the kingdom is reckless. Don't get us involved." Began Edo-Natsu. "I only came to bail you out because Lucy… As in, the Lucy that I know, asked me to come. I don't want any trouble. I just want to continue driving around."

\- "Hey." Apparently, Natsu didn't care about what his twin could think or say, grabbing her doppelganger and pulling it out of the car. "You get off too !"

\- "Hey ! What are you doing ?! Don't make me get off !" Edo-Natsu tried to fight against his twin but his vice-like grip was way too strong.

\- "As the same person, just let me say one thing." Began Natsu, finally dragging his double out, squatting next to him. "You… Why are you so good at moving vehicles ?!"

\- "THAT was what you wanted to say ?!" Shouted Lucy, dumbstruck.

\- "How can we be surprised ? We all know he's got a weird sense of priority." Commented Emu. However, the answer was taking it's time to get out, Edo-Natsu acting pretty weirdly, his arms up as if he was protecting himself.

\- "Th…That…" He stuttered, making the people around him curious, then shocked as he put his arms down slightly and lifted his head. "I…I'm sorry… I don't know either." Edo-Natsu was crying. Something that made everyone look at him with wide eyes, not knowing how to react to that, but no one more than Natsu.

\- "Uuuuh… A-Are you really the other 'me' we were talking to ?"

\- "Y…Yeah… I get that a lot…" Answered Edo-Natsu, tears in his eyes, all curled up like a frightened child. "People say my personality changes when I get on a vehicle."

\- "This is the real Edo-Natsu ?!" Shouted Happy in disbelief, as if he just realized what the hell was happening. And much to everyone shock, this rise in volume drew a reaction from Edo-Natsu.

\- "Aahh… Please don't use such a loud voice ! I…I'm scared !"

\- "Maybe you can do a mirror mimicry skit." Teased Lucy, getting a little revenge from Natsu's words back at the hotel, the Dragon Slayer too shocked by his twin behavior to picked that up.

\- "Anyway, I guess it is useless to ask if you can drive us a little closer, right ?" Said Emu as Edo-Natsu began to feel a bit better, sitting with the others.

\- "I'm sorry, really. But it's impossible for me ! It's only because Lucy-san asked me that I came all the way here."

\- "It's okay… Don't push yourself too hard." Said Wendy, trying to reassure their friend.

\- "He isn't much use as he is now, anyway." Commented Carla, making Wendy gasp at her in a disapproving way. As for Edo-Natsu, he looked at her with some kind of realization.

\- "Could it be… Wendy-san ? Wow, you're so cute and small !" He commented before turning to look at his double. "The other me-san from Earthland… But I don't know you. Who are you ?" He said, looking up at Emu who smiled at him as he introduced himself.

\- "My name is Hojo Emu. It would be a little complicated to explain everything, so just know that I'm a mage from Earthland's Fairy Tail."

\- "I'm Happy, and this is Carla." Said Happy, introducing himself and her feline companion to Edo-Natsu. It was then time for Lucy to introduce herself.

\- "I'm – Well, you probably already know, but…"

\- "EEEEK ! I'm sorry ! I'll do anything !" With a shriek, Edo-Natsu had jumped behind a rock, trying to hide himself from Lucy, much to her shock and confusion.

\- "You know, you should be nicer to me." Scolded Natsu.

\- "I don't think it has anything to with our Lucy, Natsu." Corrected Emu before looking at the cowering guy. "But why the reaction ?"

\- "Sorry… It's just… The Lucy from this world… she said I had to bring you here… That's why…" This confused Emu who followed his eyes before walking away. After a few meters, he found himself on top of a cliff which was overlooking a city, a city with a huge castle in the middle of it.

\- "Guys ! It's the Royal Capital !" He realized, his shout making them all ran to him to see the large town just under their nose.

\- "Then this means we are in time to save everyone !" Realized Happy with a big smile.

\- "Geez, you could have just told us we were here !" Said Natsu, putting an arm around his twin shoulders who felt weird from the proximity.

\- "Uwaaah… I'm sorry !"

\- "I didn't think we'd get here so fast !" Commented Wendy.

\- "Somewhere in there, is the Lachryma everyone was turned into…" Reminded Lucy, determination bubbling in her as she glared at the city. As she said that, she saw Carla and Happy already hopping down the cliff.

\- "Well, let's get a move on." She said, the others following behind her. Up on the cliff, Edo-Natsu was still on his knees, looking at everyone leaving him behind.

\- "Are you really… going to fight… the kingdom."

\- "Maybe, I don't know." Admitted Natsu, turning to look at his twin. "We just want to save our friends. Well… I guess we'll have no choice if they refuse to let them go." Edo-Natsu stayed silent a few seconds after that before adding one more thing, thing that the mages already heard before.

\- "T…There's no way you'll win… Against the Royal Army…"

Natsu's only answer to that was to smile confidently at his Edolas counterpart, shocking the guy before Natsu finally left, leaving Edo-Natsu alone, or almost.

\- "I know it may sound impossible for you, but as soon as our friends life are at stakes, we can do anything to save them." Said Emu, standing by the cliff, his back turned to Edo-Natsu who looked up at him. "I can understand that you'd rather run away than face them. But what will happen when they'll finally get their hands on you all ? Are you just going to give up just like that ? Giving up your freedom because they are too strong ?" Emu's words struck Natsu deep and the doctor wasn't done. "I know it's easier said than done, but I'm sure that deep down, you all have that desire to fight. All you have to do, is gather the courage to do it and once you'll found that strength, you'll be able to change fate… with your own hands." And with those final words, which engraved themselves deep in Edo-Natsu's mind, Emu left him alone, for good this time, as he climbed down to join his friends who were already heading toward the city, ready to go in and save their friend.

/- Royal City -/

As they entered the royal city, they all got shocked by how different this city was compared to Luen and Sikka. The street were animated and colorful, people were much happier from what they could see and most importantly, magical items could be seen everywhere, like floating wooden horses kids were playing with, lights and even stores signs.

\- "Well… It's pretty unexpected." Began Lucy. "They are a country ruled by a dictator, after all. I though the town would be more worn-out. And we've gotten quite deep into the town, too. It's world apart from Luen and Sikka. It's like an amusement park."

\- "It's a waste of magical energy." Stated Carla, frowning at everything her eyes landed on. "They've taken all the magic from guilds and other countries and focused it on the royal city."

\- "They probably did it to gain the popularity of the citizens." Commented Emu, arms crossed. "Besides, they all live in a temporary paradise which will last only as long as this world have magic, this is nothing more than an illusion."

As they walked down the street, they ended up reaching some kind of rally, where many citizens were grouped up, apparently waiting for something.

\- "Looks like something's going on over there." Noticed Wendy, coming to a stop with her friends.

\- "Maybe it's a parade or something."

\- "How about we go take a look !" Said Natsu as he already ran to the rally, followed by Happy.

\- "Everyone… We didn't come here to play, you know." Reminded Carla, Emu frowning by her side.

\- "We know that… But I feel like this is not just a parade. We better go check it out."

Joining their friends, they battled their way through the crowd, following Natsu who was making place for them to move. However, they all bumped into each other when Natsu suddenly came to a stop.

\- "Hey, why'd you suddenly sto-"

Lucy's sentence died in her throat as she and everyone else noticed what made Natsu froze so suddenly. A few feet in front of them, surrounded by guards, stood a humongous Lachryma wrapped in some ropes as if they wanted to keep it in place.

\- "This Lachryma… is that… Magnolia ?" Wondered Happy, he and the girls looking at it in shock and disbelief with wide eyes.

\- "That's not all." Said Emu, noticing the marks on the Lachryma. "It's only a part of it – There are marks from when they split it."

The mages and Rider were too shocked to say or do anything, even though they were surrounded by the citizen who all cheered at whatever this Lachryma meant to them. Or maybe they were cheering for the old man in regal clothes who stood on a platform next to the Lachryma and the shout of 'Your Highness' helped them realize that they were facing none other than the King.

\- "Children of Edolas." Began the King, addressing his citizens. "Our sacred kingdom has, through the use of Anima, produced 10 year worth of magical energy !"

\- "Produced ? More like stolen from our world…" Seethed Happy, he and his friends hating seeing everyone cheer for such a thing.

\- "Sing together, dance together… Let us share in each other's joy !" Ordered the King, making the whole town erupt in cheer, much to the mages anger which only grew up with each of the King's word. "The people of Edolas have a right to shared ownership of this magical energy ! For we are the only people who will progress to the future, the holy race ! No one shall steal our magic from us ! And let me promise you that we will have more, even more magic ! We shall have magic enough to make this look like trash !" To punctuate his words, he slammed his staff on the Lachryma crackling it as if it meant nothing more to him than a bunch of tainted glass. The hypocrisy, egocentrism and basically everything the king said made the blood of our friends boil.

\- "Looks like we just found out who the big bad guy is here." Growled Emu, while putting a hand on Wendy's head as the girl was fighting against her anger, tears burning her eyes. Lucy was also feeling her anger skyrocket but when she saw Natsu about to jump out of the crowd, she instantly grabbed onto him to keep in place.

\- "Natsu… bear with it !" She asked her friends, trying her best to hold him back.

\- "I can't ! That… That Lachryma is…"

\- "Please…" Begged Lucy, her whole body trembling, tears falling down her eyes. "We all feel the same way… okay ?"

Natsu then stopped struggling, though his anger wasn't diminishing at all, only fueled more by the cheers that came from all around them, coming from people taking joy and pleasure in the suffering of their friends. The King stated that no one shall steal their magic from them. He was right : they won't steal their magic, they will take it back.

/- Later, a hotel room in the city -/

To say that the atmosphere was bleak in that spacious hotel room the Earthlanders were staying in would be an understatement. Natsu was sitting on the windowsill, glaring at the town outside, while the girls were sitting on a couch, looking down with sadness and frustration in their eyes. Happy was slumping on the ground, sitting against a wall while Emu was sitting in an armchair, fidgeting with his Gashat, not saying a word. In fact, the only noise that pierced through the silence was the scratching of a pen on a paper as Carla, kneeling on the table, as apparently thinking about something. This kept going for a moment until Natsu finally had enough, stepping down from his seat.

\- "I can't stand waiting around anymore ! We're getting into that castle !"

\- "Just give me a minute." Asked Carla, still focused on whatever she was drawing.

\- "What for !" Shouted Natsu who didn't want to wait anymore.

\- "We have to come up with a good plan." Reasoned the Exceed. "We can't return them to their original forms, you know." This made Natsu's mood fell down a few notches.*

\- "Everyone… trapped in a crystal like that…" Began Wendy, eyes locked on the floor as she racked her brain to try to find a way to help them all. "How do we get them back to normal ?"

\- "I'm afraid our only option is to ask the King himself." Stated Emu from his seat. "But let's be honest, there's no way in hell he'll tell us."

\- "I think we should just punch it out of him !" Proposed Natsu.

\- "As tempting as it sound, I don't this will work. We have to find another way." Stated Emu, shooting down Natsu's proposition when Lucy's eyes shot open, the blonde getting up suddenly as if she had been suddenly struck by lightning.

\- "Does the King know a way to return them to their original forms ?" She asked to the group, Wendy answering her.

\- "Most probably."

\- "Then it might actually work. If we could just find a way to get close to him…"

\- "You serious !?" Shouted Natsu, hoping whatever Lucy was thinking could work.

\- "How do you mean ?" Asked Wendy, looking up at her blonde friend who turned to her with a smirk on her face.

\- "With Gemini." She said before explaining. "Gemini has the power to transform into anyone they touch, but in top of that, they can even find out what the person is thinking in that period of time."

\- "In other words, if we can get Gemini to touch the King, they'll be able to turn into him and then we'll just have to ask them about a way to save everyone." Smiled Emu, standing up while everyone awed at that plan : it was perfect.

\- "Well, they can transform for 5 minutes only and can't memorize more than two people." Added Lucy. "But this shouldn't be a problem. So the real problem lies in how are we going to get close to the King…"

\- "As we would expect, the sheer amount of guards means it won't be easy…" Added Wendy, already feeling down at how hard it's going to be and it's not Emu whose going to deny it.

\- "With only 2 people able to fight among us, a direct approach is out of the question." He began, looking at his Gashat. "As for a sneaky approach, the only one among us who can become invisible or something close is me, with the items generated by the Gashat, but even then it wouldn't be that discreet as it requires a Game Area."

\- "There is a way to get near the King." Cut in Carla, showing everyone the drawing she worked on, showing a schematic plan of the city, with, according to her, a way to get into the castle via a coal mine. "It was intended as an escape route out of the castle but the tunnel at the outskirt of the city should be connected to the basement of the castle."

\- "That's amazing !" Said Wendy, hands on the table as she looked at her feline friend. "How did you know that ?!"

\- "Information. Fragments of information surface in my consciousness." Explained Carla, a paw on her head as she explained everything to their friends. "Since coming to Edolas, I've been supplemented by information about the geography of the area bit by bit."

\- "I haven't at all." Revealed Happy, which was quickly brushed off by everyone, bar Emu who frowned at that.

\- "In any case, if we managed to infiltrate the castle from there, we'll probably figure something out." Stated Lucy before Natsu turned to everyone, a grin on his face.

\- "All right ! Let's turn them all back to normal !"

\- "We leave in the night." Said Carla, calming Natsu down a little bit. "Let's take the time to get a little rest." As they all headed to bed to sleep a little, Emu's eyes were locked on Carla, an uneasy feeling bubbling inside of him as he remembered what she said back in Magnolia before they came here.

 _"…If the male cat and I end up doing something like betrayal to you, then Emu, you will kill us without hesitation…"_

 _"What are you hiding Carla ?"_ Wondered Emu in worry. _"What do you really know ?"_

/- Later, in the coal mine -/

After taking a few hours of sleep, the group began their journey through the capital to the outskirts of the city, to the entrance of the old mine, Carla leading the way with Natsu and Wendy following with torch in their hands, Lucy, Happy and Emu following them closely.

\- "I feel weird walking while holding a torch." Stated Natsu, an uneasy feeling they all could understand.

\- "True. You'd normally be able to call out flames easily." Reminded Happy while Carla led them to a portion of collapsed tunnel, one of the wooden beam be engraved with the code 'KY-2c'

\- "It's here." She simply said, Lucy immediately taking one of her key out.

 _ **OPEN THE DOOR TO THE BULL : TAURUS !**_

\- "MOOOOOO !" The massive bovine Stellar Spirit appeared before them, flexing his arms. "What do you need me for, Lucy ?"

\- "That wall, destroy it."

\- "With pleasure ! Moooooo…" Taurus took position in front of the wall, reeling his fist back. "MOOO !" Before punching the wall with it, completely breaking it down, opening a path, just like Carla said before.

\- "That's amazing, Carla !" Said Wendy, amazed by her companion.

\- "There really is a path." Added Lucy as she looked at the dark tunnel they just unveiled.

\- "Let's just hope it leads to the castle basement." Said Carla, her tone making emu frown even more as that same sentence keep playing in his head. As they were about to keep walking, Natsu noticed that Happy looked pretty down, standing there, looking at the ground.

\- "What's wrong, Happy ?" Inquired Natsu.

\- "I wonder why I don't have 'information', too ?" He revealed. "Aren't we the same kind of Edolas cat, sent to Earthland with the same mission ?"

\- "Didn't you promise not to talk about it again ?" Scolded Carla, making the blue cat look down. "I, too, am not entirely sure about a case like yours. Let's try over there."

The group entered the newly opened tunnel, walking carefully, looking around at the rundown mine shaft, the wooden beam looking like dried down sticks.

\- "It looks like it could collapse at any moment." Noted Natsu, looking around at the old tunnel.

\- "Don't say such unlucky things !" Cried Lucy, holding her own arms, afraid that Natsu said might be bad luck.

\- "But this really is a really old tunnel." Commented Wendy, Emu nodding next to her, though still frowning at Carla who was leading them in the dark and rocky hallway. Suddenly, Natsu came to a stop, looking to the side as if he saw something, something Lucy didn't failed to notice.

\- "What is wrong, Natsu ?! Did something happened ?! Did you saw something ?!" She asked, shivering in fear.

\- "Lucy ! Hang on to this for a minute." Asked the Slayer, handing her the torch.

\- "Wha… What's wrong ?" Asked the blonde, her fear growing even more as she shook in fear of what might happen next.

\- "Don't move." Ordered Natsu as he walked to a wall and lifted his hands to…

\- "Uhohohoho… This land belongs to me now !" …do shadow puppet on said wall.

\- "This is not the time to be playing !" Roared Lucy, shoving the non-lit end of the torch in Natsu's mouth, angered that he made her feel that way for nothing.

\- "Natsu really have a gift to do unexpected things, hasn't he ?" Said Emu while sweat dropping at the mage.

\- "Anyway, let's stop playing and keep on walking. Over here." Said Carla, leading them even deeper in the mine, stopping from time to time to search her brain for any information about where to go, each one of those stops making Emu feel uneasy about their situation. After a few more turn, they finally reached a huge cave, much to everyone's awe.

\- "Looks like this place really is connected to the basement of the castle." Said Carla, a slight uneasiness in her voice that was unnoticed by everyone, bar Emu.

\- "Not sure how you know all this, but you being here is a great help Carla !" Said Lucy, looking down at the cat with a smile.

\- "I don't know either. Information just comes to me, piece after piece." Said the cat, her little paws on her hips.

\- "Thank you, Carla." Thanked Happy, only to receive another cold shoulder from his fellow feline.

\- "If you're going to thank me, do it after you've been of some help to everyone." Said Carla before looking around at the cave. "It's going to be tough from this point on. We're going to have to enter the King's sleeping chambers unnoticed and escape unnoticed. If we're discovered by the soldiers, we won't be a match for them as we are now."

\- "Though we'll always have my magic in critical situations." Reminded Lucy, stroking her own ego in the process. But…

\- "Can't say I'm expecting much, though." Sighed Natsu, much to the blonde anger.

\- "What's that supposed to mean ?! If you haven't noticed, our plan revolves around my Gemini !"

\- "Yeah, yeah." Simply said Natsu, almost not caring.

\- "Even if we're discovered, we'll also be able to count on Emu, right ?" Said Wendy, turning to look at Emu with a bright smile, smile that Emu didn't returned this time, which confused the little mage. "Emu ?"

\- "I won't be of much help if we're walking straight into a trap." This sudden statement killed the mood and made everyone look at him, mainly Carla who frowned at him.

\- "What is that supposed to mean ? Don't you trust me ?" She said hauntingly, making Emu look down at her.

\- "Do you need me to remind what YOU said to me just before we flew to Edolas ? That if you or Happy did anything that looked like betrayal, I should kill you ?" Lucy gasped in horror as she wasn't aware of such a deal while the other frowned at the reminder.

\- "And you think I just did that ? I led us all to the only way we have to reach the palace without being seen !" Stated Carla, Emu not impressed by her shouting.

\- "Yes, right under a castle full of people who want us all dead." Reminded Emu. "Besides, I found it really weird that, strangely, you got souvenir of the way as we go. Every time you reached a crossroad, you stopped to search your mind for an information that wasn't there and then magically appear in your memory."

\- "I already said that those memory came to me piece by piece !" Growled Carla, Emu slowly starting to get on her nerves. "Who are you to know how a brain works ?"

\- "A doctor." Now, Carla felt stupid for a moment, wondering how she could forgot that, before Emu continued. "Memories don't come back like this, or not that fast. How can you trust those when you don't even know if they're real or not ?"

\- "Wait ! What do you mean by that ?" Asked Wendy, her whole body shaking as Emu's words seemed to make sense to her, which only served in making her worry even more.

\- "What I mean is that we know almost nothing about how this world work in term of magic. Tell me something, Carla : Can you certify that there is absolutely no way for this world to possess a way to trick someone by playing with his memory ?"

Carla opened her mouth to answer, but nothing came out of it beside a stuttering gibberish. She couldn't counter Emu because she had no proof to counter-argument what he just theorized. There was no way, though, right ? But as she tried to found a flaw in his doubts, Happy jumped to her rescue.

\- "Hey, Emu, calm down a little !" Asked the blue cat. "If this was a trap, where is it then ?"

And just as he said that, a rope of some kind of sticky substance shot out of nowhere and wrapped around Emu's arms, completely hindering his movements. And before anyone could react, the same kind of sticky ropes shot from all around, wrapping and immobilizing the mages. Following the roped to their source, the mages and Exceed's eyes widen as they realized that Emu was right : they just fell into a trap. Out of seemingly nowhere, soldiers appeared and surrounded them, some of them armed with some kind of magical spears, the sticky substance coming out of them.

\- "Don't tell me… they've been waiting for us ?" Asked Lucy, shuddering as she looked at the soldiers.

\- "I knew it… I fucking knew it !" Shouted Emu, frustrated that he didn't reacted sooner and let Carla led them straight into such a trap. Though, as he looked at her, she seemed like she really didn't knew she was leading them to their demise.

\- "So these must be the magic-users from Earthland." Said a familiar voice that stepped out of the crowd of soldiers to stand in front of the prisoners. "You look exactly like them. Natsu Dragion. Lucy Ashley. …Are you really different people ?"

\- "Erza !" Cried Lucy as she recognized her friend, or rather her doppelganger. Who turned her head to Emu.

\- "And here is an unknown face." She said as she walked up to him, standing in front of him, not saying a word. "Probably one of those they talked about."

\- "What ? They ? Who are those 'they' ?" Asked Emu, not gaining a single answer from Edo-Erza who turned on her heels.

\- "Bring them along."

\- "Yes ma'am !" Shouted the soldiers, dragging the mages and Rider, who tried to freed themselves, away, leaving the petrified Exceed behind, Exceed that Erza quickly took notice off, walking to stand in front of them… Before kneeling down, imitated by every soldiers, much to everyone shock, including the feline one.

\- "Welcome home, Exceed !" This welcoming wasn't something the mages and Emu expected, looking at them in shock as the two Exceeds seemed just as lost, though Carla looked less shocked than Happy. "Thank you for your hard work in capturing the intruders."

Carla shuddered, sweat running down her face as she clenched her fists, not believing what was happening as Wendy and the others, too shocked to fight, got dragged out of their sight, Happy standing there, looking at Carla, trying to find another explanation to what happened except the evident one :

Just like Carla warned them before, they just betrayed their friends. They just condemned them and Magnolia to a fate maybe worse than death.

 **Okay. About two weeks to write a chapter, I think this is becoming my usual rhythm, nowadays. I hope it's not too long for you because for me, it's pretty great. Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter. Don't forget : review, favorite, follow if you liked it. I'll see you all next time. See ya !**

 **Next time : The race above humans. Lending a hand to an old 'friend'. A rescue over infinity. To overthrow the gods : Faust's ambitions.**


	48. Chapter 48 - Extalia

**Hello guys ! Two weeks later, a new update for all of you. And I'm back to a chapter worth more than 10.000 words. The last time I managed to do it was in chapter 44, so I'm pretty proud of it and I hope you'll like it too.**

 **I wish you a good time reading this. Enjoy !**

 **Chapter 48 - Extalia**

If someone asked him how he imagined what their trip to Edolas would be like, ending up in a jail wasn't something he would have said. But here was Natsu, being unceremoniously thrown into a cell along with Wendy by a bunch of guard. While Wendy touched the ground, Natsu immediately got back to his feet, glaring at the guards who were standing by the door.

\- "Bastards… Where's everyone else !?" He roared as he shot to the door who closed just as he reached it, his hands clutching at the bar of the small window, glaring at the arrow-shaped eyebrow guy on the other side, who seemed confused by his words.

\- "Everyone else ?" Asked Hughes, eyes locked on the furious face of Natsu who looked like he was trying to roast him up with a glare.

\- "Lucy, Emu, Happy and Carla !" Added Wendy, also getting up, looking as pissed as Natsu. "Where are they ?!"

\- "Lucy…, Ah you mean that blonde girl ?" Realized Hughes. "I'm afraid we don't have a use for her. Guess she'll probably be executed ?"

*CLANG* As soon as those words left his mouth, Hughes' eyes got slightly wider as Natsu literally rammed into the door, almost bending it, the pink haired man ignoring the blood coming from a slight cut on his forehead as he send a killing glare at Hughes.

\- "You bastards lay even one finger on Lucy and I'll turn all of you to Ash." He threatened, his voice seeping with much more venom than he usually did when he was angry. Thought this didn't seem to affect Hughes who simply smirked at that, even taunting the dragon even more.

\- "Oh ! I'm shaking in fear !" Mocked the man, some guards laughing behind him. "Geez, are all of Earthland's magic users so scary ?"

\- "Why only Lucy ? What about Emu, Happy and Carla ?" Asked Wendy, worried for her friends.

\- "That Emu won't be executed. For now, at least." Revealed Hughes. "Someone expressly asked to meet him. They are probably already talking right now. As for the Exceed…"

\- "Don't call Happy that !" Cut Natsu, not liking his friend to be called like that.

\- "… Since they've accomplished their mission, the Exceed have been returned to their native land." Explained Hughes, ignoring Natsu's intervention. "They're probably getting their reward and stuffing their faces right about now."

\- "Accomplished their mission ?" Repeated Wendy, wondering what that meant when she remembered what Carla said back in Earthland before leaving for Edolas.

 _"…by returning to Edolas, I give up my 'mission'…"_

\- "That can't be. I don't know what the mission was about but Carla said she'd abandoned it." Said Wendy, not knowing what to do of this situation. And what Hughes said only added to the Slayers confusion.

\- "Nope, they completed it perfectly."

\- "But… What is it ? The mission that Carla and Happy had to accomplish…" Asked Wendy, she and Natsu feeling even more tense as the suspense kept growing.

\- "You haven't realized it yet ?" Questioned Hughes, a smirk on his face. "Guess I can explain it to you. After all, it's not like this is going to change anything about your fate."

/- Meanwhile in another cell -/

Speaking of fate, somewhere else in the castle stood the doctor who always expressed his desire to change his patient's fate with his own hands. But right now, said hands were tied up, figuratively as he was locked up in a cell, just like Wendy and Natsu, and powerless as the guards took his Gamer Driver and all of his Gashats, meaning he had no way to escape, but a lot of time to think about what happened.

\- "Carla lead us straight into a trap." Repeated Emu, pacing in his cell. "But she genuinely looked shocked when those guards captured us, she clearly wasn't expecting it. What happened then ? And where are the others ?"

\- "That is a pretty good question, Ex-Aid." Said a voice that pulled Emu out of his mumbling, focusing on the door, a familiar silver armored man standing on the other side. "Your human friends are all in jail while your feline ones are back in their hometown."

\- "Shadow Moon." Emu walked to the door, glaring at the Shocker lieutenant. "So Shocker is in Edolas too, huh ? I did wonder how those guards knew my powers came from the Driver and Gashats. Now I know why."

\- "Aren't you even a little surprised by our presence here ?" Asked Shadow Moon. "This a different world after all."

\- "We knew you were doing research on Anima, so when I learned about the world on the other side, I had this gut feeling telling me that you probably at least tried to come here." Explained Emu, glaring daggers at the armored enemy. "Besides, I guess you're working with the king in exchange of some informations about how the Anima works, right ?"

\- "How could we not ?" Simply said Shadow Moon with a shrug. "This man wanted to turn all of Magnolia, which included you and the other Kamen Riders, into a Lachryma. How could we turn down such an opportunity. There's also what he plan to do with that giant Lachryma that is pretty interesting, though we also have a plan of our own just." Emu had a lot of questions concerning what Shadow Moon just said.

\- "What kind of plan are you talking about ?"

\- "Well, let's just say this as something to do with this." With that, Shadow Moon took something and held it in front of Emu's face, whose eyes widened as he recognized the metallic coin.

\- "A Cell Medal."

\- "Indeed. This Kind has such a strong desire to get his hands on an infinite amount of magic, we just couldn't let it get to waste."

\- "So you're using the King's desire for your own plans as well as helping him in his own as it could give you a way to get rid of us while the others are trapped in the Lachryma." Deduced Emu as he frowned, an idea coming to him suddenly. "Don't tell me you've got something to do with Carla leading us into a trap ? You have the tools to do just that."

\- "If this is a really great plan, I'm afraid we're not the one who put it in place. Let's just say that Carla did betrayed you, but without even realizing it." Emu frowned at that, wondering what the implications could be. "Anyway, you know a bit too much already. I'm needed somewhere else right now. I'll come back later. See you." And with that last taunt, Shadow Moon left Emu alone, his sinister cackling echoing in the hallway until it finally subsided. Emu stayed by the door a moment before taking a few step back and fishing something inside his vest. He was lucky it were the guards that searched him as they only knew about his Driver and Gashat, meaning they left him with something.

 _"I don't know what Shadow Moon and Shocker want to do here but I have to stop them."_ He said, taking the reinforcement calling device in his hand. _"But first, I have to get out of here. And I know exactly who I'm going to call."_

He dialed something on the device and soon after, a portal opened in the cell and two people walked out of it, stopping in front of the doctor.

\- "Emu. What are you doing in a jail ?"

\- "Knowing those guys they are with, I'm pretty sure it's their fault."

\- "Not really, but it's not that important." Said Emu, bringing his guests to the main subject and turning to the tallest of the two newcomers. "I'm in dire need of help and you're both here for that. First, I need your strength to get out of here and get my gear back."

\- "Then why did you call me here if you only need him ?" Said the other one.

\- "You're here because I need to you to go and land a hand to an old friend of yours." Said Emu, which made the concerned individual sigh. "And we have to be quick or the others are going to disappear for good."

\- "Wait ! What do you mean by 'for good' ?" Asked the first guy, the other sounding surprised by the revelation.

\- "I'll explain everything along the way. We better get going."

/- Elsewhere -/

While Emu was taking care of his evasion and Natsu and Wendy listened to Hughes' explications, somewhere, in a nice bedroom on a floating island, a blue cat and a white one were laying on a bed, looking pretty peaceful despite the situation they and their friends were in. Happy was the first to wake up, sitting up on the bed and looking at the room they were.

\- "Huh ? This is…" Realizing that he had no idea where he was at all, he turned to Carla, shaking her delicately to wake her up. "Carla, wake up !"

\- "Male cat." Said Carla as she sat up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "What… happened ?"

\- "We were put to sleep.. and… I wonder where this place is ?" Explained Happy, looking all around to try and found a clue about where they really where when he noticed that Carla was not saying a word, simply looking down at the bed with her eyes filled with sadness. "Carla ?"

\- "… If only I knew… that my 'information' would be a trap…" She began, guiltiness filling her voice, which Happy didn't liked at all.

\- "That's not true ! We were just really unlucky ! It's not your fault !" Said Happy, standing up and looking at Carla with determination, a frown appearing on the white cat's face.

\- "I swore…" She began, gripping the sheets tightly. "Even though I swore to protect Wendy… I should have listened to Emu and question where those informations were coming from."

She would have kept on blaming herself, but they were both distracted by the door, which opened with a slight creaking as someone walked inside the room, striking a pose and talking to them with a pretty familiar voice.

\- "Are you the ones who have completed your mission on Earthland ? Mmm… A lovely perfume."

\- "ICHIYA !?" Exclaimed a wide-eyed Happy, though he noticed that he looked… Weird. "But… He's a cat ?" Indeed, the man that entered the room had Ichiya's face and voice, but he also had cat ears peaking through his hair and a tail along with a few whiskers on his face.

\- "What is there to be surprised about ? Are we not one and the same, the Exceed ?" Said the feline Ichiya, confused by their confusion. That is, until another cat entered the room, this one black with a pretty long head and shaking his right fist constantly.

\- "Nichiya-san, you do realize this is the first time they have been in Edolas ? It is definitely their first time seeing Exceed, no ?"

\- "Oh ! So that's how it is." Realized the one named Nichiya. "I serve as the captain of Extalia's Imperial Guard And I am called Nichiya." He said, introducing himself to the others.

\- "And I'm Nadi, Minister of State." Said the black cat, introducing himself. "Good job on your mission."

\- "Mission ?" Repeated Happy, still unaware of what his mission was while Carla looked down in shame, already knowing what it was.

\- "I am afraid time is of the essence. The queen awaits." Said Nichiya, shocking Happy with the mention of a queen. "Please follow me."

\- "Carla… Leave this to me." Began Happy, looking confident and staying strong. "For now, we gotta look at the situation. I'll definitely protect you." He swore just before they finally got down the bed and followed the two out of the room then out of the building they were in, out in the open, making them realized they were in a town, but a town full of Exceed. No matter where they looked, they could only see Exceed, living like any human being would, with shops, bars etc. In a corner, they could even see an old cat teaching young ones. While Carla wasn't even paying attention, this wasn't the case for Happy who was looking all around with wide eyes as the Exceeds around them began to look at them with admiration.

\- "It's… A country of cats." Said Happy, only to be corrected by Nadi.

\- "We're not cats, we're Exceed. Standing above the humans; guiding them; we are the Exceed !" He said proudly, Happy listening though he didn't liked the idea of human being inferior to them. "And this is our kingdom, Extalia." Walking along the street, they finally reached a castle, probably the one belonging to the queen and/or whoever that lead the Exceed. Happy and Carla, who was still looking down, followed Nadi and Nichiya as they lead them in the castle hallways. "You see, humans are an incredibly foolish, inferior people. We have to manage them carefully. And the Queen governs the humans from here." The more Happy listened to them, the less he liked it, but he said nothing as he had to gather as much information as he could. "It's troublesome when they start to increase in number at their own discretion. Thus, the Queen determined that any additional humans… Are to be killed."

\- "W…Why would you do that ?" Asked Happy, horrified by the way his people was seeing the humans.

\- "In order to normalize the magic that we are steadily losing." Explained Nadi. "That is what her Majesty has said. The Queen not only governs the human of this world, but those of Earthland as well."

\- "Does she decide the 'death' of a human being ?" Asked Happy, clearly feeling uneasy with everything he learned. And this time, it's Nichiya who answered.

\- "Her Majesty has the power to do that. Because she is a God." The term of God made Happy gasped, wondering if this was really the case or just a way of speaking.

\- "What was our mission ?" Suddenly asked Carla, coming to a stop and talking for the first time since they left the bedroom they woke up in. She had things to say and ask, and it wasn't pleasant thing. "It's been ground into me since the time I was born. That I was chosen in accordance with the Queen's Human Management plans… to obliterate the Dragon Slayer Wendy."

\- "What ?" Was all Happy could say after hearing that, his eyes wide in horror at what she had just say. Needless to say, he just couldn't believe it. "W… What are you talking about !? Carla !"

\- "Be quiet." Simply asked Carla, but this time, Happy wasn't about to just obey.

\- "What do you mean, obliterate Wendy ?!" As soon as he said that, he realized something that made him feel even worse than he already did, hands on his head as if a memory just came back to him. "Huh ? Then… my mission… It can't be…"

\- "I guess this is what they call 'Ignorance is bliss', huh." Simply said Carla, feeling bad for Happy who was about to have an heart attack.

\- "To… Natsu… To obliterate Natsu… That was my mission ?!" Shouted Happy who looked like he was two fingers away from having a seizure.

\- "Calm yourself, male cat." Said Carla to a breaking down Happy, turning to their guide. "We have not completed our mission, and we never intended to do so ! Despite all this, why have we been told that we have ?!"

Nadi and Nichiya looked at them, wide eyes in surprise before turning to each other, their faces lighting up with realization.

\- "Memory loss ?" Proposed Nichiya, making Nadi nod.

\- "We didn't have any other option. 'Superimposition' causes various side effects."

\- "Answer me !" Roared Carla, Nadi walking to them to explain.

\- "I'll explain. In accordance with her Majesty's Human Management Plans, 100 Exceed were sent to Earthland 6 years ago. They were provided 'information' in order to find and destroy the Dragon Slayers after they hatched. However, the situation changed. The man-made Anima created other possibilities." The two Exceed listened, eyes wide in shock and disbelief as they listened to their 'story'. "It was something created not to kill humans… but to make use of their magical energy. But it appeared that the Dragon Slayers were also absorbed and turned into special magical energy. Thus your missions were modified at the last minute. Modified to 'capture the Dragon Slayers', that is." Now, everything that happened recently became clear, and it made Carla fell down to her knees in realization. The 'information' Carla kept 'remembering' ever since she came to Edolas weren't memories, they were all made up to lead them straight into the trap they fell into. "As I thought, it looks like commands don't get transmitted well though long-distance 'superimposition'."

\- "But it was all right in the end, since you led the Dragon Slayers here." Added Nichiya. "We leave the magicalization to the humans. They are better at that sort of thing."

\- "T…That's not right…" Said Carla, who was on her knees, breaking down as she realized what she did without even realizing it. "I came to Edolas of my own accord…"

\- "Nope… You were just carrying out the order." Corrected Nadi.

\- "I brought them to the tunnel… To help everyone…" She added, only to be once again corrected.

\- "Didn't you notice ? We were guiding you there."

\- "I… wanted to protect Wendy… Because I care for her…" She added, tears running down her face.

\- "That was simply a kind of illusion." Said Nadi, not caring if he was trampling over her already bleeding heart. "Your mission was changed from 'Obliteration' to 'capture'… In other words, it was modified to 'do not kill the target'."

\- "THAT'S A LIE !" Cried Carla, breaking down as the reality of the situation began to settled in her mind. As for Happy, he was feeling his rage rising along with Carla's cries, hating this situation or the fact that they were basically played.

\- "All your actions were subject to our commands." Finished Nichiya and this was the last straw for Happy who took position in front of Carla, protecting her as he glared at the older Exceeds.

\- "WE AREN'T YOUR PUPPETS !" He shouted, taking Nadi and Nichiya aback as Carla's cries slowly calmed down. "WE ARE… MAGES OF FAIRY TAIL !"

\- "Happy…" Carla whispered the name, for once calling him by his name instead of 'male cat', the tears slowing down though not stopping completely, which would soon be the case as Happy grabbed her by the hand and pulled her with him as he ran "Let's go, Carla ! We're going to save them by ourselves ! We'll definitely save them !"

Nadi and Nichiya had yet to begin moving, stuck on the spot as they looked at the two fleeing Exceed.

\- "Rebellion…" Managed to muster Nadi. "Those Exceed who have been poisoned by the impurity of Earthland, have become rebels."

\- "OOOH ! MEEEEN !" Shouted Nichiya, grabbing the attention of all the guards in the castle. "Two rebels have escaped ! Imperial guards, stop them !"

As soon as he said that, a whole squad of guards, made of tall and massive guard appeared and began to run after Carla and Happy, swords in hands. They quickly caught up to them and they all tried to reach them, swinging their swords all around, the two smaller Exceeds managing to dodge everything until they finally got out of the castle, though it didn't meant that the evasion was over.

\- "Out of our way, out of our way !" Shouted Happy as he and Carla entered a crowded shopping street with Nichiya and his men on their tail, pushing people out of the way.

\- "Wait, wait ! Meeen !" Shouted Nichiya as he ran after them with his men behind him. They would caught them at some point, Happy simply knew it so he had to find a way to lost them and as he passed by an alley, he noticed a cart full of what seemed to be hay, a perfect hiding spot.

\- "Let's hide in there !" He said, taking Carla with him, the two of them jumping into the hay, disappearing just as Nichiya and the guards turned and entered the alley, passing by the cart without noticing Happy's head who was peeking through the hay as he looked at them disappearing on the other side. Everything was good and they were about to get out of the cart when they noticed that when they passed by, one of the guards had knocked down the block of wood that kept the cart in place and now, it slowly began rolling down the street, gaining more speed as it rode down the hill with two shrieking Exceeds on board.

\- "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH !" Shouted the two as they dangerously crossed the city, Carla grabbing onto the cart as hard as she could. However this proved to be too much for her as she let go, Happy instantly noticing it.

\- "CARLA !" He shouted, heading to the back of the cart.

\- "HAPPY !" She shouted, reaching for Happy who managed to grab her hand and pull her back inside the cart with him as the cart kept rolling down for a few minutes when it finally reached a field whose ground, much more softer, forced the cart to a stop by crashing down onto the ground, sending the two Exceeds to the floor, where they stayed laying for a few seconds. Out of the two, Carla was the first one to wake up, opening one eye to see where they had ended, but what her eyes saw was something much more important than where they truly where.

\- "Happy ! Look at that !" She said, waking up Happy who looked at what she was looking at and his own eyes widened when he saw it.

\- "The Lachryma is floating !" He said, looking at a floating island where a Lachryma who must have been as tall as Faust's castle stood.

\- "This one is much larger than the one we saw at the capital…" Noticed Wendy, which could only mean one thing.

\- "It's probably everyone from Fairy Tail and Magnolia ! They were kept in a place like this !" Said Happy as he soon realized something, confirming it by looking down. "So… We're on a floating island ?"

\- "The kingdom is so far below us." Stated Carla, looking at the capital city that looked ridiculously small form above. "So Extalia is just above Edolas Royal capital, huh ? But how are we going to get down here ? We can't use Era right now…"

\- "You guys, whatcha doing on my field ?" Carla and Happy turned around, realizing they've been spotted, not by a guard, but by an older white Exceed with thin facial hair and a mono-brow. He wore a straw hat with holes for his ears and a pretty normal attire, green and blue is color. He was scowling at the two with a hoe in his hands, ready to defend himself. "Aha… The 'rebels' that the soldiers are looking for, must be you guys." He said, realizing who he was dealing with. Happy took a fighting stance, ready to defend himself. But as soon as the guy began to swing his hoe at him, Happy ran away.

\- "Get out ! Get out !" Shouted the older Exceed as he ran after Happy.

\- "Aye ! I'm sorry !" He cried as he tried to dodge the hoe. As for Carla, she noticed that people was starting to gather on the other side of the field.

\- "They're already here…" She said to herself.

\- "Get out of my field…" Shouted the Exceed once again, Happy now by Carla's side.

\- "Aye ! I'll get out right now !"

\- "And get in my house !" Now that was something neither Happy nor Carla expected. But since the guy didn't seemed to like taking no for an answer, they did as he told them, following him to his house, a cozy little house on the other side of the fields. The owner of the place pushed them inside, where they were welcomed by a blue female Exceed who wore a white dress and a green scarf wrapped around her head. This woman looked pretty much familiar, maybe because she had the same color as Happy. But one thing was sure, she was much more nicer than the man who led them here.

\- "Oh, my ! Are you the two rebels everyone is looking for ?" Said the woman, inviting them to sit at a table. "Please sit down." Once the two were seated, feeling awkward that they were so welcomed here. "Knowing him, I'm pretty sure he never introduced himself. My name is Marl and this grumpy cat here is Lucky, my husband."

\- "N…Nice to meet you…" Simply said Happy, not knowing what to say.

\- "So, what happened for you to be searched by the Royal Guards ?" Asked Marl. Realizing that those two didn't looked like the betraying kind, Happy then proceed to explain their situation, the man sitting at the table not saying a word while the woman, probably his wife, was bringing some food. Once their explanation were done, the woman, though she was smiling, seemed to sympathize with them. "Oh my, that sounds troublesome." Said Marl as she put down a plate with two fishes in front of Happy who then turned to look at their savior with a smile on his face.

\- "Mister, Ma'am, thank you for hiding us…"

\- "Kah ! Eat up, eat !" Ordered Lucky while hitting the table with his fist, frightening Happy while Carla still looked depressed, managing to say thank you but nothing else.

\- "Our household doesn't conform to those of the Kingdom." Explained Marl. "We were exiled a long time ago and lived out here."

\- "KAH ! Don't tell them what they don't need to know !" Growled Lucky, though his anger didn't seemed to bother Marl, showing that this was probably how Lucky was all the time.

\- "I see… So that's why you took us in…" Understood Happy, though Lucky didn't seem to agree with that.

\- "It's got nothing to do with that !" He said before turning back to his two guests. "After you eat, go take a bath ! Kah !"

Surprised by the order, Carla and Happy though did as they were told, happy to get rid of the dust they gathered ever since they came to Edolas. After the bath, they were given clothes by Marl and, now all clean, they were sitting on the back of the house, in front of a nice looking garden, Marl talking to them.

\- "So you're called Happy and Carla ? What beautiful names." She said, her voice as always sweet and soothing. "You're both born in Earthland, right ? Who gave you that name ?"

\- "Natsu… My friend." Answered Happy.

\- "Me too… Yeah… A friend." Said Carla, looking even more depressed as she though about Wendy, wondering is she could still be called a friend after betraying her like she did.

\- "Those friends are being held at the capital, so we have to go and rescue them." Stated Happy with determination.

\- "You're going to rescue humans ?" Understood Marl, slightly curious.

\- "I know that in Extalia, such actions are unheard of…" Admitted Carla, looking down but strangely, Marl didn't seemed bothered by their decision.

\- "That not true, I think it's a great thing to do." She said, explaining her point of view to the two young Exceeds. "It doesn't matter if your friends are a human or an Exceed. Because, even though we look different, our feelings towards each other are the same."

\- "Feelings ?" Repeated Carla, slightly confused.

\- "Yup… Our feelings of friendship are all the same." Carla stayed quiet a moment, thinking about what Marl said before talking once more.

\- "My feelings… feel as though they are being manipulated by someone other than myself. Right now… I can't even be sure that I'm the one who's speaking these words…" With what happened recently, no one could blame her for having doubt. But Happy wasn't agreeing with that.

\- "Of course, it's your words !" He said to her as he got up. "Of course, it's your feelings ! Our feelings of wanting to rescue our friends, is definitely our own !"

\- "You seem to be lost right now, but I'm sure you'll be okay." Said Marl, squatting down next to Carla, looking at her. "Besides, you have such a wonderful knight here beside you." This comment made Happy gasp and blush but Marl didn't say anything to him, speaking with Carla instead. "You'll be able to find your own heart. No, you probably already have it. All that's left, is to recognize it. And to trust that feeling of friendship."

Carla simply looked at Marl for a few seconds, not saying a word as she processed her every words until a smile finally graced her lips. Apparently, what Marl said touched her feelings.

\- "You're different, lady." She stated; making Marl giggle slightly.

\- "Is that so ?"

\- "Yes… Because… The Exceed look at themselves as 'Angels' or something. They say that the humans are lower class."

\- "In the past, I used to think like that too… But my children were taken by the Queen." Revealed Marl, shocking the Fairy Tail Exceeds. "In the Dragon Slayer Assassination plan, 100 children… eggs were collected. And, without seeing my child face, they were sent to Earthland. Because we opposed that plan, we were exiled. It was about that time… That I figured it out… We aren't Gods or Angels or anything, just parents. After that, Humans and Exceeds and all those things didn't matter anymore. My husband may have a bad mouth, but he had the same ideals as me."

\- "KAH ! Stop talking about stupid things. How long are you guys staying here for !" Said Husband walked in, as angry as always, waving his fists around and going straight toward Happy. "Making such depressing faces, be happy that you are alive at least. KAH ! Stop being so pampered ! Hurry up and get out !"

\- "We don't have to throw them out so suddenly…" Said Marl, but Happy was agreeing with Lucky.

\- "No…He's right. We have to go quickly and save everyone." He stated, Carla nodding at him just as confidently.

\- "If you're shaking in fear, you can't do anything ! Young ones these days, they don't even know that !"

Those last words from Lucky made Happy realize something, something that made him smirk as he nod at them before finally heading out. However…

\- "Here they are !" Everyone turned around and stood in shock as they saw a platoon of soldiers heading their way. The two rebels tried to run away but much to their horror, guards also came from the other side, surrounding them completely. "Don't go anywhere ! You're all under arrest !"

Carla and Happy, who were back to back, looked all around, trying desperately to look for a way out, but they found nothing. While Carla was starting to panic, Happy kept looking around, trying to keep his cool and when he glanced at the sky, he saw it and his eyes widened. He had no idea how and why he was here, but this was their best chance. He raised his arm up, hoping this would be enough to make him understand while next to him, Carla was glaring at him.

\- "Happy ! Now's not the time to do something as stupid ! We have to find a way to escape !" However, Happy never answered and Carla was starting to think that he had given up, tears burning in her eyes. One of the guards walked to them and extended his hand to Carla to grab her, the white feline closing her eyes, preparing for the worst when suddenly.

\- "GAAAAHH !" He cried in pain, Carla opening one eye to see that the pain he felt came from his wrist, who had been grabbed by a red demonic looking hand with some sort of bird on it.

\- "I swear… That guild just can't stay out of trouble even a moment." Said an unknown voice, making Carla follow the arm to see what was on the other side and needless to say, she wasn't expecting to found Happy. Though he looked strange, not only due to the arm but also for the blonde hair he had on top of his head and the face he was making which was completely un-Happy like.

\- "Ha… Happy…" Said Carla, looking at him with wide eyes, almost hoping he would say 'no, I'm not Happy', and his answer was a mix between a yes and a no.

\- "More or less. It is his body, but I basically took control for now." Explained the 'new guy', much to Carla's confusion. "Just call me Ankh. And let me take care of those guys."

Carla was more than confused as she watched that… creature that suddenly replaced Happy jump on the guard and began fighting them. Despite the size difference, Ankh was beating each and everyone one of them with ease, even using his small size to his advantage to dodge attacks at the last moment, making the guards attack each other in the confusion. In less than 3 minutes, Ankh was standing on top of a pile of bodies, all knocked out and covered in bumps and bruises, Carla, Marl and Lucky looking at him with wide eyes as he casually dusted his clothes.

\- "Well… that was disappointing." Simply said Ankh as he walked down the pile, landing in front of a dumbstruck Carla.

\- "W…What ? Who… who are you ? What did you do to Happy ?" She asked, stuttering, making Ankh sighed and roll his eyes, pointing at his head.

\- "He's still in here. I just took his body for a moment since he was in need of a hand." Said Ankh before stopping realizing what he just said. "No pun intended."

\- "KAH !" Suddenly, Ankh was smacked on the head by Lucky, hoe in hand, glaring at the Greeed with a frown. "What exactly are you ? what did you really do to that boy ?!"

Ankh first said nothing, looking at Lucky then at Marl who was still reeling at what she just saw, looking at him with worry, a feeling he could also see in the eyes of the older Exceed. He also noticed something about them that made him smirk.

\- "I see." He said. "Maybe it would be best if I let him do the explanation."

With that being said, the demonic red arm separated from Happy, making him go back to his normal shape, standing there wobbling for a moment as the red hand stayed by his side, floating at eye level with everyone who looked at it with a form of apprehension.

\- "Mmmh ? What happened ?" Said Happy, apparently lost for a few seconds before looking to his right, finally seeing Ankh, his eyes widening as he saw him. "Ankh ! It's really you !"

\- "Yeah, yeah. Keep it down, you cat." Grumbled Ankh, Carla immediately turning to Happy.

\- "Happy, why do you know that thing ?" She asked, ignoring the outraged 'Hey !' from Ankh who didn't liked her tone.

\- "Oh, yeah. I forgot that you don't know him." Began Happy as he began to introduce the arm. "This is Ankh. He come from the Kamen Rider worlds, it's a friend we've already met in the past."

\- "And he take possession of people just like that ?"

\- "Well yes, but actually no." Said Ankh, his confusing answer making Carla look at him with a raised eyebrow. "Let's just say that, to avoid confusion and problems, I promised to only possess Happy when I'm in this world. It's much more practical than being simply a hand."

\- "I… see." Carla wasn't convinced if she should trust that thing, but since he just saved them, she guessed she could at least tolerate him.

\- "But how can you be here ?" Asked Happy, confused by the Greeed's presence. "Did someone called you ?"

\- "Yeh, that doctor." He revealed. "He simply asked me to come to get you while he and Eiji are looking for his gears."

\- "So this means you know where everyone is located." Understood Carla, suddenly less disturbed by his presence.

\- "Yeah. In that big castle just below us. From what Emu could tell us, they are probably still alive, though maybe not for much longer."

\- "Then you have to go." This was Marl, who approached the group who looked at her in confusion.

\- "But those guards… Aren't you going to…"

\- "Don't you worry about it." She said with a reassuring smile. "We'll take care of things here. You have to go and save your friends, right ? Then don't waste your time."

Happy and Carla looked at each other, both nodding before turning around and running toward the edge of the floating island on the other side of the fields, Ankh flying alongside them. As they ran, Happy turned around and waved one last time at the couple who took them in, waving his paw.

\- "Thank you ! Mister ! Lady !" He said, Carla also looking back and waving at them.

\- "KAH ! Never come back here again !" Shouted Lucky.

\- "Watch out and take care." Smiled Marl with a wave of her own.

\- "Carla ! Did you understand what that guy was saying before the guards came ?" Asked Happy, a smile on his face as they got closer to the edge.

\- "Yeah… I understand." She said as she ran, a small smile on her face. "Ever since I arrived at Edolas, I was… filled with so much anxiety."

\- "Me too… But no more !" Said Happy as they both dived from the floating island, Ankh by their side. "We have to go forward ! We have to fly !"

"We are Exceed." Thought Carla as they dived toward the capital city. "The only ones who are capable of storing magic within our bodies. The reason we couldn't use magic was because our hearts were unstable." As she thought that, light began to shine in her and Happy's back, slowly taking shape. "There… when we see the shapes of our own hearts, the wings allow us to move forward." And in a flash, the light had formed a pair of white wings, giving them back the ability they thought they had lost. Smirking at each other, Carla and Happy then flew at highspeed, heading straight toward the city.

\- "Let's go ! We have to save everyone !"

\- "AYE !"

As they flew, back on the island, Lucky and Marl were looking at them go, focusing on the blue one.

\- "KAH ! So he can fly properly !"

\- "He looks exactly the same as you when you're flying." Commented Marl.

\- "Don't be so stupid !" Countered Lucky, his voice shaking slightly. "It's not the way he flies ! One look and I'd notice it !"

\- "You're right." Said Marl, her voice filled with pride as she clutched her dress, tears running down her face. "I wonder if that's his girlfriend ?" Next to her, her husband was trying to stay strong, but he couldn't stop the tears from flowing as his voice cracked up.

\- "Kaaah ! It's 100 years too early for him to bring home a girl !" He said, openly crying as Happy dived inside a layer of clouds.

\- "Looks like he grew up to be a gentle boy who treasures his friends…" Added Marl, wiping up her tears.

\- "Aye ! KAAAH !"

/- Royal palace -/

\- "Eheheheh… So it is true what they say. We found out that the mages from Earthland all store their magical energy within their bodies."

In what looked like a meeting room, all of the captains od the Royal Army were sitting around a tables along with Byro and Faust. Coco was also here, running around the table while the others talked about their plans and the research they did about their 'guests'.

\- "Hmmm… So it's almost like they're exceed, huh." Said Sugarboy, looking at Byro who was doing most of the talk.

\- "However, their magical power can't compare to that of the Exceed." Added Byro.

\- "So does that mean the girl called Lucy also has magical energy inside her body ?" Asked Hughes, Byro answering positively to it. "If that's the case, we're super lucky we haven't killed her yet. We should think about drawing the energy out of her indefinitely."

\- "No." Countered the king, his eyes locked in a frown. "The Queen of the Exceed, Shagotte, has issued an order for her execution."

\- "But it's the Queen's orders !" Gasped Coco, sweat running down her face as Sugarboy smirked.

\- "Hn… We can't defy the Exceed."

\- "What a fucking waste, man." Complained Hughes.

\- "Additionally, our technology is not yet at the level where we can draw magical energy directly out of human bodies." Added Byro.

\- "So what are we going to do about the two Dragon Slayers, then ?" Wondered Panther Lily as Byro joined his hands, looking much more happy by what he was going to say.

\- "Those who are human, and yet not quite human. If our experiment succeeds, we will have found a semi-permanent source of magical power."

People around the table were excited by the news, making the happiness known with cheers and shouts. However, someone, despite the great news, still had something to say.

\- "What about this Kamen Rider we captured ?" Asked Edo-Erza. "I thought they were all absorbed along the rest."

\- "That's also what we though, but it seems like this one is special in his own way." Admitted Byro, Hughes turning to him.

\- "And is there any way we can use him like the others ?"

\- "I'm afraid not." Byro shook his head, looking at everyone around the table. "They have no magical energy in them so they are useless to us. But this Shocker organization want to get rid of them once and for all. Trapping them inside this Lachryma was part of the deal we had in exchange for their help. I guess we'll just have to execute that guy alongside the blonde girl."

\- "Very good, Byro. Begin the experiment immediately." Ordered the king. "But hurry up the extraction of magical energy from the Earthland Lachryma. Be prepared for the off-chance that anything untoward occurs."

\- "Yes, sir !" Shouted everyone as they rose form their chair and left the room. However, Panther Lily didn't followed, still sitting at the table, much to the King's confusion.

\- "What's wrong, Lily ?"

\- "Your Majesty… With regard to the recent bolstering of military armaments…" Panther Lily had turned to look at the king but when he saw the glare he was receiving, he sighed and hung his head. "No… Please excuse me…" And without another word, the large feline man left the room, with Faust looking at him as he walked through the door with the same glare, his mind dead set on his objective, a bunch of bluish eggs growing in a cave of the castle in synch with his desire, unaware of what his dream might lead to.

/- In a cell -/

\- "Happy and Carla… Were part of a race called the Exceed." Alone in a jail, handcuffed by heavy and thick chains, Lucy was sitting against a wall, her mind focused on what happened recently, also thinking about the book about this world that she read before being arrested. A frown on her face, she was looking at the ground as she recited something from said book. "The Exceed… Exist in this world as some kind of 'Angel'. Their Queen, Shagotte, is 'God'. Her words are absolute, and her job is to manage the humans. If the word 'die' falls from her lips, the human in question is killed without question…" She stayed silent for a moment before suddenly rolling on the ground, trying to get her hands free. "That's just stupid ! What kind of unreasonable law is that ?!"

\- "Well, I see you've done your homework and read up on this world." Said a female voice as the door to Lucy's cell suddenly opened, revealing none other than Edo-Erza, glancing down at Lucy who couldn't hold out a gasp.

\- "Erza ?! Is everyone else all right ?!" Seeing that she wasn't getting an answer from the redhead who entered the room, Lucy began to get annoyed. "Hey ! Answer me !"

\- "They are fine." Finally said Edo-Erza, making Lucy sigh in relief, which confused the redhead. "What's with that face you're making ? Do you understand the situation you're in now ?"

\- "Yeah, that's true." Said Lucy, looking up to Edo-Erza with a small smile. "Your face and your voice… they're identical to the Erza I know, so I unconsciously loosened up…"

\- "The Earthland version of me, huh." Repeated Edo-Erza, looking down at Lucy, her eyes hidden by her long hair.

\- "In our world… You were part of Fairy Tail too." This news made Edo-Erza shout in shock, hardly believing that she could be part of what she was hunting in another world. "You were strong and cool and a little scary, but you were relied on by everyone. Even so, you could be really girly and liked sweet things and cute clothes. And…"

However, before Lucy could add anything else, Edo-Erza had grabbed Lucy's hair and took her out of her cell, dragging her on the ground at the same time.

\- "Stop talking. I'm sorry to tell you I'm not the Erza you know." She said, her voice cold as ice as she tightened her grip on Lucy's hair.

\- B…But… I get the feeling that you're the same deep down…" Managed to say the blonde, feeling the pain as she struggle to free herself while trying to reasoned the redhead. "You're not someone who can laugh at other people's suffering !" The dragging off came to an end when Edo-Erza threw Lucy against a wall. Immediately, Lucy tried to reason her once again. "Please ! Help me ! I only want to save my friends !" But it was a lost cause as the redhead grabbed her by her handcuffs with her spear, lifting her from the ground.

\- "Silence." She said as she put her spear through a window, making Lucy hanging in the air with a few hundred meters below her feet. "You're going to die here."

\- "Erza wouldn't do this to a defenseless person !" Shouted Lucy, knowing that if she couldn't make Edo-Erza change her mind, she would die. "Erza is kind ! She wouldn't do something like this !" However, talking to this Erza was like talking to a wall.

\- "You're a lucky girl." Said Edo-Erza with a sadistic smile. "I relish watching people suffer. As my nickname Fairy Hunter suggests, I've killed countless Fairy Tail mages."

\- "…With Erza's face… And her voice…" Lucy's voice was beginning to break, glaring at her captor through her tears. "Don't say those things !"

\- "See you, Lucy." And with that, she let go of the blonde who began to fall to her death, her eyes closed as she waited for the inevitable. However, she should have felt a bit more confident. After all, this wasn't the first time she was supposed to die from a fall, being saved just in time every time before. And this time wouldn't be any different.

\- "LUCY !" Midfall, Lucy opened her eyes when she heard her voice being called, immediately noticing two pretty familiar silhouette flying to her at high speed.

\- "HAPPY ! CARLA !"

\- "Exceed…" Said Edo-Erza who saw the flying feline approach the blonde girl who had happiness tears in her eyes as Happy flew at full speed toward her.

\- "Everything's going to be okay !" He said as he approach the girl. "We're here to…. *BAM* NGAH !"

… Only to flew past Lucy and end up slamming into a wall, Carla being the one to save the falling girl, both of them sweat dropping at him.

\- "Why does he have to be so energetic for nothing ?" Said a voice Lucy knew but haven't heard in a long time, turning their head to the source of it, only to find a flying arm.

\- "Ankh !? What are you doing here ?!"

\- "Simply giving a hand."

\- "… Was that supposed to be a pun ?"

\- "Wha… What on Earth…" Edo-Erza was looking at the two Exceed with wide eyes, not understanding what they were doing here, saving a girl who was supposed to be executed. "The Queen's orders were to eliminate the girl…"

\- "The order is retracted." Simply said Carla, looking at Edo-Erza who seemed lost.

\- "B…But even if this is a direct order from an Exceed, you shouldn't have to power to override the Queen's command…" She explained, sparing a glance at Ankh, the redhead not knowing what it could be. "Please hand the girl over to me."

\- "How arrogant of you, human.." Carla's sudden change of tone shocked even Lucy while Ankh, back in Happy's body, simply raised an eyebrow, knowing from the Exceed's memory that this wasn't how she usually acted. "Who do you think I am ? I am Carla, the daughter of Queen Shagotte, princess of Extalia."

The effect was immediate. As soon as those words came out and got registered by her brain, Edo-Erza was down to her knee, apologizing to the white Exceed.

\- "Ma'am ! Please overlook my discourteousness !"

\- "Where are the Dragon Slayers ?" She asked, Lucy looking awestruck, still carried by Ankh/Happy who had opened wide eyes when he heard her talk about her true identity.

\- "Th… They're in the basement of the West Tower."

\- "Release them immediately." Asked Carla, knowing she had the upper hand, now.

\- "I am afraid I haven't the authority to do that." Revealed Edo-Erza. This didn't pleased Carla, but alas, before she could say anything else.

\- "Erza !" Panther Lily came running at her colleague, followed by a whole squad of soldiers. Lucy, Carla and Happy/Ankh stared wide eyes at the giant sized Exceed, shocked by his sudden appearance. However, it is what he said that disturbed them the most. "Those two Exceed are 'Fallen' ! They're on the run from Extalia !"

\- "We're getting out of here !" Shouted Carla, immediately flying away, followed by the others. However, they were stopped by an unexpected force. Out of nowhere, a bunch of jet-pack wearing humanoid creature with orange head surrounded them, cutting off every way of escaping.

\- "Bugsters !" Exclaimed Ankh/Happy, looking all around him for a way to escape but there were none. They needed help. Back on the balcony, Panther Lily was looking at the scene while Edo-Erza was seething, not liking being played like she just did.

\- "You…" She said, venom in her voice before raising the volume to give out an order to the Bugsters. "Kill them all !"

The Bugster then approached them, weapon in hand, forcing Carla and Ankh/Happy to try and dodge, which was proved to be a difficult mission for the Greeed as he also carried Lucy. At some point, one of the Bugster managed to hit him in the face, making him drop Lucy who, once again, was falling to her death.

\- "This time, nothing will save you." Said Edo-Erza with a satisfied smile as she looked at the blonde. But suddenly, the door behind her exploded, sending guards to the ground as someone ran toward the balcony and dived, heading straight toward Lucy.

 _ **TAKA ! KUJAKU ! CONDOR ! TA**_ __ _ **JA**_ __ _ **DORU**_ __ _ **!**_

Lucy opened his eyes once again as she looked at the bright red light that shone above her as a red object came flying toward her, grabbing her with a arm as it flew back up, saving her from the fall, looking at the guy who just saved them, Lucy gasped then smiled as she recognized the armor and thus, the one under it.

\- "EIJI !"

\- "Hey, Lucy ! It's been a while !" He said with a smirk as he flew toward the Bugsters who were already all focused on him, though they shouldn't have.

 _ **JET CRITICAL STRIKE !**_

Emu, in Level 3 Jet Combat, was making the bullet rain down the Bugster, eradicating them all in an instant before flying down to the two Exceed who looked at him.

\- "Nice to see you all." Said Emu as he hovered next to the Exceeds.

\- "It's nice to see that you escaped, but we better get out of here for now." Said Carla, as they immediately flew away, leaving behind them an angered Edo-Erza who immediately got back to work.

\- "ANNOUNCEMENT FOR ALL TROOPS !" She shouted. "The Fallen have escaped with the prisoner and accomplices ! The two Exceed who have fallen have white and blue fur ! If you find them, eliminate them immediately !"

Meanwhile, the Exceed and their comrades were flying away from the castle, Lucy immediately thanking them for her rescue.

\- "Thanks, to all of you."

\- "Aren't you angry ?" Asked Carla, not beating around the bush, which confused the blonde but also Emu.

\- "Huh ? At what ?" Asked Lucy.

\- "We were the reason you got caught in the first place."

\- "But you came to save me." She said with a smile, turning to look at Happy. "Right, Happy."

\- "I'm not Happy." Reminded Ankh. "However, he want me to say he's sorry."

\- "I said I'm not angry at all !" shouted Lucy.

\- "Speaking about what happened, I must say that I'm sorry." Said Emu, grabbing Carla's attention. "I was a little bit mean to you before. Now that I know what truly happen…"

\- "It's all right." Reassured Carla. "In the end, you were right. I shouldn't have trusted those informations."

\- "That being said, I'm surprised to know that you're the Queen's daughter…"

\- "That was obviously a bluff." Stated Carla, disappointing the humans that were with her. Looking back, she saw a smirk on Happy/Ankh face, which made her frown. "What are you grinning about ?"

\- "I'm not. He is." Said Ankh.

\- "Then why is Happy grinning like that ?" Ankh shook his head and his scowl disappeared as it got replaced by Happy's usual expression.

\- "Nothing… I was just thinking it's just like you to do that…"

\- "Well, well, well… Ankh is starting to share control with the owner of his body… What a day." Mocked Eiji, Ankh immediately showing on Happy's face.

\- "As if I would say everything that cat would say…" As the Greeed argued with his Rider partner, Lucy was too busy looking at the two Exceeds, noticing that for the first time ever, she heard Carla calling Happy by his name instead of the usual 'male cat'.

\- "Everyone shut up !" Said Carla, a slight blush on her face as she still though of what Happy said about her. "More importantly, we're going to rescue Natsu and Wendy !"

\- "Aye !" Said Happy, back in control of his body. "She said the basement of the west tower, didn't she ?"

Looking at the two determined Exceed, Lucy and Emu couldn't help but laugh slightly at the newly found complicity between them. However, before anyone could say anything, a fluttering noise mingled with some kind of battle cry approaching them, forcing them to a stop. Looking all around, they finally noticed a huge flock of bird, heading their way. But they soon discovered that this wasn't birds at all.

\- "We found you ! Fallen !" Shouted Nichiya, leading what looked like the whole army of Extalia, plunging toward the Rider and the said 'Fallen'. Of course, the first thing they wanted to do was to fly down to escape them, but as soon as they turned around, they realized that they were stuck as the Royal Guard of Edolas was gathered outside the palace, waiting for them.

\- "We are surrounded ! What are we going to do !?" Cried Lucy, looking all around for a way to escape, imitated by the Riders.

\- "Why don't we simply beat the all ?!" Asked Ankh.

\- "There's way to many people ! And we won't be able to save anyone if we're dealing with two armies at the same time. We better get inside at fast !" Said Carla as she lead the way, everyone following her. Meanwhile, at a window, Faust was looking at all those Exceed approaching, not understanding what the hell was happening.

\- "Wh… What on Earth…"

\- "It appears that the Extalia Imperial Guard is attacking in pursuit of the Fallen ones !" Explained Coco, as always running back and forth in the hallway behind the kind, King who was looking at the sky with a frown, staying silent when suddenly.

\- "Invoke code ETD." His order made Coco stop dead in her track in shock but she transmitted the order anyway, a soldier running to the top of the castle, blowing in a horn, making flags rise all around the castle, which made all the generals look up in shock. Soon after, many spotlight were lit and pointed at the Exceeds, trapping them in some kind of forcefield, taking everyone by surprise, even the Earthlanders who looked at the scene in shock.

\- "What the… ?! What are they doing ?! I though the Exceed were like divine being too them !?" Said Emu, looking wide eyes at the scene as the forcefields began to crackle with energy.

\- "I don't really know what they're doing, but for now the best thing to do is take advantage of the chaos and ho save Wendy and Natsu !"

Agreeing with her, they all flew inside the building, not noticing that Edo-Erza noticed them fleeing the scene and following them with some guards. High in the sky, inside the sphere, Nichiya, struggling against the energy all around him was glaring at the humans.

\- "You damn humans… The Queen… Won't let this go quietly !"

And as soon as he said that, the sphere shrunk and the second after, it was replaced by a massive cat shaped Lachryma that came down crashing to the ground in the middle of the castle, right under the shocked soldiers.

\- "The Exceed turned into a Lachryma…" Said a soldier in shock.

\- "We've really gone and done it…" Said another.

\- "I…Is this really okay ?" Said a soldier, feeling the worse as they basically attacked their God's angels.

\- "There's no God in this world." Everybody looked up as the King just appeared on a balcony overlooking the court where all the soldiers were located. "It's only we humans who suffer with limited magical power. Meanwhile, the Exceed glory in the limitless magic. When that 'limitlessness' is this close, why can't we make use of it ? We've declared the end of this age of being ruled over ! This is all for the future of mankind ! In order to build an abundant, magical society ! My soldiers ! Let us rise up together ! I HEREBY INVOKE CODE 'ETD', THE PLAN TO DESTROY ALL ANGELS !"

After listening to this announcement, all the soldiers roared in approbation, cheering at the plan, the generals also happy that this was finally happening. The only one who wasn't okay with that was Panther Lily, who turned his back to the balcony to hide his angered face.

\- "So this is what the military buildup was for…" He seethed.

\- "If we steal the Exceed's magic, our nation can take hold of that infinite magical energy !" Said Faust, looking at the galvanized troop below him.

\- "Your Majesty ! The Queen will retaliate ! Extalia's military's might is extraordinary !" Stated Coco, stressed by the prospect of fighting against the Queen. But the King wasn't that worry.

\- "It was for this moment that we captured the Dragon slayers." He said. "This is our only chance to bring down the Gods. Hurry and extract the Dragon Slayer magic, Byro !"

In a corner of the hallway, Shadow Moon was looking at Faust, arms crossed and pretty happy with how the things were going for now. He then followed a stair heading downstairs, entering a room lit only by screen and tube filled with creatures, all connected to a constantly growing pile of bluish eggs. Shadow Moon wanted to see how the King's plan is going to turn out, as it could help them to get rid of the Riders, but even if it should fail, no matter what happen, in the end, they'll be the true winner.

 **Alright. It's done. I hope you liked it. Don't forget to review, follow and fav if you liked it. I'll read any kind of advice and question you might have for me. See ya !**

 **Next time : Back from the crystal. Erza vs Erza. A bomb to get rid of Extalia. Battle in the parc.**


	49. Chapter 49 : Earthland's counterattack

**Heya, everyone ! I'm back again with a new chapter for you. This time I got nothing to say, except that I hope that you'll like it ! Enjoy !**

 **EDIT : I made a mistake with the 'combo' used by Eiji, with Ptera and some non-purple medal and someone pointed out that it couldn't work as the purple cell medal negated the power of the others. So i did a quick change on that. Sorry for the inconvenience.**

 **Chapter 49 : Earthland's counterattack**

While outside, the Exceed just got turned into a massive Lachryma, with the king declaring war on the ones they until then saw as angels, the group consisting of Happy, Carla, Lucy, Ankh, Eiji and Emu were currently in the castle, running down a flight of stone stair, heading down to the underground, looking for the Dragon Slayers while listening to the loud noises coming from outside.

\- "Something big is going down." Stated Happy.

\- "To think the humans would go to war with the Exceeds…" Trailed off Lucy, her hands still tied, a frown on her face as she ran barefoot.

\- "Seems like that king have a much bigger plan than simply using our friends as some kind of power source." Stated Emu, back to his usual Level 2.

\- "It's got nothing to do with us." Reminded Carla, focused on the task at hands rather than the ongoing conflict. "It's not as though we're on either side… Let them do as they please."

Eiji nodded his head, running alongside them in TaToBa Combo, when he felt something coming from behind them. Instantly, he lunged at Lucy, successfully tackling her to the ground and out of the way as a spear with four jagged blades at the end of it plunged into the ground right where Lucy was standing a few seconds before.

\- "I won't let you pass this point." Said Edo-Erza as she walked down the stairs behind the group, followed by a whole platoon of soldiers.

\- "What a persistent woman…" Muttered Ankh. "I though more important things were happening up there ?!"

Edo-Erza's only answer to that was to smile as her spear began to shine, soon followed by an explosion that sent everyone to the ground. The Riders, who took less damages thanks to their armors, tried to get up to counterattack, but some Shockers Combatmen appeared among the soldiers, shooting at them and sending them back to the ground. As for the redhead, she was slowly walking to her weapon, a smirk on her face.

\- "Huh… Still alive after taking a hit from my magic, eh ?"

\- "AAAAAAAAAAAHH…." Suddenly, everything came to a stop as a cry filled with pain and suffering reached the Earthlanders who instantly recognized that voice, making their eyes go wide.

\- "That's Wendy's voice…" Began Lucy, looking up with a glare at Edo-Erza. "You… What are you doing to Wendy… ?"

\- "We're taking the magic we need for code ETD." Simply said the woman, absolutely not bothered by the shouts who kept coming, growing in intensity and pain, making the tears swell in Carla's eyes.

\- "S…Stop… Stop it, please ! GIVE WENDY BACK !"

\- "Don't worry about it." Said Edo-Erza as she lifted her spear, pointing it at Carla. "You're going to die here, anyway."

\- "I WON'T LET YOU TOUCH CARLA !" Shouted Happy, who suddenly appeared in front of his feline friend, arms outstretched to protect her, his eyes filled with determination. However, once the slight surprise had one by, the red haired knight smirked.

\- "Then, you first." She said, raising her weapon and was about to impale Happy when suddenly, her spear was stopped when something exploded behind her, among her soldiers. Looking back, she saw, much to her shock, that soldiers and Shockers Combatmen were flying all around, which also surprised the Riders, mage and Exceeds who didn't expected such a development. But when they heard the voices behind this ruckus, surprise and relief washed over them.

\- "Are they going to kill them, knowing they're from our guild ?" Said a voice.

\- "We never forgive those who'd raise a hand against members of our guild." Said another voice, feminine and the same as the one that threatened to kill Happy.

\- "If that's the case, then this makes you all our enemies." Said a third voice whose owner slowly appeared, a long spear in his hand.

\- "And this means that you will all pay for your crimes." Said the last one, a large gun in his hand and wearing some kind of cowboy hat.

\- "GRAY ! ERZA !" Shouted Lucy, tears of happiness and relief running down her face as she looked at the glaring mages in front of her.

\- "KOUTA ! TAKERU !" Also shouted Emu, looking at Kouta who was in Matsubokkuri Armor, spear in hand and Takeru, who was using the Billy the Kid Damashii, all walking toward them, with Edo-Erza shocked by their appearance, though mainly surprised by her doppelganger who was glaring at her.

\- "Wh…What !? There's another Erza-sama !?" Shouted one of the guard, taken aback by the sudden appearance of the second Erza. Another guard was looking at Gray, feeling the same.

\- "Is the other one Gray Surge ?!" He said before realizing who they truly were. "'No ! They are from Earthland !"

\- "Then the others two are probably Kamen Riders, then !"

\- "Where are our comrades ?" Asked Gray, who received no answer which wasn't something to do to him as he was now. "Where the hell are our friends who were turned into that Lachryma ? Well !?" He then unleashed a wave of ice at the guards, sending them flying as Edo-Erza, after jumping above the ice, dived at Gray, only to be intercepted by the other Erza, the two glaring at each other, the sheer strength of the two creating a shockwave that made the ground crack all around them, even making some cuts appear on their face. In the meantime, Takeru and Kouta were pushing the guards and Shocker soldiers away, clearing up the place, giving the other the time to get back up while in the background, Wendy's cries echoed in the hallway.

\- "Is that Wendy's voice ?!" Asked Takeru, turning to the other end of the hallway.

\- "We have to go down here and save her. Natsu is probably there too !" Said Emu when he noticed another platoon of guards and Combatmen heading this way. "But we can't go with all of those guys after us."

 _ **SOIYA ! DURIAN ARMS ! MISTER DANGEROUS !**_

\- "Then let me take care of them." Said Kouta as he stood in the middle of the hallway, his back turned to his friends. "I'm going to stay here with Erza ! We'll get back to you once we took care of them ! GO !"

\- "Alright ! Let's do this !" Said Gray while he was freezing Lucy's handcuffs, finally freeing her.

\- "How… How did you get here ?" Asked Lucy to the ice mage, who was already back on his feet, and running away.

\- "The details can wait ! Let's go !" They did just that and after a few seconds, only Erza and Kouta were left in the hallway, each facing their own opponents.

\- "To think I'd be getting in my own way…" Said Edo-Erza, looking at her double who was having the same thoughts.

\- "A strange feeling, to be sure." She admitted, sword in hand.

\- "I'm the commander of Edolas Kingdom's second magical warfare corps…" Said Edo-Erza, introducing herself while using her blood to draw to lines on her cheeks like some kind of war paint. "Erza Knightwalker."

\- "I'm Erza Scarlet, a mage of Fairy Tail."

\- "Then let's see what my Earthland self is made of." Smirked Knightwalker as her spear shone, once again changing shape.

 _ **SILFARION !**_

In an instant, she had sped past by Erza, who managed to parry the incoming attack with her sword despite the astonishing speed. However, she knew that she won't last long if she didn't do something to counter such a speed.

\- "She's fast !" She said, trying to keep up with her spear-welding counterpart. "Well, then…"

 _ **FLIGHT ARMOR !**_

In a flash of light, she had changed into her speed-based armor, running after Knightwalker who was surprised by what just happened. This slight distraction was exactly what Erza was looking for, slashing at her opponent legs. But Edo-Erza's reflexes were just as fast she jumped over the attack, her spear shining once again before pointing it at Erza.

 _ **MEL FORCE !**_

A vacuum wave then shot out of the spearhead, taking Erza by surprise and sending her crashing through two walls before stopping in the rubbles of the second one, looking up to look at Edo-Erza who was already mid-jump, holding her spear which was back to the same shape it was when she attacked Lucy and the others.

\- "She requipped ?!" Began Erza before correcting herself. "No… It's the shape of the weapon which changed !"

 _ **EXPLOSION !**_

Using all of her strength, Knightwalker smashed her spear on Erza, creating a massive explosion that engulfed the other redhead as well as lifting a massive cloud of smoke and dust that prevented Edo-Erza from looking at what was left of her opponent. But when the smoke cleared, she saw Erza with another armor on, almost untouched by the explosion as if it did nothing to her. Thaat's when she understood.

\- "So it's a magic that transform the armor and the weapon at the same time…"

\- "Looks like my Edolas self can only change the shape of her weapon." Said Erza, also understanding how her opponent's weapon worked.

\- "Beyond the shape of my spear, I can raise my body's battle power as well…" Added Knightwalker with a grin on her face, while Erza wasn't smiling at all, the situation not amusing at all for her.

\- "It would seem that even though the principle behind it is different, the result is the same as my use of 'the Knight'."

\- "The demonstration of the true power of Ten Commandments, my magical lance, begins now." Said Knightwalker, taking a fighting stance, imitated by Erza who was ready to go at it.

\- "Come !"

Back in the hallway, Kouta was still busy fighting off the wave of guards and Shocker soldiers, thought they weren't much of a challenge for him, leaving him the time to look at the other fight, seeing the two redhead facing each other, an uneasy smile on his face under his helmet.

 _"Erza vs Erza… and they look just as strong as the other… If this place is still in one piece after that fight… It would be a miracle."_

/- Back with the other -/

\- "The Lachryma in the plaza ?!"

While they were all running down to the basement to save Natsu and Wendy, the group listened to Gray and Takeru who were explaining where they were coming from since everyone was sure they were trapped inside the Lachryma. And that explanation began with the large chunk they saw back then.

\- "Yep. Apparently, this chunk was just us four." Said Takeru, which surprised the others.

\- "Given how big it was, I though there were more of our friends inside it." Admitted Emu while Lucy was agape.

\- "But how'd you return to normal ?" Asked Happy, probably the best question to ask right now.

\- "Gajeel and Haruto came." Simply said Gray, making them all gasp in shock before realizing that it made sense.

\- "That's right… Gajeel's a Dragon Slayer too, so the anime wouldn't have worked on him, just like it didn't worked on Natsu and Wendy." Realized Lucy.

\- "But what about Haruto ?" Asked Emu. "I thought I survived the Anima because I had no real power in me so he should have been sucked inside the Lachryma too."

\- "From what he told us, WizarDragon felt that something was wrong and he used Connect to get out of the town just in time." Explained Takeru. "When he saw that the town had disappeared, he looked for Gajeel and he finally found us a few minutes after seeing three things shooting toward the sky." Happy, Carla and Emu realized he was talking about them when Yurusen suddenly popped out of nowhere.

\- "And after that, that Mystogan guy sent everyone here."

\- "Why would he send Gajeel and Haruto without coming himself ?" Asked Eiji, curious as to why that man, who was a member of the guild, didn't came to help.

\- "Dunno. But it seems that Dragon Slayer Magic serves various purposes in this world." Explained Gray. "One of which is turning those who've been turned into Lachryma back to normal." This made everyone gasp as they realized what that meant. They had a way to free everyone.

\- "We… We know where the Lachryma that everyone's trapped in is !" Exclaimed Happy, making Gray and Takeru stop in their tracks.

\- "For real, Happy !?" Asked the ice mage. "Gajeel and Haruto are tearing up the city looking for that giant Lachryma right now !"

\- "Well, Gajeel's doing the tearing up, Haruto is just following and helping him to locate the Lachryma." Corrected Takeru. "Happy, can you go and take them to where the Lachryma is ?"

\- "Gajeel should be able to turn the Lachryma back, right ?" Re-asked Happy, making Yurusen float in front of him.

\- "Well, the pink hair and the little girl should be able to, but they might not know how to do it. And besides, they aren't really able to do much for now, hihihi !"

\- "Yurusen !" Scolded Takeru, annoyed by the ghost laid back attitude as Happy unfolded his wings.

\- "Got it ! I'll take them both there !" He said before flying through a window, ignoring Lucy's shouts.

\- "Ankh. Go with him." Asked Eiji, which made the floating hand groan.

\- "do I really have to ? What a pain…" He kept grumbling as he disappeared, following after Happy and leaving the others behind.

\- "Wait ! Will you be okay, Happy ?!"

\- "He'll be fine." Instantly said Carla, her newfound trust into the blue cat showing before she turned on her heels and ran down the stairs. "As for us, we've got to hurry up and find Natsu and Wendy !" They ran down the last few steps and arrived in front of a door which Gray opened with one strong kick, finding Wendy and Natsu behind it, though not how they wanted to. They were both out cold, laying against two large slabs of stone which were covered with strange engraving.

\- "Holy… Are you alright ?!" shouted Gray as they all run to their friends, the ice mage, Carla and Emu heading to Wendy, kneeling next to her and laying her better on the ground. "Get it together !"

\- "Natsu ! Wake up !" Cried Lucy, holding Natsu close with Takeru and Eiji next to her.

\- "They are both unconscious." Said Emu after checking their pulse, which reassured everyone at least a little. "They are weak but alive, at least."

\- "Let's try having them take Exballs." Suddenly said Gray, taking a pill out of a glass bottle and throwing another one to Takeru. "Hey ! Open your mouth !"

\- "What's that ?" Asked Lucy, looking at the bottle of pills.

\- "We got them from Gajeel." Explained Ghost, putting a pill inside Natsu's mouth, forcing him to swallow it. "It's a medicine to allow you to use magic in this world."

\- "Come to think of it…" Lucy suddenly felt pretty stupid as she remembered something. "I think he did have me swallow something."

\- "And you couldn't remember this before ?" Emu found it pretty surprising that she could have forgotten that she was asked to swallow a pill from someone like Mystogan. Suddenly, Natsu began to cough and roll on the ground, clutching his belly in what seemed to be pain. As the others wondered if he was alright, he slammed a fist on the ground, slowly looking up with fury in his eyes.

\- "If we don't stop them…"

\- "Stop them ? Who and why ?" Asked Eiji, only to be forced to take a step back as Natsu suddenly roared, fire coming out of his mouth before getting up and suddenly running out of the room and up the stairs, shouting along the way.

\- "What the hell is his problem ?" Wondered Ankh, looking at the running mage before heading back inside when he heard Wendy coughing, also coming back to her senses.

\- "Wendy !" Shouted Carla, getting closer to the young mage whose eyes instantly fell on her.

\- "Carla… You're alright…" she ten slowly got up, looking around at all the familiar faces. "Everyone… Where is Natsu ?"

\- "He suddenly ran out of the room while shouting something about stopping them." Said Emu, helping Wendy to sit up. "Do you know why he reacted like that ?"

\- "Yes… I know…" She said slowly, her eyes filling with tears. "In order to destroy Extalia… The Royal Army… Is going to crash the giant Lachryma into it…" The news made all eyes go wide in shock and horror. "They're going to use our friends as a bomb !"

\- "… Now this is something I wasn't expecting." Slowly said Takeru, his eyes wide. "But how are they going to do that, exactly ?"

\- "There's a floating island suspended mid-air above Edolas." Explained Lucy to Takeru and Gray who weren't completely aware of the situation. "It looks like it's Extalia's magical energy that keeps it in the air. I read that it preserves the balance of this world's magic."

\- "So our friends who were turned into Lachryma are also on that floating island, huh ?" Said Gray

\- "Right next to Extalia." Added Carla, looking down in fear of what might happen. "Currently, the Lachryma and Extalia are floating in the sky directly above our position in the royal city."

\- "The process speeds up on the floating Island as Dragon Slayer Magic becomes more potent." Explained Wendy, looking down at the ground. "Their aim is to crash into Extalia."

\- "What're they trying to do ? Get rid of the Exceeds ?"

\- "It's not just that." Cut Emu, grabbing everyone's attention. "Apparently, the king want to have an infinite amount of magic. I have the feeling this is exactly why he want to make the Lachryma crash into Extalia."

\- "Yeah. The collision of the magical energies of Extalia and Fairy Tail forces them to split and fuse together." Confirmed Wendy. "And then 'Eternal Magic will rain down upon this nation'…"

\- "If that happens, the guild members…"

\- "They'll disappear !" Said Gray, finishing Lucy's sentence, fearing for their friends. Soon after that, shouting could be heard coming from the stairs leading to the room they were in, growing in intensity, like a troop coming for them.

\- "Someone's coming !" Stated Carla.

\- "The enemy ?" Wondered Takeru, hands reaching for his weapon when the one shouting like a madman appeared at the door, which was none other than Natsu who looked like he had seen a ghost.

\- "It's Natsu !" Shouted Gray, realizing he got worried for nothing.

\- "There are two Erzas !" Cried the Dragon Slayer, holding his head in his hands. "What's up with that ?! some kind of monster tournament ?! is the world going to end ?!" Suddenly, he came to a stop when he noticed Gray who was looking at him, suddenly rushing at him. "THAT'S GRAY RIGHT THERE ?!" And that's when he noticed Takeru. "And Eiji and Takeru are also there !?"

\- "Won't shut up and can't calm down – Guess this is the real one." Calmly said Gray.

\- "This is the Earthland… The gray we both know." Reassured Lucy, which only shocked Natsu more apparently.

\- "A lot of things happened and now Erza, Gajeel, Kouta, Haruto, Takeru and I are here." Explained Gray to a surprised Natsu.

\- "Happy went to stop them from dropping the Lachryma." Added Takeru and apparently, that's when Wendy noticed something.

\- "Ah… that's true… Gray and Takeru are here too…" Only now noticing them, which seemed to hurt the ice mage.

\- "What's that ? The sunlight must be weaker underground, seeing how my shadow's so faint. I feel like a ghost."

\- "I don't see where's the problem with that." Commented Takeru, not embarrassed by the situation, Gray glancing at him with a slight glare while Eiji simply laughed at the situation.

\- "Could it be that you guys came to help us ?" Realized Natsu, his brain lag only now realizing what their presence could mean.

\- "O…One things I have to say before we do anything else… Th…Thank you !" Said Wendy with a deep bow before kneeling next to Carla and hugging her close with a happy smile. "I knew Carla would come save us. Thank you." Carla said nothing, though she didn't felt like she deserved those thanks.

\- "All right ! Preparation complete !" Said Natsu, looking determined. "We're going to look for the King and stop them from crashing the Lachryma !" As he said that, he rushed out of the room with Gray, Lucy, Takeru and Eiji following him, leaving Wendy with Carla and Emu behind, the Dragon Slayer making sure to head in a direction different than the one leading toward what Natsu called the 'pair of monsters'. As for Wendy, she had something else she wanted to do.

\- "Carla, let's head to Extalia."

\- "Wh… Why ?" Asked the Exceed, shocked by her decision, Emu also confused, wondering what she wanted to do there.

\- "We've got to tell them about the Royal Army's attack and evacuate them." Emu nodded, understanding her, but Carla seemed to don't see why she wanted to do that.

\- "Weren't we going to stop that attack ?!" She shouted at Wendy, who looked hurt that she could think she didn't wanted to stop the attack.

\- "Of course we are ! We're definitely doing to ! I believe in Natsu and the others !"

\- "If you really believe in them, then why aren't you…"

\- "Carla, we know nothing about the other weapons the Royal Army might have." Jumped in Emu. "We have to prepare ourselves for the worst-case scenario, one thing we can do it to let them know the danger they're in."

\- "No !" Shouted Carla, looking slightly afraid. "I don't want to go back there ! I… I don't care what happens to the Exceed."

\- "It's not about whether we're human or Exceed." Said Wendy, squatting down in front of her friend. "As living creatures… I think we can do something to help." As she said that, she made Carla remember of this couple who welcomed and helped them back in Extalia. "I'll be right here the whole time." Wendy said with a reassuring smile. "Don't be afraid !"

\- "She's right." Added Emu. "I know I had some pretty harsh word back then, but in the end, you were played just as much as us so I'm sorry for what I said." This made Carla smile a little, not really blaming him anymore. "Now, we better head to Extalia and warn them all about what might happen."

\- "… All right." Finally agreed Carla, looking ready to go. "Let's go ! We don't have any time to waste !"

/- Meanwhile, in the middle of the town -/

 _ **BIG, PLEASE !**_

 _ **IRON DRAGON'S CLUB !**_

While two Erzas were fighting in the castle, with Kouta taking care of what seemed to be an everlasting wave of enemies, another fight was currently going on in the city, many soldiers being sent flying by a gigantic black hand and by a large iron pole, both coming from two peoples who, just like Wendy and Natsu, managed to escape the absorption of Magnolia. Haruto and Gajeel were side by side, pushing back any soldiers that came at them with ease, though they were also starting to feel annoyed as they had yet to found what they were looking for.

\- "Tch. Where the hell is that fricking Lachryma ?!" Growled Gajeel, swinging his iron arm at the soldiers once again, sending another group flying.

\- "I have to say that this is pretty annoying." Admitted Haruto while using Bind to wrapped the soldiers with iron chains, thanks to his Land Style. "I mean, given the size of the one which trapped Erza, Gray, Kouta and Takeru, the other one must be huge. How is it possible that we can't even see it ?"

The two knew they were in need of some help if they wanted to found the Lachryma and free everyone before it's too late. And luckily, they did received help, in the shape of a flying blue cat who was coming at them like a missile, alongside a red arm.

\- "GAJEEL ! HARUTO !"

\- "Huh ? Happy ? Ankh ?" Said Haruto, surprised by the Exceed sudden appearance.

\- "Cat ! You're safe !" Added Gajeel while knocking out a guard without even looking at him, the Dragon Slayer noticing the floating arm next to him. "The hell is that ?"

\- "Who I am doesn't matte !" Snapped Ankh. "There's more pressing matter, isn't it ?"

\- "I know where the Lachryma is !" Suddenly said Happy, making the two others widen their eyes. "I'll guide you there !"

\- "And where is it ?" Asked Haruto while slashing at a few soldiers.

\- "On a floating island, just above the city !"

\- "I see. Then take Gajeel with you, I'll follow you." Said Haruto as he pushed away the guards who were on him while Happy agreed and immediately went to grab Gajeel.

 _ **HURRICANE, DRAGON ! BYU-BYU, BYU-BYU-BYU-BYU !**_

 _ **SPECIAL, PLEASE !**_

\- "Wh… Hey ! Don't grab me like that !" Seethed Gajeel while Happy began his ascension, followed closely by Ankh and Haruto, the latter using the Drago Wings to fly after them. As for Happy, he didn't took notice of Gajeel's remark and immediately asked a question.

\- "Hey, how do you change everyone back to their original forms ?" This made Gajeel grin as he turned around to glance at the feline.

\- "I smash the Lachryma with Dragon Slayer Magic." Apparently, Happy wasn't expecting this kind of answer judging by his face.

\- "That… Will that really work ?"

\- "I was sceptic at first, but it did worked well the first time, so…" Explained Haruto, understanding that Happy could find this method a bit weird. "He just did what Mystogan told him to do."

\- "Speaking of him, why isn't Mystogan here, anyway ?" Asked the Exceed, Haruto simply shrugging his shoulder while Gajeel was more vocal.

\- "The hell would I know !"

After a few minutes, they finally reached the floating island that was mostly occupied by the Lachryma they were looking for. Landing on the side of the island, the four of them looked up at the Lachryma which was almost as big as the castle below them.

\- "So this is the Lachryma, huh ?" Began Ankh, looking at the Lachryma.

\- "Wow… It's huge…" Said Happy, amazed by the sheer side of it. "It's a lot bigger than I thought it would be."

\- "Its size is understandable." Commented Haruto. "After all, even without the one who are already outside, there's a lot of powerful mage in it. It was bound to be massive."

\- "Hell, what a troublesome guild." Said Gajeel with a sigh while stretching his arms. "When we get back, I'm eating all the iron I want !"

\- "You can do it, Gajeel !"

But just as Happy had said that, they were all send to the ground as it almost literally exploded under them, due to a massive sword that passed through the ground. While still in midair, they all managed to look at the one who just attacked them, finding none other than a flying anthropomorphic feline wielding a huge sword, the handle already as long as he was tall.

\- "Who the fuck was that ?" Shouted Gajeel while Happy realized that he already saw that guy before.

\- "This guy ! He is…"

\- "I am the captain of the Royal Army's 1st Magical war division, Panther Lily !" Said Lily, introducing himself. "This Lachryma is the most important piece of our current plans. I won't let you have it."

\- "He has wings ?"noticed Haruto, Happy just as surprised as he was. "Can it be… is he an Exceed ?!"

\- "Stay back, Cat !"

 _ **IRON DRAGON'S SWORD !**_

Gajeel changed his arm into a large sword that he swung at his opponent who, despite the size of his weapon and his own, managed to dodge pretty easily the blade and swinging his own blade down at Gajeel. But Haruto jumped in, literally, kicking the sword to the side, making it slice a large chunk of the island but without touching neither Gajeel nor Happy, though the cat was sent flying by the shockwave made by the sword crashing against the stone.

\- "To wield such a blade around… you must be pretty strong." Admitted Haruto, landing next to Gajeel who was boring into Panther Lily with his red eyes.

\- "Indeed, I am strong." Said Panther, not a single smile on his face. "Did you actually think that you could beat me ?"

\- "We won't know if we don't try." Said Haruto, Gajeel nodding next to him, a smirk on his lips. "Well, then. It's showtime !"

/- Lucy's group -/

While Happy, Haruto and Gajeel were confronted by Panther Lily, Lucy's group was still running around the palace, trying to find where the kind could be. But they had yet to found anything useful.

\- "So where the hell is this King guy ?!" Asked Natsu, already tired of looking around for that old man.

\- "He's a King, so he'd be in some important looking place, right ?" Theorized Gray, the fire mage instantly shoving his forehead against his.

\- "And where's this so-called 'important looking place', then ?"

\- "Like I'd friggin' know ! This is the first time I've been in a palace, same as you !"

\- "Can you both stop acting like kids for at least a few minutes, please ?" Asked Eiji, tired of seeing those two bicker all the time. "And it won't be easy to found where the King is. The layout is pretty confusing here : I mean, unlike a normal palace, they put the prison in a high place instead of the usual underground dungeons."

\- "Assuming this is a concentric type fortress…" Began Lucy, rubbing her chin as she thought about the palace's layout. "… There should be something like a castle tower. Even their general castle structures are different from Earthland's, so I can't even make the slightest guess."

\- "What the hell are you talking about, Lucy ?" Wondered Natsu, completely lost by what she just said.

\- "Simply said, this building's layout is completely messed up." Resumed Takeru. "There's no way to tell where is what."

\- "Yep." Sighed Lucy, looking down. "As this goes, I wouldn't be surprised if there was an amusement park in the castle." She was so lost in her thought that she didn't realized that the boys had stopped, making her slam into Natsu. "Wha.. what happened ?" She asked to the four awestruck boys before looking up at what made them react like this, only to be awestruck as well, shrieking as she realized what was in front of them. "EHHHHHHHHHHHHH!? There's really… an amusement park !?"

Indeed, just like she theorized without truly believing it could be possible, they had somehow landed in front of an amusement park called E-Land. The large arch-like door towered above them, with flashing blue, red and yellow light shining from the inside, where they could already see many attractions like roller-coaster, ferris wheel and even a giant castle taking most of the middle of the park.

\- "I have to say that I wasn't expecting to find an amusement park in a place like that." Said Takeru, looking at the large entrance.

\- "Now, the question is : is it a real amusement park, or does it serve another purpose ?" Eiji's question was pretty coherent, even though not everyone was listening to it.

\- "Hey… Is it okay to look for the King in here ?" Asked Natsu, whose wide eyes and happy smile was more akin to a kid than a man looking for someone.

\- "I can tell just by looking at you that you just want to go in to play." Said Gray, sweat dropping.

\- "Whether we want it or not, I have the feeling we have to go inside if we want to found the King." Said Takeru. "After all, who would look for a King in an amusement park ?"

Agreeing with this, they all entered the park cautiously just in case, looking all around in case they weren't alone. And indeed, they weren't, noticing it when they turned to look at a carousel which suddenly began to work, an armored man sitting on one of the horse.

\- "Mmmmm. This is fun." Said Sugarboy as he passed by, the Riders and Mages looking at him laugh and have fun, not knowing if they should be worried or not when suddenly, a massive boat, which was a part of another attraction, began to move around, making the group jump away just in case, though there were no need to be afraid as the boat was simply rocking back and forth, a man standing on top of the bow.

\- "You know, all this fun magic is gonna be disappearing from this world really soon." Began Hughes, looking down at the group who glared back at him. "Do you guys know how that makes me feel ?"

\- "We're going to obtain magic that lasts forever, no matter how we have to get it." Said Sugarboy, his face shadowed by his determination, which reflected on Hughes', whose joviality had disappeared.

\- "I must have it. And I won't let anyone get in my way."

\- "Well, we're sorry to tell you, but we have no desire to let you destroy our friends." Stated Takeru, a scowl on his face under his helmet. "Life isn't something that can be sacrificed, no matter what."

\- "I see… So will you return to prison or will you die here ?" Asked Sugarboy, has if he never listened to the Rider.

\- "Sugarboy, there's no need to give them a choice." Said Hughes which a sneer, getting up and grabbing a small wand. "The extraction of the Dragon Magic is complete. Once code ETD succeeds, we won't have any further use for the Dragon Slayers. We'll kill these otherworlders who don't know the value of magic, right here."

With that being said, he waved his wand and suddenly, the boat stopped his rocking and got out of the attraction it originally belonged to, heading directly at the group who could only stare as a massive ship was falling toward them. The boat then crashed onto them, the bow of the boat ending up being compressed like a soda can, which intrigued Hughes, not understanding what happened as the sheer weight of the boat should have been enough to make it go much further. But as the smoke fell down, he discovered what happened. The boat had been caught and stopped by a man wearing a massive grey colored armor with what seemed to be a rhino horn on his head, gorilla like arms and large feet.

\- "We may not know the value of magic in this world, but you clearly are the same when it comes to the value of life." Said Eiji, throwing the boat to the side as if it had been nothing more than a model made of Styrofoam. "I'm sorry for the fact that your world is losing its magic, but it doesn't give you the right to do what you're planning to do !"

\- "So this is a Kamen Rider, huh ?" Said Hughes to himself, as he never saw it in action before. "It is pretty impressive."

While he was busy admiring Eiji, he failed to notice Natsu who had wrapped his legs in flames, using its explosive fire to shot from the ground and straight at Hughes, throwing a strong fiery punch to his face, sending him crashing down to the ground.

\- "Give us back our comrades !" Ordered Salamander, Hughes still grinning despite the punch he received.

\- "Your friends will be fused with Extalia's magical power and become an eternal source of magical power." Simply said Hughes as he twirled his wand, a roller-coaster car following the rails he was on, heading straight at Natsu who was on said tracks.

\- "Natsu ! Behind you !" Tried to warn Lucy, taking a step only to realized that she had stepped into something pretty soft, taking a few seconds to notice that the soft things was the ground and that she and the others were slowly sinking in it. "Wh… What the heck is this ?!" Shouted Lucy, not expecting this kind of thing.

\- "The ground… it's like quicksand !" Said Eiji, looking at Sugarboy who was smirking at them. Meanwhile, Natsu managed to dodge the roller-coaster thanks to Lucy's warning by jumping above it. However, faster than it should have been, the car caught up with him and despite his best effort, Natsu landed in it, stuck as the attraction began to do loops after loops.

\- "My weapon, Command Tact, can freely move any attraction here." Explained Hughes as he made circle motions with the wands. "Hell's coaster can run at 10 times its normal speed under the influence of magic. No matter who it is, after riding it for just 5 minutes…" Hughes would have gladly added that anyone would have felt sick if he hadn't noticed that Natsu was already more than green with his eyes revulsed, which made him laugh. "What ?! It hasn't even been 10 seconds ! what the hell's up with this guy… He's super weak ! HAHAHAHA… huh ?" He stopped laughing when he noticed that he was now under a massive shadow that came out of nowhere, making him lift his head, only for his eyes to bulge out of his head as he realized that what was left of the boat was now looming over him. "WHAT THE HELL !?" The boat then suddenly fell, which made Hughes forget Natsu for a moment to use his Command Tact on the boat to avoid being crushed under it, stopping it in mid-air. However, he then had no way to protect himself from the powerful punch coming from Takeru, the Newton Damashi active, the repulsion of his right hand.

\- "I'd advise you not to judge Natsu too quickly." Said Takeru to a rising Hughes. "His really weak with vehicle, but let's be honest : against him, you don't stand a chance."

\- "Excuse me ?! Are you saying that I am weak ? I didn't became a captain for nothing !" Growled Hughes, not liking to be looked down like that.

\- "Then come and show me. I'm waiting."

While Takeru was facing Hughes, the roller-coaster was stuck in a perpetual loop, rendering Natsu useless, which the one stuck in the 'quicksand' didn't failed to notice.

\- "That's not good…" Said Gray, looking at the car where Natsu was currently stuck. "Lucy ! GO and drag Natsu off that thing ! Eiji and I we'll stay here and take care of the other one !"

\- "But… How am I supposed to do that ? I'm stuck here with you in case you forgot !" Said Lucy, not seeing how she could go and help Natsu with her legs stuck in the ground.

\- "I can help with that." Simply said Eiji, grabbing Lucy's arms with his two massive hands, much to Lucy's confusion. "I'm sorry for what I'm about to do, but this is the only way."

\- "Wait… You couldn't be…" Lucy was starting to understand what Eiji was planning a little bit too late, Eiji already pulling on her arms and pulling her out of the ground thanks to his enhanced strength.

\- "Get over there !" In an instant, Lucy was not only completely pulled out of the ground but also flying away toward the roller-coaster.

\- "KYAAAAAAAH !" Was all she could she say as she flew toward their fiery friend, ignoring the noises coming from Hughes and Takeru who were still fighting, the Rider realizing he would have ended this much sooner if he wasn't too busy dealing with every single object in this park that attacked him every time Hughes waved his wand. In the end, Lucy managed to get onboard the attraction, now making her way to the first car while Eiji and Gray both manage to get out of the ground.

 _ **ICE MAKE : GRAPPLING HOOK !**_

 _ **SAI ! UNAGI ! BATTA !**_

Gray used two ice made grappling hook to pull himself out of the ground, followed closely by Eiji who used the kicking power of the grasshopper to force his way out of the softened ground, the Rider immediately landing while the ice mage stayed in midair, the two of them looking at Sugarboy who was walking toward them, a smile on his face.

\- "If you had that kind of magic and powers, couldn't you have gone to save your friend yourself ?"

\- "But then who'd kick your ass ?" Simply said Gray, letting go of the hooks to attack.

 _ **ICE MAKE : DEATH SCYTHE !**_

Just like the name suggested, Gray created and swung a large scythe made of ice at Sugarboy, who didn't seemed that worried as he simply raised his sword, the ice softening as soon as it touched it, becoming like jelly, much to the ice mage and the Rider shock.

\- "Cold… This is ice magic, right ?" Said Sugarboy as the liquid ice fell on his body, not bothering at all. "It seems that I have the advantage. This magical weapon, Rosa Espada, can make anything soft and limp. Too bad, too bad, hmmm…"

Gray seethed, realizing that it would be much more complicated to fight against someone who could make his ice limp at will. But he seemed to forgot that he wasn't alone, which he got reminded when a white whip, crackling with electricity, hit the ground right where Sugarboy was standing, sending the captain to the ground in surprise, not expecting the attack.

\- "Hey, why are you looking so down ?" Asked Eiji to Gray who looked at him in confusion. "What if that guy can softened your ice ? Is it like a Fairy Tail mage to just give up when facing an obstacle ?" This made Gray grin as he turned toward their opponent who had the same smile on his face.

\- "No, it's not." Admitted Gray. "Let's take that guy out."

Meanwhile, Takeru was still busy trying to get to Hughes, the keyword being trying as he had yet to truly reach his opponent. Not only was he faster than he looked, he also spent his time throwing anything this park had to offer at him, constantly pushing him back. Right now, he was using Benkei's power to fight against the carousel horses which had left the attraction and were now all rushing toward him.

\- "You are one tough nut to crack, but you won't be able to hold much longer !" Warned Hughes. "I have this whole park under my control. There's nothing you can do to win !"

 _ **BENKEI ! OMEGA DRIVE !**_

As if to prove him wrong, Takeru slammed his weapon on the ground, creating energy constructs shaped like weapon which he then unleashed on the group of wooden horses, destroying them all at once much to Hughes shock. Takeru though he had the perfect opportunity to finish it all, but when he dived at Hughes, his hammer lifted above his head, Hughes made a sudden movement with his wand and a bumper car from a nearby attraction came out of nowhere and slammed into him, sending in a pool nearby, the Rider crashing into it with a huge splash. Hughes took this time to breath before looking up at the roller coaster who was still stuck in its loop, with Lucy now next to Natsu, trying to free him with all of her strength.

\- "Natsu ! Get it together !" She asked, pulling as hard she can. "What the hell is this, it won't come off !"

With a single movement of his wrist, Hughes changed the way the track was positioned, sending the car crashing into the water but not randomly. Indeed, Natsu and Lucy ended up crashing into Takeru, who was just getting up, sending him back into the water, the group noticing a single flash before disappearing in the water in a huge splash that send water all the way to Hughes who laughing like a madman.

\- "HAHAHAHAHAHA ! Look at this !" He then pointed to a screen, showing that the flash was in fact due to a photo being taken right when they were about to crash, showing Lucy's frightened face and tearful eyes, holding onto a half-passed out Natsu for dear life, with the upper part of Takeru's face showing the photo taken at the exact moment when they collided into him.

\- "Thank God it stopped…" Muttered Natsu who was slowly coming back to life.

\- "… I'm gonna kill that guy." Seethed Takeru, Gan Gun Saber in Hammer mode in hand, covered in water.

\- "How thoughtful of you…" Hissed Lucy to Hughes, only now noticing that she was sitting in a pool, making her realize that she could end this pretty quickly. As for Hughes, he was feeling pretty good.

\- "Haha ! Awesome, right ? This is Edolas Magic." He said with pride. "They say this brilliant magic will soon run out. Unthinkable isn't it ?"

\- "You're running out of magic and yet you've got a whole amusement park running thanks to magic." Said Takeru. "Magic that could be used by everyone to live a better live. You clearly have no sense of priority."

\- "That's why you're killing them ?" Suddenly said Natsu as he got out of the roller-coaster. Grabbing Hughes attention. "You're killing our comrades and the Exceed for your own selfish reasons ?"

\- "That's right." Confirmed Hughes without an once of shame. "They're sacrifices in order to get our hands on infinite magical power."

\- "STOP FUCKING AROUND !" Shouted Natsu and Takeru at the exact same time, their anger reaching a peak as they approach the man with arrow-shaped eyebrows, Natsu being the first to continue. "My comrades are alive right now ! The Exceed are alive too ! Whether they've got magic or not, the important thing is that they're alive !"

\- "All lives are sacred ! They aren't to be sacrificed for any reason and certainly not when they are so selfish !" Added Takeru, the Toucon Eyecon clutched in his hand. "As long as we're here, we'll never let you do as you please !"

\- "THESE ARE LIVES, DAMMIT !" They ended up altogether, Natsu aflame and Takeru grabbing the Eyecon so tight he was starting to wonder how it was still in one piece.

\- "Natsu ! Takeru ! Stand back !" The two boys stopped when Lucy called them, both taking a step back when they saw they shining key in her hand, which she then plunged into the water.

 _ **OPEN THE DOOR TO THE WATER BEARER : AQUARIUS !**_

\- "It's up to you !" Shouted Lucy to the mermaid who, this time, didn't try to contest the order, already mid-swing, her urn in her hands when suddenly, the water all around them began to move around like some kind of fountain, which made the spirit widen her eyes.

\- "What's wrong, Aquarius ?!"

\- "The water… I can't control the water !" The Stellar Spirit was frozen in shock, just like every body else, as they had a hard time believing that this wand could overwrite the control Aquarius normally had on water.

\- "I told you, didn't I ?" Said Hughes with a sinister grin. "In this amusement park, I can use anything as a weapon."

And as the others could do nothing else but stare at Hughes, the water that had rose around them fell and engulfed them all in a loud splash and a few seconds later, the pool was empty, except for a bumper car and a roller-coaster car laying in the middle of it, the mages and Rider completely gone.

Meanwhile, back inside the castle, two things happened at the same time. In a dungeon, a guard was running down the stair, entering a large dark room where stood Shadow Moon, standing in front of a container.

\- "Sir, we have a problem !" Said the soldier, making the armored man turn around. "The otherworlders and their friends Rider escaped ! They are surely already trying to look for a way to stop our plan !"

\- "Tch, those guys sure are persistent." Seethed Shadow Moon, now walking toward a few container on the side, each filled with a strange humanoid being. "If they want to fight, then let's give them something to fight. They might just be the prototype, but it should be more than enough." As he said that, the humanoid's eyes lit up as their head began moving. "Let the hunt begin."

At the same time, in a room much higher in the castle, the king was alone in a room, facing an altar of some sort, with a few candles alight on candelabrum when Byro, the little old man entered the room.

\- "Your Majesty… All the preparations have been made. This is the final phase of Code ETD."

\- "So it is." Answered the King, his hands joined in some sort of prayers, a deep scowl on his face. "Farewell, ye gods."

 **A little bit shorter than usual, but I think it is not that bad. Don't forget to review, fav and follow to let me know you liked it and let me know if you have a question or even a few ideas. See ya !**

 **Next time : Last minute change of heart. A new kind of Hybrid. The ice from another era.**


	50. Chapter 50 : Salvation, chaos and 1 key

**And here we are : the 50** **th** **chapter of this fic ! I wanted to thank you all for the support. For all the ideas you gave me and for following this story for all this time. It really is an awesome adventure and I hope you'll like it up to the end ! Anyway, enough chit-chat, let's go**

 **Chapter 50 : One key for salvation and chaos**

Time was a precious resource for anyone, but right now, it was starting to miss for the mages and Riders of Earthland. Right now, a lot of things were happening. Erza was fighting her doppelganger with Kouta taking down a large portion of the Edolas Royal Army who was fighting alongside Shocker, Haruto, Gajeel, Happy and Ankh were trying to free their friends while taking care at the same time of Panther Lily, Wendy, Emu and Carla were off to Extalia to try and ask the Exceed to leave to avoid being destroyed in case they failed to stop the collision from happening and the rest, Lucy, Natsu, Grey, Takeru and Eiji were in an amusement park, fighting against the two other captain of the Royal Guard. Truth to be told, even despite their best effort, they were bound to fail unless something happened that hindered the king's project. And that's why we'll focus on what was currently happening at the castle, where Faust was standing with Byro, his chief of staff, and Shadow Moon, the three of them looking at a massive cannon shaped like a dragon head, covered in cable that came from everywhere.

\- "The magical energy we drew out of the Dragon Slayers… Think of it as a giant 'chain' to keep the floating island under our control." Began Byro, explaining how the cannon worked to the king and Shadow Moon. "After which all you will have to do is crash the floating island you have control over, the one with the Lachryma, into the country of the cats. With that, there will be fusion of the magical energies and the kingdom will overflow with infinite magic."

\- "Very well. But what about those Riders that are stuck inside ?" Asked the King, turning to Shadow Moon this time, expecting a reassuring answer.

\- "Well, to be honest, I don't know if they'll survive the crash or not." Admitted the armored man, not sounding worried. "But even if they aren't, they won't be able to defend themselves against your army and what I have in store for them. Beside, I'm pretty sure it won't have any repercussion on the fusion of the magical energy." Faust nodded, apparently reassured, as Byro took out a large red and black key with a dragon head on it, showing it to the king.

\- "Take this, your Highness. The key to activating the cannon."

\- "Your Majesty ! Please wait !" As the king was about to grab the key, Coco ran to them, a worried look on her face as she stopped next to them. Shadow Moon simply raised an eyebrow at her while Byro seemed more than annoyed.

\- "Coco ! I distinctly remember telling you not to be running in front of his Majesty…"

\- "Lily is on the island with the Lachryma !" She warned, looking at Faust who glared at her. "If we initiate the plan now, Lily is going to die too !"

\- "And what of it ?" Coldly replied the old man, Coco's eyes widening at his lack of care.

\- "He… He's one of us…" She timidly said.

\- "Coco ! The ones who have to sacrifice the most for the sake of the big picture are the authorities !" Reminded Byro, just as uncaring for Lily than the King.

\- "But… I don't want Lily to die ! I don't care how the rest of the plan goes ! I don't want him to die !" And as soon as she said that, she did something no one expected : she grabbed the key from Byro and ran toward the exit, much to the old little man shock.

\- "COCO !" Shouted the king, pointing his staff at her, a lightning bolt shooting our of it and striking Coco's feet, making her fall to the ground in pain. "You've always loved to run. I have always loved to see you run about, full of energy." He then zapped her feet once again, not a single trace of compassion in his voice. "Give me the key." However, Coco, despite the pain and the fear, did what she was the best at : running. She stood up and ran, the King feeling his fury growing as he turned to Byro. "Byro ! After her ! This instant !"

\- "Y…Yes !" With that, the old man ran after Coco, the King then turning around to look at Shadow Moon. "Is your little project completely done ?"

\- "Well, they still need a little bit of work, but I have a few working prototype. Why ?"

\- "Send some after her. I want that key back no matter what." Ordered the King.

\- "And by 'no matter what', do you mean what I think you mean ?"

\- "No. Matter. What !" Repeated the King slowly through his teeth, Shadow Moon nodding as he pressed two button on a remote.

\- "Very well then." He said as back down in his lab, two humanoid creature came to life, eyes shining red as they stepped off their pedestal. "Let the hunt begin, then."

Not knowing that she was now chased not by one but three persons, Coco kept running, blood spurting out of her legs at each step she took, holding the key firmly in her hands, tears running down her face. She may want the eternal magic just as much as anyone else here, but she didn't wanted her friend to die. She might not realize it right now, but what she just did gave the otherworlders exactly what they needed : time, as well as the hope that their friends could be saved, now in the hand of a little girl who had the power to either spread chaos or save lives.

/- Meanwhile -/

The last time we looked at the amusement park, we saw Takeru, Lucy and Natsu disappearing into a pool while facing Hughes. Now, it was time for them to reappear in a sinister place, precisely an attraction named Monster Academy, some sort of house of horror full of monsters. In one of the room that looked like a classroom with different kind of monster behind the desks, a tall Frankenstein stood and in his palms stood Natsu, kneeled as he coughed some water out, coming back to his sense, trying to understand where he was as he just remembered the pool and the water falling on them.

\- "*cough, cough* Lucy ! Are you okay ?! Lucy !" He called, looking all around for his blonde friend, hearing an answer coming from below him.

\- "I'm here ! Here !" came Lucy's voice, coming out of some kind of casket that was situated on a small stage right next to the blackboard. "Let me out !"

\- "How did you get in a place like that ?" Wondered Natsu as he got down from the colossal zombie's hands, walking toward the box, Lucy getting impatient.

\- "I haven't the faintest idea !" She snapped, not wanting to talk but to get out of that place as soon as possible. "I must've gotten washed in here by accident !" Finally, the door opened, but when Lucy saw Natsu's face, she wasn't expecting it to show a mix of surprise and incomprehension as well as sporting a small blush. "What ? Why are you making that face ?"

\- "I… huh.. why are you dressed like that ?" He asked, Lucy finally looking down, only to gasp as she realized, much to her shock, that she was now wearing a revealing dress, reminiscing of a belly dancer.

\- "Huh ?! Why am I dressed like this ?!" She asked, Natsu shrugging his shoulders to show that he had no idea when they both noticed a text on the side of the box, the two of them kneeling to read it out.

\- "'The complete transformation box. Let's get beautifully transformed and depart for fairy tale land together.'" Read Natsu, before looking down at the button under the text. "Ah ! There's a dial here."

\- "Then change me back to normal !"

Lucy then entered the box, waiting for Natsu to get her back the way she was before. But when she stepped out of the box, she was wearing a sexy bunny outfit. She stepped back in, and came out as some kind of winged demon. She did it again, and stepped out in a yukata. It was when she finally appeared wearing a one piece swimsuit with a buoy that she decided that she had enough.

\- "Stop playing around !" She shouted as she chopped Natsu on the head with her hand. She was about to add something when something cut her in by… coming out of Natsu.

\- "Looks like you both are having fun." Said the little white and orange being poking out of Natsu's chest, frightening both mages who shouted and fell on their asses, the little being still hovering in the same place. "I heard you liked to cosplay, but now's not the time."

\- "You !" Roared Lucy, jumping back to her feet and trying to slap Yurusen, only to fail as her hand got through him. "Since when I am a cosplayer ?!"

\- "You're not ? Then I guess I came at the right time : now's not the time for some sexy roleplaying."

\- "SH-SHUT UP, YOU ANNOYING GHOST !" Roared Lucy, her face completely red at Yurusen's supposition. "This is absolutely not what we were doing, you perv !"

\- "Hey, Casper, where the hell is Takeru ?" Asked Natsu, trying to stay focused though what the ghost said did put a slight blush on his face.

\- "He's somewhere in the building. Looking for you, of course, but he's not the only one." Said Yurusen. "That guy with the wand is coming." Indeed, as soon as he said that, they could hear Hughes voice calling for them, approaching the room they were in. "You better hide or get ready to fight. Hihihihi !"

\- "Quick, change me back to normal !" Asked Lucy, already inside the box. "This outfit is embarrassing !"

Natsu did turned his head to the blonde, but she could already feel that he wasn't thinking the same thing as her. And when a twisted grin stretched his lips, she realized how right she was.

\- "I got an idea."

They quickly put Natsu's plan into place, Lucy getting in position as Natsu hid in a corner, looking at the scene when Hughes finally came into view.

\- "Where are you, Earthland mages ?" He called, only for silence to answer him. "Tsk. Getting washed away so flashily. Where the hell are they ?"

\- "Hey there !" Hughes turned his head at the seductive voice that called him, his eyes falling onto Lucy, who was laying on the stage, wearing nothing else than a small bikini top with flower design and an assorted sarong of some kind, leaving a lot of skin visible and thus, not a lot of place to imagination. A small blush on her face, her eyes half-lidded, she was putting all of her charm into action, trying to charm her opponent who was looking at her, not moving… Except for his hand who rose his wand, making all the monsters in the room run at her, forcing her to fly away.

\- "NO ! The Sexy Strategy ! It was a complete failure !" Cried Natsu, holding his head in his hands while Lucy tried to escape the monsters.

\- "KYAAAAAAH ! He didn't fall for it !" She said, her pride wounded. "More importantly, what the heck are these things !?"

\- "This is the Monster Academy." Explain Hughes who was still waving his wand around. "It's an attraction where you can observe the daily school lives of monsters…"

\- "I got it already ! Just at least give me back my clothes !"

\- "Damn it ! I thought this was sexy enough !"

\- "You're still down about that ?!" Shouted Lucy at Natsu who was still not over the fact that the plan had failed.

\- "Hey, at least you now know what you're sex appeal is worth." Said Yurusen, trying to sound reassuring. "Not much."

\- "THAT'S NOT HELPING !" Roared Lucy, before running out of the room, the monsters all running after her, leaving Natsu and Yurusen behind, the fire mage finally getting over the failure.

\- "I guess we'll have to get you from the front, then."

\- "You mean you intend to fight me here, in the Monster Academy ? This is my favorite place, you know."

 _ **MUMMY BANDAGE !**_

Hughes waved his wands and a mummy dressed like a student positioned himself in front of him, his bandages extending out of his hands to wrap around Natsu.

\- "In the Monster Academy, all the monsters are my soldiers. Isn't that awesome ?"

\- "OUH !" It might have been, but Natsu didn't gave a single fuck, setting himself on fire, the flames also going up the bandages to set the mummy on fire, much to Hughes shock.

\- "The flames… From his entire body ?!"

 _ **FIRE DRAGON'S CLAW !**_

Setting his right feet on fire, Natsu jumped at his opponent and landed a strong kick to Hughes face, sending him to the ground. However, even despite his tumbling, the man with arrow-shaped eyebrows managed to keep on attacking.

 _ **FRANKEN KNUCKLE !**_

The same Frankenstein that he got washed away began to attack Natsu with his large fists, the hits landing, pummeling Natsu as the fire mage struggle to keep standing. He finally managed to gather the necessary strength to stop the monster by grabbing his fist and throwing him over himself, sending him crashing onto the stage, breaking down the wall as well as most of the class, forcing Hughes to jump away to avoid being crushed under the huge monster.

\- "What is this power ?!" He said to himself, waving his wand once again. "Monster troops, gather ! Get him !" The monster that were still running after Lucy all received the order and ran back to the classroom, forgetting Lucy who didn't noticed that she wasn't followed and kept running. The monsters finally came and all ran at Natsu, Hughes smiling when he saw his troops surrounding the pink haired mage. "Kahaha, can you win against all of these monsters, I wonder." However, much to his shock, as Natsu's body began to cover with flames, all of his monsters stopped moving. Some of them were even slowly stepping away. "Hey ! What's happening ? What are you doing, monsters ?!"

\- "They're doing what should be done in such a situation, of course." Hughes jumped out of his skin as Yurusen talked to him, the man looking at the ghost with wide eyes. "After all, even monsters and animals knows what to do when they are facing something they can't beat : they cower in fear." Yurusen's sinister tone worried Hughes and when he turned to look at Natsu, he immediately understood why as he felt fear washing over him uncontrollably.

Natsu had almost completely disappeared under his flames as his aura took the shape of a dragon. But it wasn't just a fire that looked like a dragon. With the killing glare coming from the fire mage and the fury he felt that got mirrored in the fire, it was as if a real dark red dragon stood in the room, towering over the monsters and Hughes who was sweating profusely as he took many steps back, only now realizing the mistake he made when he decided to anger that man. Well, right now, it didn't looked like a man, but rather like…

\- "A real… MONSTER ?!"

/- Meanwhile -/

\- "Where are they hiding ?"

While Hughes was shitting his pants facing Natsu, Takeru, back in Ore Damashi, was wandering in the same building, looking for his two friends after he got washed away with them by Hughes. Truth to be told, he felt as if his pride had been wounded by what happened. It was obvious that Hughes wasn't a truly dangerous enemy. After all, from what Takeru understood, the man couldn't fight unless he was here in this park and even then, he was more than strong enough to take care of him. But he might have underestimated him a bit too much and it had led him to this point, walking around to try and found his friends. And speaking of friends, he finally found one as he saw, or rather heard, Lucy, who was shouting in horror at something. Reaching a corner, he finally saw her, eyes closed as she was running away from… nothing.

\- "What the hell, you stupid monsters ! Go away !" She shouted, Takeru not understanding what she was talking about as nothing was behind her. She was so absorbed by her run that she passed by Takeru without even seeing him, much to his surprise, before he finally shook away this surprise to run after her.

\- "KYAAAA !"

\- "Why are you running ?! WHY are you running ?!"

Takeru followed Lucy, trying to get to her and stop her before she got too far but before he could reach her, she reached another crossroads where she was put to a stop when she collided hard with a young girl with bloody feet holding a large key in her hand.

\- "Ow !" Groaned Lucy, rubbing her head as Takeru caught up with her. "Huh ?! where did the monsters go ?"

\- "I don't know when you were chased by monsters, but you spent a good five minutes running away from nothing." Said Takeru as he reached her, turning to look at the little girl that was with them. "And who's that ?"

The girl said nothing at first, small tears in her eyes that widen when a voice called her, coming from the hallway she came from.

\- "Coco ! So you won't stop !?"

\- "Help me…" Finally said Coco, letting the tears fall from her eyes as she looked up at the two whose eyes widened when they noticed the state her feet were in. "I can't run anymore… Take this-" She was about to give them the key but she then suddenly stopped, now clutching the key against her chest, her whole body shaking. _"Wait ! They are Earthlanders ! I can't give them the key. What do I do ?!"_

\- "Fuuh… Fuuh… Give me the key now." Ordered Byro, out of breath as he finally caught up with them.

\- "Key ?!" Repeated Lucy, frowning at the man as she stood up. "Wh… Why are you after my keys ?! I'm definitely not giving them to someone like you !" She stated, putting a hand on her keys that were still in a pouch on her waist, the others looking at her with raised eyebrows, wondering what she was talking about.

\- "Lucy. He said 'Key', not 'Keys', I think he's talking about that one." Said Takeru, pointing at the key Coco was holding, Lucy blushing slightly as she realized her mistake.

\- "Well… My bad. But this doesn't change anything. I'm gonna take care of that guy ! I can't let that kid here alone with that creepy dude !" Stated the blonde, Takeru nodding next to her.

\- "You're right." He said, brandishing his Gan Gun Saber. "Let's take care of that guy quick- *BOOM* GAH !"

Before he could finish his sentence, Takeru was sent to the ground by a laser bullet that hit him dead center on the chest.

\- "Takeru !"

\- "What the… who did this ?!" Asked the Rider as he got back up, only to see that a newcomer was standing beside Byro and needless to say, he looked way out of place. It was a tall humanoid black robot with a silvery armor that was shaped to look like some kind of bandages, making him look like a robotic mummy of some kind. His eyes were large and round, like two scopes with a red light shining in them.

\- "Secondary objective acquired : bring back the key." Said the machine in a typical robotic voice, looking at Coco who shivered in fear even more before turning to look at Takeru. "Priority set on primary objective : destroy the Kamen Rider."

\- "Awesome. As if we needed that." Groaned Takeru as he got back up. "Lucy, take care of the old man alone. I'm going to take care of that bag of bolts." And with that, he charged at the robot

\- "Alright !" She said, taking a key out of her pouch before turning to Byro. "I won't let you hurt that little girl anymore !"

 _ **OPEN THE DOOR TO THE BULL : TAURUS !**_

\- "MOOOOOOO ! Those clothes are awesome, Lucy !" Said the Stellar Spirit as he appeared, with his eyes shaped like hearts, axe in hands.

\- "A cow !?" Gasped Byro in shock, not expecting this kind of thing as it was defying everything he knew about magic. _"How on Earth did she do it ?! Turning 'nothing' into 'something' ?! Preposterous ! incomprehensible ! How did she do it ?!"_

\- "Go !" Following the order, the bull rushed at the old man and swung his axe down at him, shattering the ground as Byro jumped to the side while pulling a vial out of his robe, throwing its content at Taurus.

 _ **FLAME LIQUID !**_

Suddenly, the liquid exploded as it touched Taurus, heavily wounding the spirit and knocking him out. Before Lucy could understand what just happened, Byro had taken another vial, throwing its content toward her.

 _ **STORM LIQUID !**_

The liquid then began to form some kind of spiral in midair before changing into many small tornadoes that struck Lucy hard, sending her to the ground. Luckily, she managed to got back to her feet quickly, grabbing another key in the process.

 _ **OPEN THE DOOR TO THE MAIDEN : VIRGO !**_

The maid Spirit then shot out of the ground right under Byro, landing a powerful uppercut in the man, sending him flying.

 _"Not another one of those things ?! could it be that it has the same fundamental as Anima ?!"_

 _ **SPICA HOLE !**_

With this question in mind, Byro was slammed on and into the ground by Virgo, a hole digging itself as the man fell to the ground, deep enough to make him disappear completely.

\- "I did it !" Cheered Lucy as Virgo walked up to her.

\- "Princess ! Was that my punishment ?"

\- "For what ?"

"Wow…" Coco, who had seen the whole fight, couldn't help but be amazed by Lucy's performance. "I guess… I should hand over this key… But… eternal magic… then again, if his Highness gets his hands on it, Lily will… What should I do ?"

While Lucy was celebrating her victory and Coco thought about what she should do, they were all brought back to the sad reality when an octopus tentacle came out of the ground to wrap itself around Coco, soon followed by many others as Lucy could only stare in horror at what she now had in front of her eyes.

\- "Octopus Liquid. I consumed that one myself." Said Byro, now a gigantic octopus monster, holding Coco in one of his tentacle. "Guheeheehee. With this, whatever the strange magic you throw at me, it won't work !"

\- "D…Do something !" Asked Lucy to Virgo.

\- "Princess, I don't think it'll have any effect." Simply answered Virgo. Meanwhile, Byro began to wreak havoc all around him, breaking down wall after wall, forcing Lucy to flee as the whole place was starting to crumble.

\- "I have Coco now. But I won't be satisfied until I kill you for your impudence as well." Said Byro as he slammed his tentacle all over the place, Lucy trying to escape by climbing to a roof, only to be met there by Virgo who threw her something.

\- "Princess ! Take this !" She said as Lucy caught the object, a little tube that looked like the handle of something. "It's the extending whip _Fleuve d'étoiles_ of the Eridanus Constellation from the Stellar Spirit world. I don't think it will work, but please try to use it." She finished with a bow, much to Lucy's annoyance.

\- "Why are you so negative about this ! I won't know unless I try !" She said, whipping at the tentacle that came for her, only for the blows to do absolutely nothing. "It really doesn't have any effect !"

\- "What's wrong ?" Taunted Byro. "Can't use that strange magic of yours anymore ?" As she heard Byro said that, Lucy's eyes widened as she realized something about the whip.

 _"Magic ? Using Stella Spirit Magic several times in a row completely depletes my magic. I see… So that's why Virgo… Thank you…"_ A small smile graced her lips as she got back up, her grip on the whip tightening. _"The concern of my Stellar Spirits… I'll treasure it !"_

\- "Now to crush you !" Byro threw one of his large tentacle at Lucy who used her new weapon to dodge the blow by wrapping it around the said tentacle and swinging out of the way and landing onto another tentacle, running toward Coco.

\- "Let that girl go !"

\- "She's one of our people; surely none of your business."

\- "You're hurting her !" Shouted Lucy as she swing away from another tentacle and keeping on dodging expertedly. "Shouldn't you… Protect… your friends ?!" This made Coco's eyes widen, thinking about how she wanted to protect Lily. "As a member of a guild, I can't lose... to someone who can't even understand that !" And win, she did as Byro realized a little too late that he was too focused on his desire to crush Lucy that he didn't even took the time to look at what he was doing, all of his tentacles now stuck in a tight knot, making him lose his balance and fall against the Monster Academy sign.

\- "You little wretch…"

*Crack* Before he could finish his insult, the sign cracked and everything else happened in an instant. The sign exploded and out came Natsu, his fist buried in Hughes face as he just punched him against the wall who had exploded right behind Byro's head, the strength of the explosion enough to knock down the octopus and the younger captain, a smile gracing Lucy's lips as she twirled her whip in her hand, feeling proud of her fight. As for Natsu, he was more shocked, not by his win, but what he saw now that he was outside the building.

\- "What the hell is that huge octopus ?!"

\- "Just another enemy." Said Lucy as she jumped down from her perch, landing next to Natsu. "Speaking of enemy, I wonder if Takeru is doing alright with that robot ?"

\- "Robot ? What do you mean by robot ?"

/- Flashback, with Takeru -/

After leaving Lucy to face the weird old man, Takeru immediately began his fight against this strange robot and needless to say the robot was much more powerful than he first though. He blocked or dodged all of his attacks, his own always reaching its target, hitting him hard.

 _ **KAIGAN : MUSASHI ! KETT**_ _ **Ō**_ _ **! ZUBATTO ! CH**_ _ **Ō**_ _ **KENG**_ _ **Ō**_ _ **!**_

Changing into his dual-sword wielding form, Takeru hoped it would make things easier. But it didn't.

\- "Damashi identified : Musashi." Said Takeru's opponent in his robotic monotone voice. "Initiating countermeasure."

With that, his body began to change, or rather his arms did, now both equipped with long blades strapped to his wrist. Takeru's eyes widen a bit but he attacked nonetheless, his swords clashing with the others, the two exchanging blows as slowly, and much to his shock, Takeru was losing the upper hand. Every one of his attacks were countered perfectly by the robot, who used opening even Takeru ignored to hurt the Rider, as if he could see what he was about to do right before it happened. Takeru, of course, tried to use different Damashi to stop the android, but no matter what he was trying, nothing worked, the bot changing himself each time Takeru changed Damashi. This was starting to get really annoying and painful for Takeru.

\- "How can it be ? Did that thing can really see the future ?"

\- "Incorrect statement detected." Said the bot, Takeru frowning at this as his opponent lifted his cannon, matching the Sunglasseslasher of Takeru's Ryoma Damashi. "Reason of superiority : complete analysis of Kamen Rider Ghost's data."

Takeru's eyes widen as the cannon on his opponent's arm began to vibrate, a bright light filling the cannon. This made sense : if this thing knew everything about him and his forms, then that explained why he was getting manhandled, he was probably adapting his fighting style and strategy on the spot so he always could counter him. But then, that meant that nothing he could do would work. Was it the end for him ? It looked like it and when the bot fired a massive laser bullet at him, Takeru did nothing to dodge it, his mind still working on finding a way out of that situation. The explosion was so powerful it sent Takeru flying through a wall, landing in front of the park entrance, where he was met with three surprised faces.

\- "Takeru !" Shouted Lucy as she ran to help him up, the young man forced to change back to his civilian form by the attack, Natsu joining them.

\- "What the hell happened to you ?!" Asked the fire mage, Takeru then pointing at where he came from.

\- "This happened." He said as the cybernetic being walked into view, the two mages and Coco gasping as they saw it aiming his cannon at the Rider. "That thing… it know everything about my powers… it keep changing shape to counter me…"

\- "Ending Kamen Rider Ghost. Probability of success : 99%. Secondary objective in view : get the key back." Coco froze and shook in fear as she clutched the said key even tighter, Natsu immediately getting up and rushing at the metallic creature.

\- "As if I'm gonna let you kill my friend, you scrap head !"

 _ **FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FIST !**_

He then delivered a powerful punch at his opponent, sending him flying backward and giving Takeru some time to get up. When the robot got back up, his red eyes flickered a bit as it looked at a fire covered Natsu.

\- "Magic based opponent detected. Threat level : unknown." Said who Natsu called scrap head, his body slowly changing shape. "Magical upgrade : engaged." Now, something came out of his chest, some kind of porthole showing a shining blue crystal in the robot chest, a shining blue liquid now coursing all over his metallic body, creating some kind of web pattern on his armor. Natsu simply growled and ran back at the robot who, suddenly, was able to defend himself against Natsu. Lucy and Takeru were looking at the scene closely, the Kamen Rider impressed that Natsu managed to land strong hit on the robot when he didn't even managed to grazed him, then it dawned on him.

\- "I thought you couldn't do anything against that thing." Asked Lucy, her eyes never leaving Natsu who just took a hit to the face, spinning on himself to land a kick to the bot face, something the latter never saw coming. "How Natsu can fight him like that ?"

\- "That's because he got no data on Natsu's power and his fighting style, or just not enough. He can't make any prediction on what he's going to do and prepare a counter-attack." Explained Takeru.

\- "But now, it seems like he's powered by a Lachryma." Added Lucy, looking at the blue web on the robot that shone every time he took a blow or landed one. "Then that means Shocker managed to create robot who worked with magic and can probably stop each and every single one of you."

Takeru nodded, already knowing what to do to stop this robot : they had to use an Hybrid as this robot was one in a way. At first, he thought about using the same one he used with Lucy back when they fought against Oracion Seis, but there was still a risk they might have learned about this form. He needed an original Hybrid and his hands ended up clutching at the red and black Damashi that he inherited from his father. He could feel it pulse in his hands, almost begin him to do it. He nodded to himself and got up, looking at Natsu who was still in middle of a fight.

\- "Natsu ! Use that !" Natsu turned around just in time to catch the red flaming Eyecon. But the robot also noticed it.

\- "Toucon Boost Eyecon. Unknown strategy on the enemy behalf. Task : getting rid of the potential problem." He said as he jumped to catch the Eyecon before Natsu, but this was without counting on Lucy who quickly used her newly acquired whip, wrapping it around the bot's neck and using it to slam him on the ground, allowing Natsu to grab the Eyecon and take a few steps back toward his friends to breathe a little. He looked at the Eyecon, feeling the soul inside it asking him to infuse him with his magic so he could share his powers with him, which Natsu did. The Eyecon didn't changed much, except for the face on the Eyecon that got replace by a dragon head, a Ghost Driver appearing on his waist as he activated the Eyecon before inserting it inside the driver and immediately initiating the transformation sequence.

 _ **TOUCON KAIGAN : BURNING BOOST ! WATASHI NO BURNING SOUL, AKARAKU YAKIMASU ! GO ! (BURN !) GO ! (BURN !) GO ! (BURN !) GO !**_

The armor that covered Natsu was pretty much the same as the usual Toucon Boost, but with a swap in the color, the armor being mainly black with red, orange and yellow flames all over, the red parka, opened to show that, instead of the eye, there was a the same dragon head that appear in the middle of Natsu's magic circle whenever he used his Iron Fist. His fingers and feet looked like claws, he had a crest on the hood of his parka and just like many other Hybrid armor, the helmet disappeared, there replaced by red marking on Natsu's face, like war paints, that made him look like even more like a dragon.

\- "Wow." Natsu was looking at himself, feeling the power course through his veins. "This feels awesome !"

\- "This is a power I inherited from my dad's own soul." Explained Takeru, Natsu and Lucy getting wide eyes as they turned to him, seeing his smile. "Now go and show that rusty tin can the power inherited from our fathers."

\- "Analysis failed. Unknown power detected." Came the robot voice as he scanned Natsu, who was looking at him with a carnivorous grin. "Threat level : unknown. Probability of victory : unknown."

\- "What's happening ? Your little analysis don't work ?" Taunted Natsu, his fist covering in a ruby red fire. "Well here's one for you." He then began to talk robotically, mocking the bot. "Probability of Salamander to roast your aluminum ass : 300% !"

 _ **BURNING GHOST DRAGON'S FIRE FIST !**_

In an instant, he shot at the bot and landed a powerful fist to the metallic face, the blow exploding and sending him crashing in a nearby building. The robot pulled himself out of the rubbles and pointed a gatling at Natsu, opening fire on the mage who didn't gave a fuck. Flame bursted out of his hand, forming his own Sunglasseslasher, with a more reptilian look on the eyes, which he used to repel all the bullet as he ran to the robot, alternating between sword's slashes and punches, forcing the robot back more with each attack.

 _ **BURNING GHOST DRAGON'S ROARING SLASH !**_

Taking a deep breath, Natsu then unleashed his roar on the blade of his sword, the flames now twirling around the blade like a tornado before swinging it down, unleashing the full power of the roar in a slash, the flame exploding when it touched the robot, sending him soaring through the air before crashing down, his body covered in cracks, the magical energy seeping out of them with sparks coming out of his battered body.

\- "Danger : Critical damages detected. Energy levels decreasing."

\- "If that's the case, then I better finish it. I have friends to save !" Stated Natsu, putting the sword to the side as he pulled the lever on the Driver. As he did so, the dragon head on his chest shone and symbols came out of it, forming a large eye shaped magic circle behind him, energy coming out of it and wrapping around his legs. The robot, still standing despite the damages, looked up at Natsu as the latter began to float and rise high.

\- "Analysis complete… New entry added to database… Threat Level : extreme. Chance of opponent's victory…"

 _ **TOUCON DAI KAIGAN : BURNING GHOST DRAGON'S OMEGA FLASHING KICK**_

\- "… 100%..."

Natsu, left leg ablaze and pointing forward, then shot down at the robot like a red glowing missile, the power in his leg exploding when it came in contact with the robot, passing through the metallic opponent without any problem the latter exploding in a matter of seconds while Natsu came to a stop, leaving nothing of the robot behind except for a rain of metal part that scattered around the place, the Lachryma that powered it shattered directly by Natsu's foot.

\- "That was awesome !" Said Natsu as he powered down, walking back to Takeru to give him his Eyecon back. "Guess that settles it."

\- "Yeah, it does." Said Takeru with a smile. "We better get going, we still have to save our friends."

\- "Here…" The three turned to see Coco, laying on the ground, holding a key which she showed to them. "This is the key to the mechanism that would have killed your friends !" The three got wide eyes as they realized what she was saying, but also what this key was about. As for the girl, she was openly crying, looking at the three in despair. "More than eternal magic… I want everyone to live happily together ! So please, destroy this key…"

\- "So that's why that old man was running after her. They need this key to send the Lachryma into Extalia." Said Takeru while Natsu and Lucy had large smile on their face as Natsu walked to the girl, more than happy to be the one to destroy the key. However…

\- "HAHAHA !" Sugarboy came out of nowhere, sliding on the ground as if he was on an ice ring, snatching the key out of Coco's hands. "Now, you shouldn't be giving something so precious to the enemy, Coco !"

\- "Sugarboy !" Exclaimed the girl as she looked at her comrade sliding away from them.

\- "You bastard…" Came another voice, followed by the characteristic noise of an engine as something sped by them. "Wait just one damn minute !"

\- "Gray !" Shouted Lucy as she saw the ice mage pass by them riding a bike with a large front wheel and lion shaped front, with someone else driving the said bike, a man wearing a blue eyed black and gold armor. "Eiji !"

\- "Leave it to us, we're going to take care of that guy !" Reassured the Rider as he drove his bike after Sugarboy, slowly closing the distance between them, Gray glaring at the man from the back of the bike on which he was half-standing.

\- "You're a persistent bunch, are you ?" Said Sugarboy as he looked back at them. "It's not like you could defeat me anyway." With that, he touched the ground with his magic sword as he slide, softening the ground and creating a crevasse that Eiji dodged by turning suddenly, avoiding the hole but some others weren't so lucky.

\- "Gray ! Eiji ! Wait for us !" Shouted Natsu, trying to run after the two when he was topped by Lucy who noticed that something was wrong.

\- "Natsu ! The floor !" Indeed, due to Sugarboy, the ground underneath them was starting to cave in, creating o large into which the all fell.

\- "God damnit !" Shouted Lucy, taking her new whip into her hand. " _Fleuve d'étoiles_ !" She tried to use it, however everything failed when she noticed a large body coming down on her, namely Byro's octopus body which was sliding into the hole and crushing them underneath him, killing her attempt and meaning that Eiji and Gray couldn't count on anyone to help them.

\- "HAHAHA ! See you tomorrow !" Mocked Sugarboy as he sped through the hallway, followed by Eiji and Gray who were on his tail.

\- "Hold it right there !" Shouted Gray, standing on the Toride Vendor. "And how the hell are you gliding, anyway ?"

\- "Hmm… I dunno either." Admitted Sugarboy, the two teammates sweat dropping at the confession.

\- "Is that so…" Said Eiji, not knowing how someone could ignore how he did something like that. "Anyway… What's that key ?"

\- "It's the key to activate the Dragon Chain Cannon."

\- "Dragon Chained Cannon ?" Repeated Gray, Eiji glancing at him.

\- "Does it ring a bell ?"

\- "Wendy told us that they extracted Dragon Slayer Magic from her and Natsu to use it to make the Lachryma crash into Extalia." Explained Gray, reaching the same conclusion as Eiji.

\- "So this key is what they need to execute their plan. Well then… there's no way we can let that guy escape us !" As Eiji said that, the claw-like attachment on the Toride released Medal shaped blast of energy at Sugarboy, who managed to slide his way through the bullets.

\- "I'm sorry, but this isn't something we can be giving to you guys." He said.

\- "And we can't let it be taken from us, either."

 _ **ICE MAKE : FLOOR !**_

Putting a hand on the ground next to them, Gray created a path of ice that headed straight at Sugarboy who drew his Rosa Espada.

\- "Ice can't win against me. I can soften anything." He said as he indeed softened the ice… before starting to lose control as he slide on it. "Eh ?"

\- "You can soften the ice, but you can't change it's nature." Smiled Gray. "The nature of the ice floor you're sliding on." Sugarboy, not controlling his movement anymore, slammed into a pillar as Gray jumped out of the bike, leaving Eiji alone on it.

\- "Now then, let's quickly end this : there are lives at stake, here !" He then accelerate, heading straight at Sugarboy, his bike literally roaring as it wanted to 'devour' its target. But the knight, who just got back up, wasn't that worried as he dived to the side, knowing the bike was much to fast, which menat he would have been slammed by the sheer weight of the mass should he softened it. Eiji jumped to the side as his bike crashed into the pillar while Sugarboy lost the smile he had on his face as he realized that Gray was on him, aiming for the key he had in his hand.

\- "The key ?!"

\- "SHATTER !" And Gray's hand closed on Sugarboy's one, encasing the key in ice, also locking both of their hands together. The two stayed unmoving for a moment, Eiji looking at the scene unfold as the two opponent looked at each other in confusion.

\- "Hmm… That's cold, Iceboy." Finally said Sugarboy.

\- "Don't go giving me weird nicknames !" Shouted Gray. "And what the hell ?! Why won't it break !?"

\- "It's not something that'll break easily." Explained Sugarboy with a sigh. "Man, it's cold. Can you let go of me ? I'm not big on holding hands with another man."

\- "Hey now, haven't you realized the situation's changed ?" Reminded Gray, a smirk appearing on his face. "You guys need the key, but we don't. If I can't destroy it, I'll just make it so you can't use it ! With ice !"

\- "It's no use." Counter Sugarboy, a drop of sweat running down his face anyway. Rosa Espada will just softened the ice."

\- "You sure ? You miss by just a little and the key will turn to goop too." This seemed to make Sugarboy wince, but before any of them could add anything, Eiji came walking to them.

\- "Or maybe I can use this thing ?" He said, the two turning their head to see the Medajaribur in his hand, the Rider loading it with three Cell Medal. "I'm pretty sure this key won't survive this kind of attack."

\- "You… You're bluffing !" Said Sugarboy, feeling a lot more uneasy. "You'd not only break the key but also both of our hands. You won't hurt a friend, isn't it ?"

\- "If it means saving my friends, a hand is a small price to pay." Said Gray with a smirk, shocking Sugarboy, not a single trace of fear on the ice mage face. "DO IT, EIJI !"

\- "All right, then. Sorry for that Gray." He said as he took his O Scanner off his waist. "Let's do th…*BAM* GAH !" Much to the two ice locked opponent, Eiji got interrupted by being shot suddenly, shot that sent him rolling on the ground, quickly getting back up to look with wide eyes at the one who just opened fire on him. "You got to be kidding me…"

\- "Kamen Rider OOO detected." Came a robotic voice, belonging to the same kind of robot that gave so hard time to Takeru. This one already had his magical enhancement activated and he was aiming at Eiji. "Data acquired. Initiating destruction."

\- "What the hell is that thing ?" Asked Gray, forgetting Sugarboy for a moment, looking at this newcomer which was slowly making its way toward Eiji.

\- "This is something those guys from shocker worked on." Explained Sugarboy. "From what I've heard, they are made to counter any kind of Kamen Rider they might face."

Eiji was feeling perplexed, wondering if such a thing could be possible. He used his Cheetah speed to rush at his opponent at a blinding speed, so fast that all Gray and Sugarboy saw was a black and gold blur. But despite that tremendous speed, the robot managed to counter him, dodging and landing a powerful blow to Eiji's guts in the process, matching the Rider speed, surprising the Rider who decided to take him by surprise.

 _ **TRIPLE SCANNING CHARGE !**_

Eiji aimed the attack at the robot who simply glanced at the blade as his armor changed form, now looking much more sturdier as it stopped the sword, shocking Eiji who got then slashed by the robot whose right arm became a long sword, the powerful blow sending him back to the ground. Gray was son entranced by the fight that he forgot Sugarboy who had drawn his sword, but not aiming it at the ice this time.

\- "I may not be able to soften the ice safely, but I can just slice you up !" He said as he slashed Gray many times, taking the mage by surprise as he turned back to his own opponent, gritting his teeth.

\- "I won't let go even if I die !"

After that, the two battle happened each without looking at the other. Eiji and Sugarboy kept going back and forth, exchanging like tennis player, Gray adding ice, Sugarboy softening it, the game continuing and entering a dead end as neither wanted to let go. Meanwhile, between the robot and Eiji, it wasn't a dead end, but a one way fight. No matter what Eiji did, his opponent had a way to fight through it. He tried to overwhelm him with the Gatakiriba clones, he countered it with a flurry of homing rocket that destroy each one of them in an instant. He got a form that matched Sagohzo in term of sheer power. Even the water form of Shauta and the flight of Tajadol couldn't do anything to help him, the robot either using ice based weapon to froze him or grow wings to chase him in the sky. Things weren't good for Eiji but luckily, he might soon be joined by someone. Indeed, at some point during their fight, a crack began to appear on the key, much to Gray's satisfaction and Sugarboy's horror.

\- "What ?! Impossible ! A crack in the key !"

\- "Alright ! That's it ! Keep on breaking !"

\- "This is bad ! This is really bad !" Sugarboy was sweating bullets, seeing the one thing they needed to make their dreams come true on the verge of breaking down. "Let go ! The key's gonna break down !"

\- "My friends' lives are on the line ! I was ready to lose my hand for them ! I'm gonna smash that thing !"

\- "W…Wait ! This is really bad ! You guys need the key, too !" Said Sugarboy, confusing Gray who didn't seemed to believe him. "Let's call a truce for now ! The key's breaking !" Asked the knight as the cracks on the key kept growing.

\- 'The hell are you talking about !?' Shouted Gray as he slammed Sugarboy in a pillar, the knight beginning his explanation.

\- "You can use this key to turn your friends back to normal !"

\- "You're bluffing." Smirked Gray, not believing him at all.

\- "The Dragon Chain Cannon fires concentrate Dragon Slayer Magic ! Don't you know what this magic can be used for in this world !?" Gray's eyes then widen as he remembered what happened when he was freed from the Lachryma by Gajeel. The iron mage had told him and the others that he smashed the Lachryma with his magic. If this cannon was powered by Wendy and Natsu's magic, then… "If you fire the Dragon Chain Cannon directly into the Lachryma, you can turn your friends back to normal ! You understand, don't you !? We both need the key ! You can't destroy it !"

\- "We've got Gajeel. We've got Wendy and Natsu too." Reminded Gray. "We've got 3 Dragon Slayers ! We don't need the key !"

\- "Don't you realize how many days it would take ?" This question made Gray froze in shock. "The Lachryma begins turning into magical power tomorrow. Our plan was to smash it into Extalia before that happened. Sure, with 3 Dragon Slayers, you can save several people. But you can't save them all ! If you want to save them all, you can't destroy this key !"

Gray gritted his teeth, wondering what he should do as the cracks were starting to cover the whole key. In the hand, he took his decision, glaring at Sugarboy.

\- "I won't give you the key !" And he simply shattered it completely, much to Sugarboy horror and anger.

\- "Are you an idiot !? I wasn't bluffing !" He then drew his sword and thrusted it at Gray, aiming for the chest. "You can't turn your friends back to normal !"

His sword plunged into Gray's vest… and nothing else has Gray crouched down to avoid the attack, giving him the perfect opening to finish this.

\- "I'm taking everyone back to our guild."

 _ **HYOJIN NANARENBU !**_

Gray then used the ice blades on his hand and elbow to deliver a flurry of blow to Sugarboy, shattering his armor and sending him to the ground, defeated. But even if he had been defeated, Sugarboy still had enough strength to talk to him.

\- "You're crazy, Iceboy… To think you'd… really destroy the key… Even though I told you that you could save your friends with that key…" At this, a smile graced Gray's lips.

\- "I'm… A mage who molds ice." Said Gray, shocking Sugarboy as a perfect replica of the key appeared in the ice mage hand. "I can create anything."

As soon as he said that, he was brought back to reality when he heard a cry and an explosion coming from deeper in the hallway, seeing Eiji in Tajadol on the ground, struggling to get up, the now flying robot hovering in midair, looking at his target.

\- "Initiating execution. Target acquired." He said as he pointed a large cannon that was replacing his right arm at Eiji. The cannon shone and a moment later, a huge blast of red energy shot out of it, aimed at Eiji who glared at it through his helmet when suddenly…

 _ **ICE MAKE : SHIELD !**_

Gray jumped in front of Eiji and created a wall of ice that took most of the attack, saving Eiji's life though the shield shattered pretty easily. But Gray stood there, glaring at the robot who looked at the newcomer, Eiji smiling at his apparition.

\- "Thanks for the help."

\- "No problem. We just have to take care of that thing and we'll go save everyone." Stated Gray.

\- "Unknown magic-based opponent detected. Threat level : Unknown." Said the robot as Gray summoned ice spears which he destroyed easily, but as he destroyed the ice based attacks, it created a slight mist that blinded him, giving the perfect counterattack opportunity for Gray.

 _ **ICE MAKE : SAUCER !**_

The massive ice made buzzsaw shot through the mist and slammed into the flying robot, the wings freezing as he was slammed into a wall, forcing him down to the ground, but he didn't managed to do much damages, the robot barely grazed by the attack.

\- "Ice power detected. Initiating counter measure." Said the robot as he pointed a hand at Gray, hand that transformed into a flame-thrower, easily melting Gray's ice, much to the later shock who tried to attack despite that. Eiji was looking at the fight, wanting to join the ice mage, thus grabbing a few medals before stopping as he looked at them. It was a bet, but it might be working. At the same time, it's not like he had any choice given their situation, Gray's ice shield slowly melting due to the heat the robot was using against him.

\- "Gray ! Use this !" He said as he threw the three Core Medals at Gray who caught them and looked at them, seeing that he received three purple colored medals. Looking then nodding at Eiji, he then infused them with his magic, the medal turning white and purplish with slightly different designs as a OOO Driver appeared on his waist. He immediately put the medals inside it and scanned them as his ice shield shatter completely.

\- "HENSHIN !" He shouted as the fire engulfed him. At first, people would thing he had been toasted, but that was without taking the transformation sequence into account.

 _ **IMPERO ! ANTARCTO ! CRYOLOPHO ! IMPANTAR-CRYOLO-PHOSAURUS**_ __ _ **!**_

In the middle of the hallway now stood a purple and white armored Gray, with the same kind of design than the original Putotyra Combo. The wings that decorated his hair and replaced the helmet were more feathery than Ptera, the arms were larger and covered in thick scale shaped armor while the legs and tail were pretty much the same though thinner. Eiji was amazed by this new form while the robot glanced at it, his eyes shining as he analyzed it.

\- "Analysis failed. Unknown power detected. Threat level : unknown. Probability of victory : unknown." He said, using the exact same words his 'colleague' used when it faced against the Hybrid Natsu. Gray, just like Eiji, then roared as loudly as he could, his power irradiating all around him in some kind of cold shockwave that covered the whole place with a thin layer of ice forcing the two others to take a few steps back. Gray then charged at his opponent, so fast he looked like a blur, the robot opening fire on him, the shots either ricocheting on his armor or being repelled by large feathery wings.

 _ **ICE MAKE : ANTARCTOPELTA SPIKES !**_

When he was close enough, Gray used his ice magic, boosted by the power of the Core Medal, to created large spikes on his hands he then slammed into the robot chest and abdomen, the metal still to hard to be destroyed, but not enough to avoid being bent by the impact as he was sent a good 20 yards away down the hallway. As the robot tried to get up, Gray could be seen flying toward him thanks to his wings, already going for another strike.

 _ **ICE MAKE : CRYOLOPHOSAURUS CLAW !**_

This time, he covered his feet with large ice made reptilian claws and dived right at him, crushing him under him, the ground crackling about 5 yard around the impact point, Gray jumping back as the bot began to get up, his metallic body covered in sparks and what would have been frostbite if he had been flesh and blood.

\- "Danger level : 10. Imminent destruction. Initiating retreat."

\- "Oh, no you don't." Said Gray as he grabbed the scanner, seeing the robot fleeing the scene. "I won't let you get away, you bolt head !"

 _ **SCANNING CHARGE !**_

Scanning the Medal in the Driver, Gray got enveloped in a powerful icy aura as he deployed his wings which then flapped and blew a freezing wind at the robot which froze instantly as Gray got into his usual pose, this time running at the same time, his race powered by the dinosaur legs he had.

 _ **ICE MAKE : FROZEN MESOZOIC STAMPEDE !**_

With his upgraded magic, Gray created on himself a large horned dinosaur shaped armor as he ran at the frozen robot, going through three white and purple rings as he ran, the ring all gathering around the horn which them impaled the robot who then exploded, shattering like glass. With one last breathe, Gray came to a stop when he heard a pair of voice coming his way.

\- "Gray ! Eiji !" Said Takeru.

\- "What the hell is that armor, the exhibitionist ?" Asked Natsu as Gray looked at him before powering down.

\- "We needed it to take care of a strange robot." Explained Eiji.

\- "So there was another one." Said Takeru, now noticing the frozen pieces of metal laying on the ground.

\- "And where's Lucy ?" Wondered the ice mage, noticing that the blonde was missing.

\- "She's having a few problem with an octopus." Explained Takeru, thinking about the blonde who was trying to free herself from the gigantic animal with a young girl helping her. "And where's the key ?"

\- "Well, I destroyed it. But I can make another one and we'll need it." Said Gray, the other not understanding why they might need it. "Their original aim was to use the Dragon Chain Cannon to drag the Lachryma into Extalia. But since it's powered by Dragon Slayer Magic and this magic can free our friends, we can redirect it to send the chain into the Lachryma and save everyone."

\- "Really !? That's awesome !" Said Natsu with a large smile, imitated by Takeru.

\- "Then we better get going. The cannon should be just ahead."

However, before they could walk to it, they heard footsteps that made them stop and turn around and what they saw made them froze in shock and horror. In front of them stood Erza, but her hair and clothes made them realize this wasn't a friendly one.

\- "Wait… That's the Edolas Erza !" Realized Takeru as eyes got wide on all of the boys faces, realizing what that meant.

\- "Our Erza… lost !?"

/- Dragon Chain Cannon Room -/

A few minutes later, the guards that were posted outside the cannon room saw Knightwalker arrive, dragging behind her Gray and Natsu, tied up and out cold.

\- "So you made it alright, Captain Knightwalker !" Said one of the guard.

\- "Just what part of her looks alright ?!" Said the other, looking at her bruised covered body. "What happened ? Those wounds…"

\- "It's nothing, don't worry about it." Reassure Edo-Erza, the guards now turning their attention to the one she was dragging.

\- "And those are…"

\- "The key to the Dragon Chain Cannon." Simply said Edo-Erza, gaining weird looks from the guards. "Is his Majesty inside ?"

\- "Yes… As you please." Said the guards as they let her pass, her face bathing in the light coming from the other side of the door.

\- "All the preparations are in order. I see the Eternal Magic power right before my eyes."

 **Okay, here we are. I have to say a few things, mainly about the new version of Putotyra. I used Imperobator, Antarctopelta and Cryolophosaurus, which are dinosaur that lived in what is nowadays called Antartica. I wanted to keep the dinosaur theme and made it close to Gray's ice so I came up with that. I hope you liked it. If you have any kind of comment, remark, etc. Feel free to leave a review so I can read them and correct things for the future updates. See ya !**

 **Next time : Fairy trick. Impeding doom. United to save everyone. The chaos truly begin.**


	51. Sweet Holydays !

Hi, everyone ! I hope you guys are alrigth. I'm just leaving a note to say that with Christmas and New Years Eve, i'm going to be moving a lot the next two week, which will leave me with little time to write. As such, the next update is going to come much later than usual.

I hope you can understand that.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you !

See ya !


	52. Chapter 51 : Stopping it, no matter what

**OH MY GOD ! It's been so long since my last update ! I'm really, REALLY, sorry, but as you know, there were a few things recently that made me unable to write. Christmas and New Year's Eve. Oh by the way…**

 **HAPPY NEW YEARS TO YOU ALL !**

 **More seriously, I also had family problem that kind of killed my mood and writing wasn't my priority during those times so I'm sorry. I hope you'll like this chapter even though it's a bit short. Anyway, enjoy !**

 **Chapter 51 : Stopping it, no matter what.**

The Dragon Chain Cannon. A massive weapon that was powered by Dragon Slayer Magic and meant to create an infinite amount of magic. The objective was simple : shoot the dragon shaped chain at the floating island on which was located the giant Lachryma that represented the magic of all of Magnolia's inhabitants and drag it into Extalia, the country of the Exceed, the two magic would then fuse and rain down on the city, creating the desired unlimited magic. But this plan might fall apart as things were right now. The King was currently pacing in front of said cannon, waiting for his men to bring back the key that was needed to fire the cannon. His patience was running thin when the door of the room opened, letting his most loyal soldier, Erza Knightwalker, walk into the room, dragging two Earthland mage behind her.

\- "Erza !" Greeted the King, hoping she had good news for him. "Did you brought the key !?"

\- "I'm afraid it was destroyed. But everything's alright." Reassured Edo-Erza by lifting and throwing Gray at her feet. "This one can create another one."

\- "He can ?!" Wondered Faust, his eyes not leaving the ice mage who was glaring at him.

\- "He's a mage from Earthland who can mold ice to build anything he want. He's an ally of the Dragon Slayers."

\- "It couldn't be… is he related to the disappearance of the Lachryma in the plaza ?"

\- "That's precisely it." Confirmed Edo-Erza.

\- "Well, that's fine !" Smiled the king. "Hurry and have him activate the Dragon Chain Cannon !" He ordered, Knightwalker nodding as she cut open the rope that held Gray before lifting Natsu, pressing her sword to his neck, using him like an hostage.

\- "Stand, Ice mage. And don't try anything funny." She warned, Gray glaring at her. "Activate the cannon."

Gray didn't liked it at all, but knowing Natsu's life was at stake, he couldn't do anything else and he did as he was told, approaching the cannon. However, he had a plan.

"I'll only get one chance…" He thought as he created the key. "Once I activate it, I can quickly change its aim and have the Dragon Chain Cannon strike the Lachryma directly. If I can do that, I can save my friends !" He inserted the key and armed the weapon. But once he had done it, he began to look all around, trying to find how he could change the aim without finding anything.

As he began to panic, Shadow Moon, who was also in the room, looked at the ice mage but also at Knightwalker and Salamander with suspicion. He had a lot of doubts concerning the redhead. He had a hard time believing that she could have defeated her counterpart, then Gray and Natsu all by herself, without even counting the Riders that were with them. It was a bit too much for him. And he was proven right when, while the king ordered to fire the cannon, Edo-Erza mumbled something.

\- "This is where it ends… Natsu !"

\- "Yeah !" One moment, Edo-Erza let go of Natsu, and the next, he used his magic to send the guards flying away, Edo-Erza using this distraction to get closer to the king and hold him hostage.

\- "Halt the firing sequence !" She ordered to the awestruck guards who couldn't believe that the famous Knightwalker was betraying them.

\- "What is the meaning of this, Erza !?" Seethed the king, stopping when she began to shine, reverting to a far more familiar appearance, one that made jaws fell to the ground among the Edolas citizens.

\- "My name is Erza Scarlett, Earthland's Erza !"

\- "Sorry about that, that was close." Smiled Gray. "Thanks for letting yourself be fooled."

\- "Kakaka !" Laughed Natsu. "This is plan D ! Plan D for Deception !"

\- "Change the target to the Lachryma." Asked Erza.

\- "Don't listen to her ! Fire immediately !" Ordered the king, his men not knowing what to do. Seeing that the mages weren't kidding around, they decided to do as they were said, but Faust wasn't one to give up and he was ready for anything to reach his goal. "Don't worry about me ! Fire ! For the sake of destroying the Exceed !"

The soldiers weren't really listening to him, thinking about saving their king first, but as they were re-aiming the cannon, something no one could have anticipated happened and threw a wrench into the mages plan, a shadow looming above Erza and shooting at her.

\- "SCARLETT !" Roared Knightwalker, coming from above, spear aimed at Erza, an expression of pure fury on her face, everyone else looking up in shock for some and relief for other. Erza had no choice but to let the king go to counter her doppelganger, which meant that they had now no way to force the soldiers to do as they pleased. "This isn't over yet, Scarlett !"

\- "His majesty is free ! Now ! Change the target back !"

\- "NO !"

\- "FIRE !"

And this time, everything was over. A soldier had slammed his hand on the large button on the cannon, firing the weapon, which shot a massive dragon shaped chain at the island, latching onto it, much to the mages horror and Edolas natives relief.

\- "Well, looks like your plan worked in the end. But I do know one thing." Said Shadow Moon, looking at the mages. "Those are the kind of people who'd rather die than give up. I think you better not take any chance."

The soldiers nodded, already turning to the mages when out of nowhere, a flurry of bullet rained down from the sky, making the one who survived look up, only to see a massive black and blue flying creature hovering above them, with Lucy, Gaim, OOO and Ghost, weapons in hands, looking down at the others.

\- "Guys ! Get on !" Shouted Lucy, the others freeing themselves of their attacker to join their friends, covered by the Riders who kept firing.

\- "A Legion ? How can she control one ?!" Wondered Faust, glaring at the blonde when a little girl appeared next to Lucy.

\- "This is my Legion !"

\- "Coco ?"

\- "We can stop it with this ?!" Asked Natsu, getting onboard the Legion with the others.

\- "I don't know, but we have to try anyway !" And with that, they took off, leaving the soldiers and a pissed off Faust and Knightwalker behind.

\- "Scarlett…" Seethed the redhead before suddenly grabbing a knife, cutting her hair to make them shoulder length before turning around and walking off. "After them, second magical warfare corps ! All members of the Legion corps, sortie ! And you !" she stopped to point at Shadow Moon who looked at her with crossed arms. "Bring me one of those robots of yours !"

\- "And why do you need one, if I may ?"

\- "This damned blue and orange Rider dared to interrupt our fight ! I won't let him do it again ! So give me one of them RIGHT NOW !" To say she was pissed would be one hell of an understatement at this point.

\- "Alright." Agreed Shadow Moon. "With all the help you brought, I guess I can make another gesture." He said before walking toward his lab. "I'll send it to you in a moment."

\- "I'll go as well." Suddenly said the King, surprising his soldiers, but what he added was much worse. "Prepare the Dorma Animu."

\- "B…But sir, that's forbidden !" Said one of the soldier. "By article 23 of the imperial charter…"

\- "Prepare it !" Needless to say, at this point, discussing was out of the question. Blood was about to be shed, and Edolas was going to make sure it would be fairy's.

/- Meanwhile, with Gajeel and Haruto -/

While Natsu and co were fighting in the amusement park, another fight was currently ongoing on the floating island carrying the large Lachryma. The characteristic noise of metal clashing against metal echoing through the air and if one got close enough, he could see the reason of those noises : a huge sword clashing against the iron scales of a black haired Dragon Slayer.

\- "Gajeel !" Shouted Happy, worried for his comrade who was facing Panther Lily, the large and buff Exceed wielding a humongous sword.

\- "I wonder if this sword is heavy as hell and he's really strong or if she's lighter than she looks." Wondered Ankh, floating next to the cat, observing the Dragon Slayer who was glaring at his opponent.

\- "To think you'd stop my sword, which can smash iron, with your bare hands." Said the Exceed. "You Earthland mages are full of surprises."

\- "Sorry, but Iron Dragon Scales aren't just your ordinary iron." Revealed Gajeel. Suddenly, Haruto walked up to him.

\- "Hey, Gajeel. If you're so busy fighting with him, maybe you can fuse your magic in this so I can try to free everyone." He said, handing him the Land Dragon Ring, but as Gajeel was about to grab it, the large sword landed between them, forcing the two of them apart.

\- "I think you'd better not talk about your plan in front of the enemy." Advised Panther. "Besides, don't go thinking I can't fight the two of you at the same time."

\- "There's one thing I don't understand." Said Haruto, addressing the knight who glanced at him. "You're an Exceed right ? So why are you working for the Royal Army when they're trying to destroy Extalia ?"

\- "That's a story from long ago." Grumbled Panther as he raised his sword high above his head. "I've discarded my home ! That fake country !"

He then slammed his sword on his two opponents, both of them blocking it with either their arms or their sword, the ground breaking down beneath them.

\- "Fake country ? What do you mean ?" Asked Haruto. As for Gajeel, he had something else to say.

\- "So you're on the outside looking in, huh ? Nice, same as me." He said, Haruto looking above his shoulder at the Dragon Slayer, seeing the grin appear on his face. "Kehehe… I like him. I'm gonna make him my cat !" He finally said as he shattered the large sword, much to the large Exceed's shock.

\- "WHAT !?" Shouted Happy, not believing what he just said.

\- "Now's not the time to look for a pet, dumbass !" Shouted Ankh.

\- "Did your desire to have a cat really gave you the strength to break that sword ?" Asked Haruto, a little disturbed by the change in Gajeel's attitude.

\- "But first I've gotta show you who's stronger !" Shouted Gajeel as he jumped at the Exceed, unleashing a flurry of punch at the Exceed. "KEHEHEHEHE ! Now I won't be outdone by Salamander or by the little girl !"

\- "Who would have known he could be so childish about something like that." Said Haruto, sweat dropping as he watched the Dragon Slayer pummeling the Exceed in midair before finishing him with a point blank Iron Dragon's Roar which crushed Panther Lily against the ground.

\- "Gajeel's face is scary !" Cried Happy as he saw the feral look on the Dragon Slayer face as he landed on the ground.

\- "I don't think that's how you get yourself a pet." Muttered Haruto. As soon as he said that, Panther surprisingly jumped out of the hole he had been buried into, a smirk on his face as he ran straight at Gajeel, landing a strong punch to his face, Gajeel then returning the grin as they began to fight bare-handed, clearly enjoying themselves.

\- "Great… now we've got another battle crazy guy. One was more than enough." Sighed Ankh as Haruto sat down next to him. "You're not joining ?"

\- "I think at this point, it's not a fight in which I can get involved." Explained Wizard, letting the two others do as they please. However, they were brought back to reality as out of nowhere, something pierced through the stone of the island, making it shake and confused its occupants.

\- "What the … ?!"

\- "What is that thing ? What's happening !?" Asked Ankh, confused while Panther grinned. "Wait… Is the island moving ?!"

\- "The Dragon Chain Cannon's been attached !" Said the knight. "This is our military's plan. We're going to smash this Lachryma into Extalia and destroy them both."

\- "How…" Began Happy, his body shaking as tears pooled in his eyes. "How can you do such a horrible thing ?"

\- "Don't you fell into despair Happy." Said Haruto as he got up, taking the Drago Timer out of his magic storage. "As long as we're here and still fighting, there's still hope." And indeed, he was right to think like that. Soon after, Coco's Legion arrived, the mages and Rider on board ready to do anything they could to stop the island. The Legion slammed his head into the island and began to push as hard as he can.

\- "You can do it ! Legion !" Encouraged Coco, however, this wasn't enough as the island kept advancing.

\- "It's no good ! It doesn't look the least bit like it's gonna stop !" Noticed Gray.

\- "Then we're going to have to push it ourselves." Said Kouta as he and the two others Rider changed their armor.

 _ **TAKA ! KUJAKU ! CONDOR ! TA**_ __ _ **JA**_ __ _ **DORU**_ __ _ **!**_

 _ **KURUMI ARMS ! MR KNUCKLE MAN !**_

 _ **KAIGAN : NEWTON ! RINGO GA RAKKA, HIKIYOSE MAKKA**_ __ _ **!**_

Using their armors, the Rider joined the Legion, trying to stop the island from reaching Extalia, soon joined by Natsu who was standing on the beast head. As they were pushing as hard as they could, Happy flew to them.

\- "Natsu !"

\- "Happy !"

\- "I… uh…" Happy didn't knew what to say, wondering what his best friend though of him after everything that happened. But there wasn't any need to be afraid, Natsu looking at him with a grin.

\- "Help me out, partner !"

\- "…Aye !" Answered the cat as he joined Natsu and the other as the island got dangerously close to Extalia, soon followed by Gajeel and Haruto.

\- "Let's make a plan first, black cat !" Said Gajeel, said black cat glaring at him.

\- "You planning on running ?!"

\- "I won't run or hide !" Said Gajeel as he jumped to the Legion. "I'm gonna settle things after I stop that thing !"

\- "Stop it !? That huge floating island attached to the Dragon Chain !?" Panther's eyes were wide in shock, not believing a single second that they could do it. "It's useless ! There's no future for us ! We've got nothing left !"

\- "Afterwards, I'm bringing you back to the guild, even if I have to drag you." Smirked Gajeel at Panther. "Then you're going to become my cat… Gihihi…"

\- "It won't work ! It's gonna hit ! Bear it !" As the two island hit, the Riders and mages kept fighting, pushing with their arms on one island and with their legs on the others. Eiji even turned to Sagohzo to add more strength, everyone giving everything they had to try to stop the island, everything happening right under Panther Lily's nose who couldn't believe what he was seeing, though one of them shocked him even more.

\- "Coco ? What are you doing here ?"

\- "Lily !" Coco lifted her head as she pushed on the island as hard as she could, smiling at Panther. "So you noticed ! I… Don't need infinite magic. I want an infinite smile !"

\- "What are you blabbering on about ?!" Roared Panther. "Hurry up and get out of here ! We won't be able to stop this island no matter what !"

\- "I'm gonna stop it !" Countered Natsu, shouting it with all of his heart. "Even if it splinters my body, I'll just stop it with my soul !"

\- "It doesn't matter what kind of hardship we're facing." Added Haruto, surrounded by his different elemental clones. "As long as we're alive, hope will exist. We'll never cease to fight !"

/- Much sooner, on Extalia -/

Now, lets see what happened with Wendy, Carla and Emu, gone to Extalia to warn the cats about the possible incoming destruction in case the others failed to stop the King's project. And of course, when they entered the town, they were met with wide eyes and gasps, the Exceeds wondering why a fallen angel and two humans were doing here. Its surrounded by whispers and tensed faces that they walked through the crowd, until coming to a stop in the principal plaza.

\- "I'd like an audience with the Queen." Asked Wendy. "Danger draws near to Extalia."

\- "Out of the way, out of the way. Make way for me…" Came Nadi's voice, making it's way though the crowd, heading straight to the group, his fist shaking along the way as usual. When he finally pierced through the crowd he glared at them, sweating slightly. "Y…You guys are in trouble ! Fallen angels and humans are prohibited from infiltrating Extalia."

\- "This is not the time for that." Said Carla. "If you value your lives, listen to what we have to say."

\- "Where'd Nichiya and the rest of the people chasing you go ?" Asked the long black cat.

\- "They were turned into a Lachryma by the Royal Army." Revealed Emu, eyes widening all around them soon followed by… laughter.

\- "As if Extalia's Imperial Guard could be taken by mere humans ! Stop talking nonsense." Apparently, the mere idea of a human being better than an Exceed was unfathomable to them. In fact, Nadi was the only one who wasn't laughing, even shaking and sweating slightly.

\- "It's true !" Added Wendy, trying to convince the Exceed that the incoming threat was real. "The Royal Army is going to attack this place next !"

\- "Let them do as they please ! The Queen will just brush them off with Magic !" Laughed the Exceed, clearly not taking this seriously. And Wendy was starting to lose her patience.

\- "If you don't all flee, you'll be in grave danger !"

\- "Shut it, human !" Shouted a cat who, suddenly, threw a rock at Wendy, hitting her on the head, before being imitated by the others as rock soon rained down on the three. If Emu wasn't bothered by the projectile who didn't reached above his shoulder, he was on the other hand getting mad as he listened to the cats who were pummeling the two girl with stones. "you don't even know about the Queen's magical power ! We're Exceed ! We're greater than you humans ! Get out of here, you humans and fallen angel ! This is Extalia, the nation governed by the Queen ! We can't lose to humans so long as we have the Queen !"

\- "If you hate humans so much, do as you like with me !" Shouted Wendy despite the rocks hitting her head. "But not Carla ! She's one of you, isn't she !? Listen to what she has to say !"

But the Exceed weren't listening to her, throwing rock after rock at the girls who were now holding each other, crying as they suffered when suddenly…

 _ **MIGHTY ACTION X !**_

 _ **GEKITOTSU ROBOTS !**_

The stoning stopped as the digital screen appeared, the Exceed looking at Emu with curiosity, wondering what a lowly human could do. But what followed made their eyes go wide.

\- "Henshin…"

 _ **GACHAN ! LEVEL UP ! MIGHTY JUMP ! MIGHTY KICK ! MIGHTY MIGHTY ACTION X ! A GACHA ! BUTTOBASE ! TOTSUGEKI ! GEKITOTSU PUNCH ! GEKITOTSU ROBOTS !**_

Now transformed, the Exceed were awestruck, not expecting this kind of development. Wendy and Carla looked up, wondering what he was about to do.

\- "I don't care how superior you think you are and how powerful your Queen is, I won't let you stone those girls who, knowing they weren't allowed here, came anyway to warn you about something that might happen soon. The least you can do would be to listen to her instead of acting like superior pricks."

\- "You… Don't you go thinking your armor will protect you ! The Queen will obliterate you anyway !"

\- "Maybe… But are you powerful too ?" The question took the Exceed by surprise, wondering what he meant. "Because to me, it looks like you're acting all mighty when you're simply hiding behind your Queen. According to you, how many of you I could eliminate before your Queen arrive ? If you're that strong…" Emu then raised his large arm, resting his other hand on it. "Then come and beat me."

But of course, no one moved, the confidence Emu displayed putting the Exceed ill at ease. They tried to stay strong, but some of them had a hard time keeping a strong front. However, before any of them could add something, the island suddenly shook violently, a deep and growing rumble coming from the edge of the island, Carla remembering that this was were this couple that helped them lived. And of course, the Exceed understood what it was.

\- "The Royal Army's attacking !"

\- "Despite being humans, they're going against Exceed !?"

\- "Those foolish humans know nothing of the Queen's power !"

\- "It's time to let them understand once and for all ! There's nothing to be afraid of ! The Queen's behind us !"

\- "It hit the Lachryma…" Said Wendy, feeling her worst fear becoming reality.

\- "No, it looks like it's stopped. But it won't last long and they're just going to let thing happen, sure that their Queen will save them. What a sad sight." Sighed Emu.

\- "I'm sorry Carla… Things shouldn't have…"

\- "What are you saying ?! It's too early to quit now !" Chided Carla, under Nadi's gaze before turning to the other Exceeds. "Everyone, listen up !"

\- "You're still here ?! You fallen one !" Shouted an Exceed, throwing a rock at her but before it could reach her, Nadi intervene, using his own body to protect her, taking everyone by surprise.

\- "It's dangerous… to throw rocks…" He began, before straightening himself. "These people informed us about the danger ! But no one listened, and look what happened !"

However, the people wasn't convinced, keeping on calling for the Queen, not understanding why Nadi was acting like that, much to the black cat uneasiness, Emu noticing that he didn't looked as confident as they were about their Queen power.

\- "That's enough, Nadi." Speaking of the Queen, everyone turned as they heard that new feminine voice, only to found a white female Exceed wearing regal clothes, followed by four old Exceed. "The time has come." All of the Exceed fell to their knees, bowing down at the Queen who approached the crowd, Wendy, Carla and Emu looking at her with wide eyes as she came to a stop a few meters away from them. "Everyone… please raise your heads. Now calm down and listen to my words." The Exceed did as they were told, smile on their faces as they wondered what she was about to do, hopefully punish the humans with her magic. "Right now, Extalia is facing the danger of destruction. We can no longer avoid our fate… therefore I have decided on something."

\- "Exterminate the humans ?!" Hopefully wondered an Exceed, making Emu take a step forward.

\- "I have to warn you : if you want to harm anyone, you'll have to go through me first." Warned the Kamen Rider, which only made the Queen smile a little.

\- "You won't have to do that." Said the Queen as she, shockingly, let her regal robes off her shoulder, basically undressing in front of everyone. "As I am here to tell you all the truth. I am a mere Exceed." As she said that, she took her jewelry off, throwing them to the ground, the Exceed's eyes widening with each action she took, fear and disbelief appearing on their faces. "Not a queen and certainly not a God. I am the same Exceed as all of you. I have no power with which to fight against humans." Now wearing nothing more than a tank top and some shorts, she stood there, looking nothing like a Queen in the middle of the others feline, the only thing that differentiate her from the others being the fact that she had simply one wing, silence having fell on the city.

\- "Now this is something I wasn't expecting." Admitted Emu, abandoning his defensive demeanor.

"I am deeply sorry for hiding it from you. Wendy-san, Carla-san and Emu-san, was it ? I apologize to you all too. It is all my fault. Please do not hold grudges against everyone else here."

\- "What do you mean ?" Asked Wendy, not understanding what she meant when one of the older cats took a step forward.

\- "No… It falls to the responsibility of us elders who made up such a thing as a 'Queen'. We're a very weak race, and long ago, the humans did many horrible things to us. That's why, in order to protect ourselves, we made the humans think we had some sort of powers. And in order for all the Exceed to regain their confidence, we even made all of Extalia believe in the power of God. Humans who didn't believe at first eventually came to embrace and fear the power of God. Rather than the power of God, however, it was really just a part of the bluff we Exceeds made. For example, the 'Human Management' that picks who we kill, that's all made up afterwards. We aren't choosing which humans to kill. We have no such powers, of course. There is one power though… and that is Shagotte's slight ability to see the future, she can see the death of humans. We made people think that these people were being killed due to the Queen's decision, too."

At this point, the Exceed were all crying in disbelief, which was understandable. They just learned that everything they believed all their lives was nothing more than a lie. Emu and Wendy were shocked to learn such a thing, that they could have gone this far just to assure their people would survive. One person however wasn't feeling like crying or pitying them.

\- "Sophist…" Began Carla, glaring at Shagotte. "Whether or not you really have power, you ordered us to kill our friends ! And that is the truth !"

\- "Shagotte never gave such an order !" Said one of the elders. "It was probably made up by some humans abusing the Queen's existence."

\- "No it wasn't !" Shouted Carla. "Strange memories were implanted on me, my heart was controlled ! You ordered me to carry out the Dragon Slayer massacre ! From before I was born !"

\- "N…N-N… No she didn't !" Jumped in Nadi, trying to appease the situation. "There's a long, deep story behind this !"

\- "I don't care what the story is, I will not forgive her !"

\- "Carla ! Let's no talk about that right now." Asked Wendy, as they had more important things to do. But Shagotte looked like she agreed with Carla.

\- "It's exactly as you say, Carla-san. You are innocent. And yet, I hurt you the most." With that, she threw a sword at Carla before kneeling in front of her, eyes closed. "Please, judge my sin with your hand. As one who loves both humans and Exceed, you have that right."

Of course, the reaction were numerous. Wendy asked Carla not to do it, Shagotte ordered the Exceed to get away from here, wanting to go down along with Extalia, the Exceed crying and refusing to leave, feeling like giving up now that they had nothing to hold onto. The maelstrom of fear, cries and tears was starting to get out of control as Carla grabbed the sword, raising it before…

\- "DON'T JUST GIVE UP WHENEVER YOU FEEL LIKE IT !" She jabbed the sword in the ground, making everyone go silent as she address everyone. "This is your country, isn't it ?! Can't you do anything without a God or a Queen ?! Even though I was lying up until now, I was living with all my might ! How can you give up so easily like that ?! It's okay to be weak ! If we all put our strength together, we can make it ! This country will not be destroyed ! This is my homeland, after all ! It won't disappear ! I will not give up ! I will stop it no matter what it takes !"

And with that, she took off, leaving behind her a bunch of taken aback and crying Exceeds, looking at her go to try and save this country despite everything it did to her in the past. The stayed silent and unmoving for a moment when someone stepped out of the crowd, his wings already deployed, tears running down his face.

\- "I'll go with her…" Said Nadi, turning to his 'queen'. "Because I love this country."

\- "Would you mind giving me a lift ?" Asked Emu, walking to the black cat. "I just can't stay here and do nothing when lives are at stake. I have to do something. And you all CAN do something, too." He said, addressing the Exceeds. "I can understand that you're all currently undergoing things that can't be forgotten or put aside, but if this is your home, and if you want to, you can change its fate, with your own hands ! Now let's go Nadi ! We have an island to save !"

\- "Okay !"

Meanwhile, not that far away, mages and Riders were struggling, giving everything they had to stop the Lachryma from reaching Extalia, a task that proved to be much more difficult than they first though, but it didn't mattered. They kept fighting against it, to protect the country of cats and their friends from disappearing. The only person here who didn't tried to help them was Panther Lily, who was looking at them, not understanding why they were even trying.

\- "It's useless !" He shouted to them. "I'm telling you that it's not something that's possible with mere human strength !"

\- "First of all, we aren't mere humans." Reminded Eiji, in Sagohzo Combo, his back against the Lachryma island, his legs pushing against Extalia, his eyes noticing something approaching from above. "And secondly, we aren't alone !"

Just as he said that, Carla came flying, immediately pushing on the island to push it back, giving everything she had.

\- "Carla !" Said Happy.

\- "I'm not giving up !" Shouted the white Exceed, tears in her eyes. "Fairy Tail, Extalia, I'm going to protect them both !" Then, someone else appeared next to her, pushing with everyone else. "You…"

\- "I want to protect it too…"

\- "Nadi…" Whispered Lily, not believing that Extalia's Minister of State would come and help.

 _ **MAXIMUM GASHAT ! GACHAN ! LEVEL MAX ! SAIDAIKYUU NO POWERFUL BODY ! DARIRAGAN ! DAGOZUBAN ! MAXIMUM POWER**_ __ _ **X**_ __ _ **!**_

Then, it was the massive Maximum Gamer Level 99 that appeared among them all, pushing with everyone else.

\- "And he's not the only one who want to protect it… Everyone want to…"

Much to Happy, Carla, Panther Lily, but also everyone else, every single Exceed came flying from Extalia to the Lachryma, one of them carrying Wendy, each and everyone of them being there for the same thing.

\- "One should protect one's own country !" Said one.

\- "For the sake of the Queen who's braved perils to continue to protect this country and its people as well !" Added another.

Speaking of Shagotte, she too was here, struggling to even fly with just one wing.

\- "Shagotte ! It's impossible with that wing." Said one of the Elders flying behind her.

\- "It's something… I have to do." She said, forcing herself to fly so she could help everyone in protecting their country. "We've all got to do what we can !"

Just underneath them, Marl and Lucky were looking at the Exceed with wide eyes, not believing what they were seeing.

\- "Is this some kind of… dream ?" Muttered a wide-eyed Lucky, his eyes locked on the Exceed above them.

\- "Extalia has unified ?" Asked Marl, tears in her eyes, not believing it either.

As for Panther, seeing them all here made him think. Thinking about a very specific event, one that explained why he was on the Royal Army's side nowadays.

/- Flashback -/

\- "Lily ! Why have you saved a human child !?"

Many, many years ago, back when Panther Lily was still a citizen of Extalia, he happened to save the life of a young child, which he then brought back to Extalia, which of course was forbidden. It lead him to being called by the Elders who weren't happy with the situation.

\- "It was badly wounded…" Explained Lily, his head hanging low as he was on his knee, facing Shagotte and the four Elders who weren't listening to him.

\- "Idiot ! How inappropriate to bring something like that to Extalia !"

\- "But… Even though it's a human, I can't just ignore a wounded creature." Said Panther, trying to justify himself, his explanations falling into deaf ears.

\- "Have you forgotten the law, Lily ?! You are hereby banished from Extalia as a Fallen Angel !" This shocked Panther Lily to his core, not believing they would go that far for something that, in the end, was pretty much trivial. And that's how Panther left Extalia, with the wounded children.

/- Flashback end -/

This event was what made Lily join Edolas army, to try and destroy this country. But seeing the Exceed all working together alongside humans to try and save Extalia made him think and look at thing differently. Suddenly, among the Exceed, Shagotte, incapacitated by her lack of wings, began to fall, plummeting to the ground, only to be saved, unexpectedly, by Panther, much to the now ex-Queen and the Elders surprise.

\- "Lily…" Whispered the white feline, not believing that Panther was here and saved her, memories of the day he was exiled coming back to her mind, memory of a thing she always regretted.

\- "Your Majesty… has creating fate tired you out ?" Asked Panther Lily, making the cat wince slightly.

\- "I'm sorry… I…"

\- "Me too." Suddenly apologized Panther, tears in his eyes. "No matter how much I may despise it… Extalia is my homeland. But it's too late… Even with this mass of Exceed, it can't be stopped ! I'm sorry ! It's my fault ! I could have stopped it ! I could've topped the humans !"

\- "I appreciate your feelings." Sadly smiled Shagotte, tears falling from her eyes; looking at the large island which was slowly crushing its way toward Extalia despite everyone's best efforts. Everyone was pushing as hard as they could. Eiji and Emu's feet were digging trench a s they were slowly pushed back, everyone's hands suffering from the effort, but no one could even think about letting go.

And then, it happened.

Suddenly, the island began to move back and judging by the wide eyes of all of those who were pushing the island, it wasn't due to them. They all let the island go just in time as a large bolt suddenly struck it. The Exceed, mages and Riders all looked bewildered at the island, wondering what the hell was happening, his locked on the large cloud of smoke that covered the island after the bolt struck and, much to everyone shock, when the smoke disappeared, the Lachryma was nowhere to be seen, replaced by a massive hole that took most of the island.

\- "The Lachryma… is gone !?" Said Gray, eyes wide, not believing what he just saw. "What happened ?!"

\- "It's returned to Earthland." Everyone looked up to see none other than Mystogan and Shinnosuke in Speed Type, standing on the back of a large owl, flanked by Sento in HawkGatling and Gentaro who hovered on the other side with Gyro. "I apologize for being so late, I was searching for the vestiges of the giant anima in order to send it all back and we wouldn't have made it without everyone's strength. I thank you."

\- "Mystogan !" Exclaimed Erza, looking up to their comrade.

\- "Sento ! Gentaro ! Shinnosuke !" Smiled Haruto. "What are you doing here ?"

\- "Do you know what it feels like to come back home and see that a town completely disappeared without a trace ?" Asked Gentaro.

\- "We found Mystogan who explained everything to us. And luckily, we came here just in time." Added Sento.

\- "Wait, sent it all back ?" Repeated Happy, wondering if he understood correctly.

\- "That's right." Confirmed Mystogan. "Using the Anima once again, the Lachryma has been returned to Earthland in its original form. It's all over."

And with that, everyone cheered, realizing that they succeeded. They protected Extalia and saved everyone, putting an end to the King's projects. While they were all cheering, Panther looked up at Mystogan who looked back at him, before taking his scarf and hood off.

\- "Lily. This is the life you saved…" He said, revealing his face at Lily, showing him the same tattooed face that the child he saved all those years ago had. "I'm glad to have protected your homeland."

\- "Yes… Thank you…" Thanked Lily, tears running down his face. "Your Highness…"

\- "The prince has returned…" Cried Coco, realizing who Mystogan was, people around her looking at the blue haired mage in shock. But as the saying state : all good things eventually come to an end.

Out of nowhere, a blast of energy shot and pierced Panther Lily from behind, much to everyone shock and horror who could only look at the human sized Exceed who was now falling, an angry voice coming from behind him.

\- "Not yet… IT'S NOT OVER YET !" The identity of the shooter was now known as Erza Knightwalker, who was carrying a large smoking cannon on her shoulder, standing on top of a Legion, followed by what seemed to be the whole army of Edolas, all of them flying at them all, everyone looking at them with shock and anger.

\- "Do they even know when to give up ?" Asked Sento, looking at the incoming army as some Exceed, following Shagotte's order, flew down to save Panther Lily. "The Lachryma has been sent back to Earthland, how could this not be the end ?"

\- "I don't know, but I don't think they care." Said Takeru as Knightwalker's Legion came to a stop, the redhead glaring at Erza.

\- "SCARLETT !"

\- "Knightwalker." Before Erza could add anything, Mystogan interrupted, looking down at her Edolas counterpart.

\- "Do you intend to point your blade at me, the prince of Edolas ? Erza Knightwalker."

\- "I do not think of a punk like you as my son !" Came the King's voice, which seemed to echo all over the sky, making everyone wonder where it was really coming from. "After having concealed your whereabout for 7 years, now you brazenly return ?! I am well aware that you were traveling about in Earthland closing up the Anima. You traitor !"

\- "Where the hell is this voice coming from ?" Wondered Eiji, looking all around to find Faust.

\- "Hey ! Show yourself !" Roared Natsu, feeling his desire to pummel the king grow with each passing seconds.

\- "Your Anima plan has failed." Simply stated Mystogan. "There's no longer any meaning in this battle, is there ?"

\- "Meaning ? Meaning in battle, you say ? This is no battle. This is retribution against those who would make themselves enemies of the King. This is unilateral extermination." As the king said that, which made some people question is sanity, they also heard noises coming from the forest under them, making them all look down to see something that made their eyes go wide in shock. "If you intend to stand in my way, I will erase even you and not leave the merest trace behind. I am not your father. I am the king of Edolas. Come to think of it… If I just finish you here, the person closing the Anima in Earthland will have disappeared. I can create giant Lachryma and try to fuse them with the Exceed as many times as I please. FUHAHAHAHAHA ! Nothing is impossible before the power of the King ! The power of the King is absolute !"

As he said that, he had stepped out of the forest, revealing that he was controlling nothing more than a giant robotic dragon whose roar made everyone shake as they looked at the machine in shock and slight fear, even more for the Exceed who knew what this was.

\- "Dorma Anim… In the language of this world, it means 'Dragon Knight'." Explained Mystogan. "It's got the reinforced armor of a dragon !"

\- "What do you mean by reinforced armor ?!" Asked Carla, gaining an answer from Coco who was looking in terror at the machine underneath them.

\- "It's wizard canceller, a manned armor that negates any magic coming from the outside. His Majesty is piloting Dorma Anim from the inside !"

\- "This is clearly not good." Said Haruto, looking down at the dragon. "And here we though that it was all over…"

\- "Come, my army !" Shouted the King. "Capture the Exceed !"

\- "Yes sir !" The soldiers then all charged at the Exceed, some of them taking out some kind of projector shaped cannon they used to shot beams of light at the Exceeds, turning those they touched into Lachryma, creating chaos among the feline who were now trying to flee and escape the soldiers as fast as they could. As for the mages and Riders, they all gathered on Coco's Legion to decide what they would do.

\- "Those guys are a pain, seriously !" Stated Takeru. "Never in my life have I felt such need to beat the crap out of humans !"

\- "We've got to protect the Exceed from the royal Army !" Said Erza. "Let's pursue Knightwalker's group !"

\- "And what are we going to do about that huge thing ?" Asked Gray, looking down at the armored dragon with a glare.

\- "It's useless to just oppose it, since magic don't work on it." Said Coco, Haruto looking at the creature with squinted eyes.

\- "Magic don't work on it…"

\- "It can't be avoided, we have to go !" Added Mystogan. "The Exceed are defenseless right now ! We've got to protect them !"

\- "But we'll also have to fight !" Corrected Sento. "Those soldiers won't stop until they made Lachryma out of every Exceed !"

\- "That may be true, but we first need to regroup and think about a plan !" Advised Belt-san. "Once the Exceed are secured, we'll think about a way to stop that thing."

\- "Alright ! Let's go !" And with that, Coco made her Legion go forth, but Faust wasn't going to let them go just like that.

\- "I will not let a single person escape ! Every last one of you will perish here !" As he said that, a magic circle appeared in front of the dragon's head, aimed right at the flying mages. "DISAPPEAR !"

He then fired a massive blast at the Legion, something that surely would obliterated them is it hadn't been stopped by Mystogan who used his own magic to stop the attack.

\- "Mystogan !" Shouted Erza, looking back at the mage whose scepters were out, forming a magic circle of their own.

\- "Mystogan ?" Repeated Faust with a grin. "Is that your name in Earthland, Jellal !?"

\- "Erza ! Go now, while you have the chance !" Ordered Mystogan, or rather Jellal, buying some time for his friends.

 _ **THREEFOLD MAGICAL FORMATION : MIRROR WATER !**_

Converting the power of the dragon blast into his own magic, many blasts of bluish magic shot out and rained down on the mechanical dragon with enough force to raise a large cloud of dust around it, cutting everyone view for a moment but they immediately after saw that it did literally nothing to the robot.

\- "Magic does not work on Dorma Anim !" Shouted the King in glee as he shot at Mystogan, hitting the mage before he could dodge, which made him fall from the large owl he was standing on, sending him crashing down to the ground, much to everyone's horror. "Crawling on the ground suits you ! You should die there on the ground, just like that !" He then lifted his dragon's head up to look at Coco's Legion. "You bastards are next !"

\- "Shit ! We've got to avoid that thing, fighting is out of the question !" Said gray and though everyone agreed, Lucy also noticed that something was off.

\- "Wait ! Where's Natsu !?"

\- "DIE ! *KABOOM* What !?"

Out of nowhere, something exploded on the dragon's neck, putting a sudden end to his incoming attack. Then, right after that, something struck his torso with a loud 'KLANG'

\- "Who !? Who is inflicting damage on my magic-proof Dorma Anim !?"

 _ **SKY DRAGON'S ROAR !**_

Then, it was a burst of wind that struck the dragon and forced it back a few feet, the robot managing to stay up as the three responsible landed in front of him.

\- "Hey, that's pretty good, Wendy." Said Natsu, as he cracked his knuckles.

\- "Not at all… You two inflicted more damages." Said the little mage.

\- "You bastard… how dare you touch my cat." Asked Gajeel, standing next to Wendy, the three of them facing Faust. Meanwhile, up on the Legion, many were looking down at them in worry.

\- "I think we should go and protect the cat." Stated Sento. "They got it covered."

\- "Are you sure !?" Asked Lucy. "Will they be alright with just the three of them ?!"

\- "There's nothing to worry about." Reassured Gray. "Their opponent is a Dragon. They're the only ones who can defeat it. The mages who hunt Dragons." Lucy's eyes widen as she realized that he was right, remembering who the three mages down there were. "Dragon Slayers."

\- "Besides, as long as they got hope, they won't lose." Added Gentaro with a smile. "He'll make sure of that."

\- "You really think the 3 of you can hope to defeat my Dorma Anim ?!" For Faust, those three were nothing more than a nuisance he had to get rid of, the side of his body opening to reveal many cannons that Natsu and the others already saw before.

\- "Wait, those are…"

\- "I see you already know what those things are ! They are a little gift from this Shocker guy." The revelation made the mages' eyes go wide. "I let them do some upgrade to Dorma Anim just in case. Let's see if you can beat that !"

And he fired the cannon that shot laser beam at the three mages who were ready to jump to dodge the attack when something else happened that made them stop in their track and their eyes widen.

 _ **DEFEND, PLEASE !**_

A large wall of stone suddenly rose from the ground just in front of them, blocking the laser as well as taking by surprise Faust and the mages who quickly identified who just gave them a hand.

\- "If three isn't enough, what about 4 ?" Asked Haruto as he walked to the Dragon Slayers who either smiled or grinned at him as he came to a stop next to them. "If it's hope they need, I'll gladly provide it to them. After all, I am the ultimate hope." In his machine, Faust was seething, glaring at the now four brats that dared to face him while on the other side, the mood was much brighter.

\- "Alright ! I'm fired up !" Stated Natsu, fists ablaze with a cocky grin.

\- "I'm going to wreck that ridiculous lizard !" Stated Gajeel with a glare at the machine.

\- "We're going to win this, everyone !" Added Wendy with a fierce expression on her face.

\- "Right. Now, it's showtime !"

 **Here it is. I hope you liked it. If you did, or not, leave a review to let me know about it, even if it's advises or questions, I'll listen to them all and if I can, I'll add them to this story. See ya !**

 **Next time : The war begin ! Dragons vs Dragon. Massive reinforcement from two worlds. The Shogun and the Knights.**


	53. chapter 52 : Knights and Dragons

**Alright ! How are you all ?**

 **This chapter will be a bit shorter in term of words, but I have to admit that I faced a writer block when I wrote it. I feel like this isn't my best chapter, but I'm sure I'll do better next time. Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy it either way. Have fun !**

 **Chapter 52 : Knights and Dragons**

It was now time for the battle to enter its final segment and it all began with three mages and a wizard facing off with a large mechanical dragon controlled by a mad and power hungry king. Needless to say, the king, who wasn't expecting people to try and resist him, wasn't in the best off mood.

\- "You brats !" Seethed the king as he aimed the cannon in the dragon's mouth at his four opponents, who didn't backed down.

\- "I'll back you up !" Shouted Wendy as she used her magic on her three friends.

 _ **FAST WINDS THAT RUN THE HEAVEN : BANIA !**_

Boosted by that enchantment, the three guys whose speed had been upgraded ran at Faust and dodged the energy shot before coming back at the dragon at a blinding speed.

 _ **FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FIST !**_

 _ **IRON DRAGON'S CLUB !**_

The two Dragon Slayers' attacked at the same time, punching the dragon's head, slightly damaging the armor which triggered two type of reaction.

\- "Dorma Anim that doesn't let magic go through is being damaged a little ?!" Groaned the king, not believing that those brats could damage is weapon.

\- "What's this hardness ?!" Complained Gajeel, impressed and annoyed by the sturdiness of that metallic beast, realizing that it's going to be pretty hard to destroy that thing.

 _ **DRILL, PLEASE !**_

When Natsu and Gajeel jumped to the side to avoid the dragon attack just before, Haruto had jumped above it, positioning himself just above Dorma Anim. Using his Drill Ring, he then fell on the dragon's neck, slamming it into the ground, but despite that, he didn't managed to do much damages. Apparently, Faust let Shocker work a little on Dorma Anim armor. But if they lacked power, it was soon going to change, thank to Wendy.

 _ **POWER OF THE STOUT ARMS THAT TEARS HEAVEN : ARMS !**_

Another enchantment was used on the three men, who could feel their strength rising suddenly.

\- "It's a magic that strengthen your offensive ability !" Explained Wendy as she saw their confusion. But it was soon replaced by grins as they immediately attacked the king with their enhanced strength, Natsu landing a powerful blow to the robot head. Inside, Faust groaned at the blow before focusing his attention on the little girl he quickly analyzed as the biggest pain for him right now.

\- "That brat ! Fire Ryuukidan !"

The back of the dragon opened and a complete salvo of missile came out of it, aiming for Wendy. But the girl wasn't defenseless, using Bania on herself to dodge the missile which exploded on the ground. However, they were revealed to be tracking type missile, some of them turning at the last time and get closer to her. Suddenly, Haruto appeared, sword in hand and destroyed all the missile, saving Wendy, much to Faust annoyance.

\- "Here's some more !" He said as the trapdoor on his back opened once more. But…

\- "As if I'll let you do that !" Shouted Gajeel, slamming said trapdoor close with his club, only to be swatted away by the metallic, letting two missile go straight at Haruto and Wendy.

\- "Two of them are still coming !" Said Wendy, making Haruto get ready, only to realize those weren't strange.

\- "Wait… They aren't the same !" He said, the missile exploding in midair, the large fiery explosion engulfing the two of them, but they weren't hurt at all. The reason ? Natsu who had jumped in just in time and sucked in all the fire from the explosion, much to Wendy and Haruto's joy, but also to Faust surprise.

\- "What ? He ate the fire from the explosion ?!" Then, he heard a strange crunching noise coming from behind him, turning around, he saw Gajeel, who was grabbing onto the tail ever since he was swatted by it, munching onto the tail, slowly eating the metal. "He's eating the tail ?! This is bullshit ! They're the mages from Earthland !"

\- "It's strong…" Said Natsu to Haruto and Wendy, joined by Gajeel. "Worthy to be called a dragon."

\- "Although he is the king, he doesn't have any guard around him. He must have a lot of faith in it." Added Wendy.

\- "It seems like that robot was powerful before. If Shocker upgraded it even a little, then it's no surprise he trust it that much." Said Haruto.

\- "I'm getting fired up." Finished Natsu with a grin.

As for Faust, despite the situation, his grin didn't faltered.

 _"They're strong… However… That's why I must have them !"_ he activated something that slowly made the metal dragon darker, turning black. _"As long as I have them, I can carry out the Anima project once again ! Capture those three for the sake of the eternal magical power… No… they're no longer humans but weapons ! It's plunder ! It can't be helped if there's damage on some parts…"_

\- "First of all, I'll drain all of your fighting spirits ! Using the power of the Black Heaven Dorma Anim !"

The power the four felt coming out of the dragon became suddenly even greater and sickening, realizing that their fight was going to be much more difficult from now. they already had a hard time damaging it before and if this new appearance came with an upgrade in power and resistance, they were in for a hard time.

While our little group of dragons was facing the mechanical beast, far from here, hiding behind a tree, looking at the fight stood Mystogan, alive and only slightly injured despite the blast he took dead on and the fall that followed.

\- "I'm sorry Natsu." Said Mystogan to himself, feeling bad for letting Natsu and his friends fight his father, but he had other things to do.

\- "Prince…" Without turning, Mystogan knew who was addressing him. It was Panther, his wounds covered in bandages, supported by an Exceed as he walked to the former prince. "What're you thinking ? You got defeated on purpose just then." The smile that Mystogan had as he turned around made Panther realize that he was indeed right.

\- "There's no other way but to let Natsu and the others take care of Dorma Anim. We have some other business to take care of." Explained Mystogan, Panther looking at him with wide eyes. "It's the last job. And I need your help for that."

/- Meanwhile -/

\- "We've caught up to them ! It's the army of the kingdom !" While the Slayers and Haruto fought the king and Mystogan was planning something with the large black Exceed, the rest of their friends, Riders and mages alike all aimed for the army, determined in helping and saving the Exceeds.

\- "But just how many of them are there ?!" Asked Gray, seeing the ever-growing army getting closer and closer.

\- "Looks like they called every single soldiers they had in store." Noticed Kouta who was following them on a Dandeliner. "And it seems like Shocker provided them with some kind of robotic army."

\- "Then what're we going to do ?!" Wondered Lucy, feeling uneasy at the sight of the massive army.

\- "There's no choice but to go there !" Said Erza, sword drawn and ready. "If we don't do this, the Exceeds will be wiped out !" They kept flying for a few minutes before they were interrupted by a Legion who was hovering right in front of them with a pretty familiar figure on top of it.

\- "I was waiting for you, Scarlet." Said Knightwalker with a cocky smile which made the other wary as to why she was smiling.

\- "You said… You were waiting for me ?" Repeated Erza. Soon after, noises began to come from under them, making them all look down only to see lights shining and growing closer to them.

\- "It's an ambush !"

As soon as Sento shouted that, many energy beams touched the Legion they were on, making them all fall from it and plummet to the ground. Luckily, Sento, Emu and Gentaro helped the Exceed in catching everyone before they reached the ground by using their flying armors and devices, slowing down their fall but they soon realized that some of them were missing.

\- "Where are Erza and Kouta ?" Wondered Lucy, looking all around and not finding neither the red head nor the samurai.

\- "Up above !" answered Gentaro, making them all look up. And indeed, Erza had grabbed a Legion with a grappling hook and took it down in an instant, never letting her eyes off Knightwalker with Kouta following after her, slashing at all the Legion he could.

\- "Shall we end this, Knightwalker ?" Asked Erza, making her way to her doppelganger who was looking at her with a deep frown.

\- "Everyone go ahead and land ! I'll handle her myself !" Ordered Edo-Erza at her soldiers who obeyed and began to make their way down.

\- "Even though you're Erza, you've hurt Fairy Tail too much." Said Scarlet while requipping.

\- "You too, being Erza, you bared your fang on my lord." Countered Knightwalker whose spear began to shone and change shape.

\- "We don't need two Erza." They said at the same time, their weapons clashing with each other. "This battle won't end unless one of us dies !"

\- "I guess it was inevitable." Kouta said to himself, looking at the two redhead who were going at it no hold barred. He then looked down and saw the soldiers that were following after his friends. "Let's take care of those guys first." But as soon as he began his descent, he was suddenly shot down by something that came from one of the forest far below him. Crashing down into it, Kouta quickly recovered and came face to face with the same kind of humanoid robot that Takeru and Eiji fought before, this one possessing a cannon shaped arm that was still smoking after taking down the Rider which then changed into a copy of the Daidaimaru that seemed to be made of scrap metal. "Well, looks like the other will have to handle the situation by themselves for now." He got up, drew his Musou Saber, his opponent creating one as the Rider took his usual pose. "So it's going to be like that, huh ? Very well. This is my stage, now !"

/- Back in the forest -/

\- "Is everyone alright ?" Asked Shinnosuke as he was gently put down by Gentaro who landed next to him, their eyes looking at the others who were slowly getting their mind back on track after this impromptu fall.

\- "I guess." Said Gray, getting up while rubbing his head. "What do we do now ?"

\- "We fight." Answered Takeru who was looking at the edge of the forest. "Looks like they won't give up anytime soon."

Indeed, all of the soldiers that were after them were now on foot, running at them, looking ready to fight, their Legion following after them. Though it seems like they were there to fight, their first offensive proved that they weren't there just to neutralized them. Using the same weapons as before, they mainly aimed for Carla and Happy, the Exceed dodging the blows while the others fought back. But it was as if they didn't exist, the soldiers really focusing on the two Exceeds despite everything.

\- "Why are they only aiming for Happy and Carla ?!" Wondered Lucy aloud.

\- "We've turn most Exceed that ran away into Lachryma." Revealed one of the soldiers, making everyone's eyes go wide in shock. "Those two over there are the only ones remaining ! Become our country's magical power obediently !" The rage and literal obsession the soldiers had for the Exceed made the others grit their teeth in anger.

\- "For your own magical power's sake, you don't care about the Exceed at all." Seethed Gray, gathering is magic. "Is this the human way of this world !?" He then unleashed a massive wave of ice on the soldiers, sweeping out a good part of them. "I wouldn't let you touch my friends." Among the soldiers, Shocker Combatmen came out running, weapon drawn, aiming at the mages only to be stopped by the Riders who didn't looked pleased.

\- "If this is the way justice work in this world, then it is my duty as a policeman to put an end to it." Said Drive, sending some soldiers flying with one swipe of his Handle-Ken.

\- "Life isn't something that can be sacrificed, no matter the life nor the goal." Added Ex-Aid, his Gekitotsu Smasher coming back to him after plowing through the opponent's rank.

\- "Life is something precious that should be protected, not used in any way !" Added Ghost, pushing them back with Beethoven's music.

\- "If you really want to hurt my friends, then you'll have to fight us all !" Declared Fourze, a weapon on each of his member.

\- "No matter the goal, one who's ready to risk anything without any compassion for others don't deserve to win." Added Build, in PandaRocket. "As such, we'll make sure that you won't !"

\- "We'll protect the Exceeds, no matter what !"

/- Up in the sky -/

While down on earth, mages and Riders fought to protect the Exceed from the royal army and their Shocker reinforcement, up in the sky, on a floating island, a fight was currently in full swing, a fight to death that opposed two identical redhead, one wielding a spear and the other wearing a silver armor with blades floating all around her.

 _ **TRINITY SWORD !**_

 _ **GRAVITY CORE !**_

The two attacks clashed, gravity against metal, the confrontation ending on a draw, the two women looking at each other, determination shining in their eyes.

 _ **BLUE CRIMSON !**_

The Ten Commandment shone and split into two different spears, one blue, the other red, Edo-Erza swinging the two of them at Erza, fire coming our of the red one and ice from the blue, Titania expertedly dodging them by jumping above it and jumping between two pillar before coming to a stop on one of them.

 _ **REQUIP : MORNING STAR !**_

Changing her armor, opting for a orange, yellow and white one with two sword in her hands, she dived toward her twin, pointing the two swords at her as the blades shone brightly.

 _ **PHOTON SLICER !**_

Erza fired an impressive energy blast at Edo-Erza, completely engulfing her in the light, an attack that would have been devastating if it reached its target. Yes… If…

 _ **RUNE SAVE !**_

Knightwalker once again changed her spear's shape, giving it the power to literally slice through Erza's magic, much to the latter shock and surprise, which gave the short haired one the time to counterattack, once again transforming her spear.

 _ **SILFARION !**_

This spear increasing drastically her speed, Edo-Erza thrusted at Earth-Erza, the strength of the blow enough to send her crashing through many walls. Since her opponent lost her balance, Knightwalker used this opening to try and finish her off, but Erza requipped swords that she held with her feet to block the oncoming attack, taking Edo-Erza by surprise. This gave Erza the opportunity to push her back, swords and spear clashing repeatedly as the two let their rage speak for itself.

\- "SCARLET !"

\- "KNIGHTWALKER !"

With one last confrontation that led to an explosion that forced them both back, their breath short, they looked at each other, realizing that they were on their last strength.

\- "Looks like we're even so far…" Stated Erza, looking at Knightwalker who all but smiled at her, almost amused.

\- "Even ? You're wrong. You haven't seen the Ten Commandments' final form yet." As she said that, and much to Erza's surprise, the spear changed shape once more, Knightwalker holding it with pride. "The Holy Spear, Ravelt ! It's a sacred lance forge by Edolas' greatest smith. This attack carried ultimate destructive power that'll make all creation tremble."

Erza stood up straighter, looking at the spear then at her owner, her face serious as she requipped without a word into a dual toned armor, mainly pink in color with some kind of wings coming out of the knees and shoulders, holding once again two swords at a time.

\- "Armadura Fairy ! The reason this armor bears the name of the guild goes without saying."

\- "So you're saying this is your strongest one ? Interesting !" Said Edo-Erza with a challenging smile as she charged at her opponent, her spear emitting a purple light as she ran, quickly followed by Erza who did the same with her swords, which were covered in a green light. The two power got closer and closer and when they clashed, the power was so great that it triggered an explosion that literally blew up the floating island they were standing on, though it wasn't the only thing that was destroyed by the confrontation.

\- "R….Ravelt's been…" Edo-Erza, trembling and wide eyed in shock, was holding onto her weapon, or rather what was left of it as it had been destroyed in the clash.

\- "The… The armor…" Exactly the same could be said for Erza whose armor and sword got destroyed as well, proof that they had been evenly matched up to the very end. The fact that the island was falling apart and losing its buoyancy and making it her slowly fall to the ground could have been a good reason to stop, but it was far from being the end.

\- "Neither of us have any magical power left." Stated Edo-Erza. "But even so ! I'm going to defeat you !" She roared as she ran at Erza, punching her, taking the mage by surprise, even though she quickly recovered and began to fight back. Despite being completely depleted of their magic, neither of them wanted to give up, their heart clashing as much as their fists.

\- "For the sake of eternal magic, I cannot lose !" Stated Edo-Erza by slamming her doppelganger's head down on the ground, which didn't stopped Erza from retaliating.

\- "Do you know how many have to be sacrificed in an instant this eternity you're talking about ?!" Asked Erza, flipping her opponent and slamming her on the ground. "Stealing through force, stealing through intimidation, hating and destroying others…"

\- "That's what it is to be human !" Answered Knightwalker only to be punched by Scarlett.

\- "Humans should love others !" Shouted Erza. "They should take a stand for that which needs to be protected and draw their swords against that which would cause tears to be shed ! Can't you hear the screams of this world, Knightwalker !?"

\- "I can hear the screams of this world a hell of a lot better than you can !" Growled Edo-Erza by lifting her leg and striking her twin with her knee. "Magical power is running out… that's exactly why I…"

\- "That's not it !" Interrupted Erza by throwing Knightwalker to the ground of their ring which was slowly shrinking and getting closer to the ground. "By the world, I mean 'all livings things !'"

\- "This world is dying !" Stated Edo-Erza, getting up and going to threw punches after punches. "It's dying because it's magical power if running out ! You Earthlanders don't understand ! The anxiety, the fear, the despair of running out of magic ! If we don't obtain eternal magic, we can't survive !"

\- "We're alive, aren't we !?" Stated Erza, grabbing her twin by the wrist. "Even though we don't have any magic left, we're alive !" This made Knightwalker stop dead in her track, looking at her double with wide eyes. "Look at us ! We ran out of magic a long time ago ! Even so, people won't just die ! Instead, they overcome all their weakness and fear ! They have strength in them ! That's what it means to be alive ! Listen, Erza ! You've got the same evil and weakness in you that I have, so you must also have the same heart which is capable of loving others ! Listen for the voices of all living things with all your heart ! THEY ARE CALLING OUT WITH THEIR TRUE VOICES !" As she listened to her twin, Edo-Erza slowly let her words dig their way through her mind and at some point, she felt tears flowing out of her eyes. "YOU ARE NOT ALONE !"

And as soon as she said that, the reached their destination, the little chunk of floating island crashing in the middle of the forest, taking every single person already inside it by surprise. The crash created a massive crater in which the two Erza's were laying down, spread eagles, looking at the sky above them.

\- "I… I don't even have the strength to move anymore…" Said Edo-Erza, looking a bit disappointed.

\- "But… You're alive…"

\- "I'm no match for you. You win Scarlett."

\- "Are there such things as winning and losing ?" Asked Scarlett with a smile. "We're both the same Erza."

\- "Is that so ?" Smiled Edo-Erza, slowly sitting up with Erza, the two of them looking at each other. "Guess we'll see how the battle will end, then."

\- "Speaking of that, how did you ended up working with Shocker ?" Asked Erza, wondering why an army from another world would come here. "What is it that they wanted ?"

\- "They came one day and walked straight into the castle, stating they wanted to see the King. They said they knew about Anima and that they wanted to help us, which they did by providing us with more troops." Began Knightwalker. "In exchange, they asked to study the way magic worked in this world and they used it to build some strange robots that worked with magic and used their own technology. I don't like them a lot, but with their help, we'll surely win this war, in the end."

As soon as she said that, they heard the characteristic noise of metal clashing against metal as an armored being wearing an orange armor with two flags in his hands came from behind some bushes, landing near the crater. He was panting and holding the flags tightly, looking at the tree where the two Erza saw one of those robots made by Shocker, who was wielding the same kind of weapon as the orange guy.

\- "Kouta ! What's going on ?!" Asked Erza to the Rider, the latter finally noticing them.

\- "Oh ! So you were the one who fell from the sky ?" Realized Kouta as he attacked the robot. "Well, as you can see, I'm in a bit of a situation, right now !" He got pushed back by the robot and got back up as fast as he could. "This thing know all of my form and weapons and how to counter them. I'm in need of some help, right now !"

\- "Why should I help you, though ?" Asked Edo-Erza as her twin tried to gather her strength and whatever magic she had left. "If they won, we'll win too, right ? This Shadow Moon guy told us that."

\- "Shadow Moon's current situation : Shocker's HQ, Earthland." The words the robot spoke while trying to skewer Kouta with a spear that looked like Kurokage's Kagematsu. Knightwalker's eyes widen at that, Kouta explaining what really happened to her.

\- "See ? They don't care about this world !" He said, dodging and slashing at the robot. "They only wanted to use your magic for their own project ! As soon as he got what he wanted, he left you without any second though, and I bet he took all of his research with him. I'd dare say he even left some robots and soldiers here just to slow us down and prevent us from going after him immediately !" With one last clash, both Gaim and his opponent jumped away from each other, the Rider landing next to the two red head. "So, what you going to do now, Knightwalker ?"

\- "What I'm gonna do ?" She repeated, gritting her teeth as she stood up, glaring at the robot. "I'm going to turn that thing into scrap !"

\- "Great ! I do need a hand, after all."

\- "Yeah, but Ten Commandment has been destroyed. I don't have anything to fight with."

\- "She's right. And I don't have any magic left. Which means no requipping for me." Added Scarlett as Kouta pulled something from his Trinkets Box on his waist.

\- "Come on. You're both Erza, right ? Fighting bare handed shouldn't be a problem right ?" Mocked Kouta, which made the two girl smirk a bit. "Don't you worry. I have exactly what you need. But first…" He then pulled out a new Lockseed, oddly shaped and golden colored with many fruit on it.

 _ **FRUIT BASKET !**_

Many zippers suddenly opened above him as all the Arms came out, hovering in the air while Kouta plugged the Kiwami Lockseed right next to Kachidoki.

 _ **LOCK OPEN ! KIWAMI ARMS ! DAI-DAI-DAI-DAI-DAI SHOGUN !**_

Now clad in his silver and strongest armor, Kouta, ignoring the shocked gasps coming from the redheads, pulled two Sengoku Drivers from nowhere, handing them to the girls who looked at them with wide eyes.

\- "So, still want to fight ?"

The Erzas looked at one another and nodded, grabbing the Driver they immediately put on their waist, their faces wearing helmet appearing on it, Kouta also handing them a Lockseed each, a Matsubokkuri for Knightwalker and an Ichigo to Scarlett.

 _ **ICHIGO ! LOCK ON !**_

 _ **MATSUBOKKURI ! LOCK ON !**_

\- "HENSHIN !"

 _ **SOIYA ! ICHIGO ARMS ! SHUSHUTTO SPARK !**_

 _ **COME ON ! MATSUBOKKURI ARMS ! ICHIGEKI IN THE SHADOWS !**_

The two girls now wore the corresponding armor, wielding the weapon that was coming with it, but they wore exclusive Rider Wear, a scarlet and silver one for Scarlet and a red and black one for Knightwalker. Also, the weapon weren't exactly the same. The Ichigo Kunai were longer, looking more like swords than Kunais while the Kagematsu's blade looked like Ravelt's.

\- "Well then, now that you are all ready, let's do this."

\- "THIS IS OUR STAGE NOW !"

And they all ran at the robot, the redheads feeling better with those armors on, Kouta staying behind with a Sonic Arrow in hand, letting the girl take the fight for now. And it proved to be a good idea. Indeed, since the robot had not a single data on the Erzas, even more now that they were using Gaim's Lockseed, meaning he had no way to predict his opponents' attack like he did with Kouta and prepare counters. But the fact that the young women already fought before and were, as such, weakened, helped a lot the metallic being who was handling them without a lot of problem. But despite that, he also took a whole lot of damages, the two Erzas fighting as if they were a single person. When he was about to use an opening in the girls guard to deal what could have been a fatal blow, Kouta finally decided to enter the fight, shooting an arrow that passed underneath Scarlett's arm and hitting the robot in the chest, making him take a few steps back. Kouta then joined the girls and needless to say, things were much more different now. Kouta kept switching between weapons, not giving his opponent the time to counter them, even letting them go in mid-swing, only for them to be caught by one of the Erza who then used it to attack, taking the robot by surprise every time. After a few long minutes, they managed to bring the robot to its knees, now was the time to finish it, the girls pulling the blade of their Drivers three time while Kouta combined the Musou Saber with the DJ Gun, putting him into Taiken Mode.

 _ **ICHIGO SPARKING !**_

 _ **MATSUBOKKURI SPARKING !**_

 _ **KIWAMI AU LAIT !**_

A red aura surrounded Erza while a brown one surrounded Edo-Erza, the two gathering on their weapon as the same happened with Kouta whose SJ Gun in Taiken Mode got surrounded by image projections of fruits. They all slashed the robot at the same time, Erza in a X motion, Edo-Erza vertically and Kouta horizontally, sending energy projection that fused together, forming a multicolored 8 branch star that not only collided but got through the robot, also cutting down all of the trees behind it before exploding at the same time as their opponent who disappeared in an explosion that left nothing of it behind beside a small crater where it was standing a few minutes before. The three of them powered down, the girls falling to their knees due to their tiredness, Kouta still up but looking at the sky, noticing that something strange was happening, something that would change this world forever.

/- Flashback, army vs mages and Riders -/

While the Erzas and Kouta were each fighting on their own, most of their friends were currently busy defending themselves, but also Carla and Happy from the royal army who, with the help of Shocker soldiers and robots, were trying to capture the remaining Exceeds. Gray froze soldiers after soldiers, Lucy had summoned Loki to help them fight, the blonde swinging the Fleuve d'Étoile at the soldiers, Eiji was currently in Shauta Combo, slashing their opponents with electricity powered whip, Takeru was fighting with Benkei's power in Boost Damashii, Shinnosuke used Formula's speed to send them flying, Sento was using TankTank, shooting at the army in his Tank Form, Emu pushed them back with Maximum Mighty X and Gentaro was in full shooting mode, Fire State, Gatling and Launcher activated. However, despite their power, they were facing an ever-growing army that relentlessly attacked them, not leaving them a single time to breathe. At some points, they began to use magical guns to shoot at them, but one of the bullet was shot toward Happy.

\- "Happy, watch out !" Shouted Carla by jumping in front of the bullet, taking the hit for the blue Exceed, much to his shock and horror.

\- "Carla !" Shouted the cat as he kneeled next to the white one. "Carla, pull yourself together ! Carla !"

\- "Damnit ! They're just too many of them." Stated Sento who was starting to get tired of the soldiers who came by waves, never stopping a single second. They were all starting to get tired, Lucy already falling to her knees as her strength was starting to run out. Besides, the army was far from over, mainly as they also had the Legion with them, the large dragon-like creatures ramming into them, forcing them into a more defensive position as they kept advancing, beating them all down. The Riders managed to keep fighting but they were having a hard time, the soldiers slowly but surely marching on them. They were in dire need of some help and they were about to get some.

It all began with a little plant coming out of the ground, plant the Rider noticed before it suddenly grew into a tree who grabbed into a Legion, pushing him back by taking everyone by surprise, soldiers and mages alike. Soon, many other trees came out of the ground and grabbing onto the other Legion, taking them all down and right after that, the trees were revealed to simply be branches, all connected to a massive tree that suddenly came out of the ground, separating the army from the Riders and mages, the two camp recognizing the tree.

\- "D… Don't tell me… The ones that always just run away… Fairy Tail !?"

And indeed, the tree was revealed to be none other than the Edolas Fairy Tail HQ, all of their member running out with their weapons, ready for the fight, all of them immediately jumping into the fight without any second though.

\- "Sorry for being late, Earth-Lucy."

\- "'Edo-Lucy." Cried Lucy, tears pooling in her eyes as well as Happy's.

\- "Earthland's Fairy Tail is fighting. We must fight too !" Stated Edo-Natsu, holding a sword, even if he was shaking like a leaf, not as confident as he usually was in his car, but still there nonetheless. The sudden arrival of those reinforcement made the Rider look at each other, a smirk on their lips as they all though about the same thing.

\- "Can you stand, Earth-Lucy ?" Asked Edo-Lucy while helping her twin to stand up.

\- "Yeah, thanks."

\- "ME ?!" Shouted the two Gray, finally meeting each other. "More importantly, your clothes… Take 'em off/Put some on !"

\- "Look, Carla." Said Happy after whipping the tears out of his eyes. "Fairy Tail's come to save us. Our feelings are stirring this world up."

Carla slowly opened his eyes, seeing the Edo-Fairies all fight with them, slowly pushing back the army who wasn't excepting that kind of development.

\- "Wherever we may go, we sure are one noisy guild."

The battle came to slight pause when they heard something fall off the sky, crashing down onto the ground in the forest nearby, but they all quickly got back to the fight. If things got better with the arrival of Fairy Tail, it wasn't completely over. If Fairy Tail managed to push back the soldiers, they quickly founded themselves stopped by the Shockers robots who were too much to handle for them. In the middle of the fight however, they heard those robots talk, all of them saying the exact sa me thing.

\- "Eternal magic… Need Eternal magic…"

\- "What the hell are they mumbling about ?" Wondered Edo-Juvia.

\- "They are talking like the king, with his obsession for eternal magic…" Noticed Emu, which made him remember what he learned when he was in jail. "Wait… A Cell Medal ?"

\- "I think I get it." Said Eiji, grabbing his friends attention. "They probably used the King desire for eternal magic to power those robots. If the king is taken out, they should all stop immediately."

\- "Well then we can only hope Haruto and the Slayers will succeed." Said Gray, panting heavily. "But we still need to get rid of them right now."

\- "Don't you worry." Said Sento as he reappeared, Reinforcement Caller in hand. "I think I got exactly what we need."

As soon as he said that, a blurry wall appeared behind him and out of it appeared another wave of reinforcement in the form of many Kamen Riders. Every main Riders from Kuuga to W were here to fight, also including many secondary Rider from the Heisei Era. The first thing they did was open fire on the robotic army, pushing it back before jumping into the fight which became much more balanced now that they were all here. They could finally fight back correctly, now waiting for the Dragon Slayers and Wizard to put an end to all of this by taking down the King. But this might be a bit harder than they first though.

/- With Natsu and the others -/

To say that the Dragon Slayer were having a bad time would have been one hell of an euphemism. Ever since Dorma Anim became Black Heaven Dorma Anim, they had yet to deal real damages to the mechanical dragon, the three of them spending most of their time being sent flying and rolling to the ground. And Haruto's presence wasn't of much help in this situation. It seemed like Shocker did a few upgrades to the machine, including a better armor that could withstand Riders attack, rendering most of his attacks meaningless, the magical Rider spending most of his time on the ground with his partners. And in the meantime, Faust was cackling like a madman.

\- "FUHAHAHAHA ! Black Heaven Dorma Anim is a special armor that multiplies the output of magical power up to several times greater. There's no chance of winning for you guys !"

As he said that, he made several pillars of magic rose from the ground, pummeling the four fairies even more, Natsu and Haruto being the only ones who managed to stay standing.

\- "Everyone… is suffering from lack of magical power…" Began Natsu, glaring at the mechanical beast and at the king inside it. "And somehow you, the King, has such an enormous amount of it."

\- "It's natural for a king to charge a national tax from people." Answered Faust, not feeling any guilt about what he did to his own citizen. "Dorma Anim is an ultimate mage weapon that keeps absorbing the magical power from the whole world ! Thus, this is forbidden ! It's my responsibility to win for activating it ! For the sake of the world !"

\- "For the world ?" Repeated Wendy through clenched teeth as she slowly got up.

\- "He said that when he selfishly took the magical power from others." Added a seething Gajeel glaring at the King.

\- "This is not for the world. It is for his own gain that he did all of that." Completed Haruto, pulling out another ring.

\- "We joined a guild to live, that's why I don't care about the world." Said Natsu, his body slowly starting to burn. "But I'll defeat you. For everyone that lives in this world."

However, it was easier said than done. They all rushed at the dragon to try and destroy it, but Dorma Anim, taking his power from the magic of everything around it, was far too powerful. Haruto ran at the dragon, sword in hand, dodging the bullets the beast shot at him but as he got close enough, not only did his sword barely grazed the metal, he was quickly swept to the side by the dragon with enough force to make a crater as he touched ground. Natsu, Gajeel and Wendy, all enchanted thanks to the Sky Dragon Slayer, also tried to reach the beast, attacking from many sides at once, hoping one of them could reach its target, but it was ineffective. The tail slammed hard into Wendy as the boys got shot down by several laser that came out of the dragon's neck, courtesy of Shocker.

\- "FUHAHAHAHA ! Fall to Earth, Dragons !" Laughed the King as the three Slayers got send to the ground. "Now die !"

 _ **SET UP ! START !**_

He then shot massive energy blasts at each Slayers, aiming to exterminate them once and for all, but it didn't happened as he thought it would. Three colorful men came out of nowhere and pulled the three mages out of the way, the three realizing they had all been saved by an Haruto, Land for Gajeel, Hurricane for Wendy and Flame for Natsu.

\- "What !?" Exclaimed the King, not expecting the Rider to split into many people. And he didn't knew it, but one of them was missing.

 _ **CH**_ _ **ŌĪ**_ _ **NE, BLIZZARD ! SAIK**_ _ **Ō**_ _ **!**_

A sudden wave of cold air came from above Dorma Anim, slowly freezing him as Water came from above, turning on himself before slamming the long tail he had on the robot's head, slamming it onto the ground and leaving a little dent on the metal who had been slightly weakened by the ice.

\- "Don't you go thinking this is over. Gather more magical power ! Ye sky, ye earth ! Give your magical power to Dorma Anim !"

\- "Guys ! Let's use our breath !" Proposed Gajeel. "We've been holding back since we didn't know what will happen, but we've got no choice !"

\- "He's right !" Said Land. "And we're going to give you a hand !" The four clones pulled out their gun and 'shook hands' with it.

 _ **FIRE DRAGON'S…**_

 _ **IRON DRAGON'S…**_

 _ **SKY DRAGON'S…**_

 _ **FLAME/LAND/HURRICANE/WATER SHOOTING STRIKE !**_

… _**ROAR !**_

Fire, wind, iron, water and earth fused with one another, creating a massive and spiraling blast of dragon head shaped magic that was heading straight for the massive dragon who didn't moved, taking the blast full on. The explosion that ensued was so huge it literally levelled everything a good 200 meters around the impact point, stone shattering and trees burning in a matter of seconds. For a few seconds after that, the dragons and wizard clones stood there, thinking they finally got rid of him. But reality is often disappointing.

\- "FUHAHAHAHA !"

Eyes widened as they all looked up, seeing an untouched Dorma Anim high above them.

\- "No way… our 7-man simultaneous attack won't hit." Said Wendy, feeling defeated.

\- "One more time !" Roared Natsu.

\- "I will not permit it !"

 _ **DRAGON SPREAD CANNON !**_

The King then unleashed a barrage of explosive rounds from above, raining down on the defenseless group. When the robot landed, he saw the group on the ground, completely beaten down, which only made his smirk grow even more.

\- "It appears you've run dry." He said? "Infinite mages though you may be, once you've run out of magical power, it won't return for a while. You may assume that your treatment will depend on your behavior. Now come quietly and become the source of my world's magical power. You better give up, now. You have no hope in winning."

No one could move among the dragon, most of them really feeling like they were done for. That this was the end of them. However…

\- "Give up ?" Haruto was slowly getting up, struggling against his pain as his clones disappeared. "Do you really think… We'll give up ?" He was now finally standing, looking at the King who was glaring at him from the cockpit of the dragon. "There's still hope for us. A world without hope doesn't exist because as long as people keep on fighting, there will always be hope that someday, they will win."

\- "So what ? You think you can defeat me all by yourself ?!" Taunted the King. "Why aren't you giving up just like they did ?!"

\- "Maybe I can't beat you by myself. But I won't give up either way. If some of them have lost all hopes, then I will become their hope." Gajeel, Natsu and Wendy looked at him with wide eyes, amazed by his trust in them, seeing him pull out a ring they never saw before. "I just can't give up, as I am the ultimate hope."

 _ **INFINITY, PLEASE ! HI-SUI-FU-DO, BOU-ZABA-BYU-DOGON !**_

Eyes widened at the sight of Haruto in his silver and diamond robe, looking at the dragon wielding the AxCalibur as he ran at Dorma Anim. The two engaged into a fight and this time, things were much different. The AxCalibur, without cutting the metal, was doing much more damages than everything they tried until then, making the King seethe in anger as he tried to get rid of Haruto, the Slayers looking at him go with wide eyes. But it soon changed as Natsu began to get up too, gritting his teeth.

\- "He's right. We can't give up." He said, slowly getting up as Wendy and Gajeel looked at him. "It's not over yet. I may have no magic left… And if that's the case, then I'll summon it ! Summon up tomorrow's share !" As he said that, his flames returned, covering his body as he jumped at the mechanical monster, landing a powerful punch to his head, making him take a few steps back. "Don't underestimate Dragon Slayers !"

\- "Know your place, you little shit !" Shouted the king as he shot at Natsu with the cannon in his paws. "Who the hell do you think I am !?" The King then got readings of something approaching, turning his head just in time to see Gajeel, arm turned into metal coming for him but he didn't aimed for the head, but for his foot, not only piercing it but also immobilizing it, the metal pole extending underground.

\- "I locked him ! he won't be able to escape to the air now !" Said Gajeel as Faust was trying to get him off his foot. "GO SALAMANDER !"

\- "Wendy ! Send a roar at me !" Ordered Natsu who was falling toward the little girl who was wondering if she heard that right. "Get up !"

\- Got it." She finally said, filling her lungs with air.

 _ **SKY DRAGON'S…**_

\- "How impudent As if I'd let you do as you please, you brats !" Unable to move, the King opted for another way to stop them, opening his dragon's head and paws, the cannon slowly charging up with magic, aimed at the three with the clear desire to annihilate them. But in the rush, he forgot about someone who was about to throw a wrench in his plan. Or rather an axe.

 _ **HIGH TOUCH, SHINING STRIKE ! KIRAKIRA !**_

Without giving the King the time to understand what was happening, a gigantic and shining axe fell down on the dragon, cutting the head and arms in two in one strike, making the king's eyes widen in shock as Dorma Anim was supposed to be invincible, but also because he had now no way to protect himself from what was coming.

\- "GO, WENDY !"

… _**ROAR !**_

The roar engulfed Natsu, the fire mage using the rotation of the attack to make himself spin as he mixed his fire with the wind, Gajeel grinning as he understood what Salamander was aiming for.

 _ **FIRE DRAGON'S BLADE EDGE !**_

 _"Is this… a fantasy ?"_ Wondered the King as he saw Natsu shooting at him like a missile, at a blinding speed. Though, that was what Faust was supposed to see. Instead, what his mind saw was a golden and silver dragon with Dorma Anim's arms and head in his maw, an iron dragon wrapped around his legs preventing him to dodge the red one who had been shot ta him like a rocket by a white and feather-covered one who stood in front of him. One second the king was inside Dorma Anim, the second he was getting pulled out of it by Natsu who had just pierced through the robotic dragon like a torpedo. Wendy, Gajeel and Haruto all sighed in relief as they saw Dorma Anim crashing down and falling to pieces in front of them, realizing what that meant. After all the struggles, they finally managed to succeed. They defeated the King.

They had won.

 **Okay, that's a wrap ! I hope you liked it despite the fact that it was shorter. Review, Fav and follow if you liked it. See ya !**

 **Next time : Disappearing magic. Edo-Jellal's plan. Attack of the great demons. The truth about the 'mission'. Back from the dead… or not ?**


	54. chapter 53 - No more magic

**Hey, guys ! Feeling good, I hope. I'd like to apologize before starting as I took a bit more time to write this. To be perfectly honest, I suffered a bit of a writer block at some point, which could explain why this chapter is a bit shorter than usual.**

 **I hope you'll still like it. Enjoy !**

 **Chapter 53 – No more magic**

Finally, the fight was coming to an end. After a thorough battle, Natsu, Wendy, Gajeel and Haruto finally managed to defeat Faust, the Kind of Edolas, as well as destroy the feared and powerful mechanical dragon he controlled, Dorma Anim. Natsu, after ripping through the beast, threw the king to the ground as he landed not far from him, his three friends kneeling close-by grinning as the king sat up, his eyes locked onto the fire mage whose magic was still off the chart, the old man eyes' wide as saucer as he realized that he wasn't looking at simple mages, but real beasts.

\- "S… Save me…" was all he could utter, shaking as he felt as if he was about to be devoured by four threatening dragons that towered above him before finally toppling over, knocked out by his own fear.

\- "KAAAAHAHAHA ! We beat the King !" Shouted Natsu while raising his arms high, laughing like a mad man. "What was it they called this situation ? Checkmate ?"

\- "Usually, you say it BEFORE taking the King, Natsu." Corrected Haruto with a smile, Wendy giggling and Gajeel snickering at his comrade. They were all in a pretty good mood, but it was short-lived as suddenly, the whole ground began to shake. "Hm ? An earthquake ?"

\- "It… It couldn't be enemy reinforcements, could it ?!" Wondered Gajeel. "You've got to be kidding me… I'm really out of magic, man."

\- "Th… That's not it… There…" Said Wendy, looking and pointing at the sky with wide fearful eyes. And indeed, the reason of those shaking came from above, namely from the floating island which were starting to fall raining down on the kingdom.

\- "Wh… What the hell is happening ?!" Wondered Natsu, a question everyone had in mind all over Edolas. A question Haruto knew the answer, feeling something happening all around them, his eyes going wide.

\- "They are falling because what kept them floating is fading." He said cryptically, making the Slayers look at him, wondering what he meant and encouraging him to explain more concretely. "It's the Magic. It's… it's disappearing from this world…."

\- "That's exactly what's happening." Said a voice that cut him and made them all look at the newcomer, which Wendy recognized as she already saw him back on Extalia.

\- "Nadi ?! What are you talking about ?"

\- "This is the prince plan." Explained the cat, waving his arm up and down repeatedly. "But there is also something else… and I think you might want to hear about it."

/- Meanwhile, with Mystogan -/

Reverse Anima. For Mystogan, there was no other way to solve the conflict of this world. To create a world in which people can face each other properly, he had to annihilate all of this world's magical power and to do it, he decided to open one last Anima, heading the other way, to send all the magic of Edolas to Earthland. And this is exactly what was currently happening.

\- "This is for the best." Stated Mystogan as he looked at the Anima doing its work. "It's because there's magical power that people quarrel. As such, I'll eradicate magical power from this world. For the sake of the new world, I'll destroy Edolas this one time." And destroy it did. All over Edolas, every single item working on magic stopped working. The floating island crashed down to the ground, street lights turned off, and weapon stopped working. This meant that the royal guard were now defenseless, the whole army fleeing because of that but they weren't the only one despairing from what was happening. Every single one of Edolas inhabitant began to panic, despair filling their heart as they witnessed their world collapse on itself, an event they all described as the end of the world.

\- "I… I didn't think you'd actually do it…" Said Panther, standing behind Edo-Jellal, his whole body shaking. "It's true that there won't be any fighting for a while, but…"

\- "I know." Answered Mystogan. "The citizens are all in a state of panic. There's no one who could adapt to such a rapid change in the world. That's precisely why they need a new leader now." As he said that, his face became much more serious, fist balled at his side. "a new King for the new world. A king who can lead a nation in bondage to fear and terror to happiness."

\- "I see… So as the prince, you'll…"

\- "No… It's not me." Interrupted the blue haired man with a smile, cutting Panther mid-sentence. "It's impossible for me, as I haven't walked the paths of this world and neither do I have the right. In order to calm the panicked masses, we need a villain and a hero. The person who exposes the evil that's plunged this world into chaos, and execute it, becomes the hero. The hero can unite the people and become king." As he said that, Lily's eyes widened, as well as those of a black cat who was listening to them from afar.

\- "And just who are that villain and that hero ?" Asked Lily, fearing for the answer.

\- "Surely you've realized it by now ?" Explained Mystogan. "I, who've rebelled against the King of Edolas and stolen all of this world's magical power, am the 'Villain'. And you, who can bring harmony out of the prejudice and misunderstanding between races, would make an appropriate 'hero'. You must execute me, as the traitor who destroyed this world, and then become the King of this world."

\- "I refuse !" Growled Panther, not liking this plan at all. "Why do I have to kill the prince ? There's no way !"

\- "You can do it." Assured Edo-Jellal which only unnerved Panther even more.

\- "What the hell do you think you know about me !?"

\- "Though you're an Exceed, you saved my life when I was an infant." Said Mystogan. "Without being influenced by your tribe, you're a man who recognize the preciousness of life."

\- "You're telling me to bear that cross for the rest of my life !"

\- "And you're the only one with the strength to overcome that. Please understand, someone has to do it."

\- "Then do it yourself ! You're a perfect choice for King !" Proposed Panther, which Mystogan refused.

\- "I caused the destruction of this world."

\- "You did it for the world's sake ! It's precisely that strong will, which led you to put your own life on the line for Edolas' sake, that we need right now ! If you're the one who destroyed this world, then bear the responsibility for it ! And not by dying ! By leading this world !"

\- "The chaos won't be settled that way." Simply said Edo-Jellal. Or was there ?

\- "Then I'll be the villain." This took Mystogan by surprise, looking at Panther with wide eyes. "After being banished from among the Exceed, I've walked alongside humans. But in this case, I betrayed the nation. I have no place to return to. I'll undertake the duty of being executed as the evil behind…"

\- "UNNACEPTABLE !" Shouted Mystogan, interrupting him. "You're the one who saved me ! I will not let you die ! You must attain happiness !"

\- "And I'd like to say those words right back to you." This made Mystogan stop dead in his track, realizing they were stuck. "Whichever of us takes responsibility and dies… all it will bring is sorrow."

\- "Then what can we do ?"

The situation was dire and neither knew how to solve it. They were still trying to find a way when a soldier walked into the room.

\- "Panther-Lily-sama ! Terrible news !"

\- "I already know." Cut Panther, pointing at the Anima. "If it's about the anima…"

\- "In fact, it's about something else ! There're people acting violently near the castle, destroying one neighborhood after another !"

\- "Looks like the panic is worse than I expected." Said Mystogan. "Before doing anything else, we have to take measure before this spreads any further." They walked to the balcony and could see that indeed, something was wreaking havoc in the city, spreading chaos as it goes.

\- "How many insurgents ?" Asked Panther as they reached the balcony.

\- "Four !"

\- "Just four ?! Why haven't you arrested them ?!"

\- "W… Well… They're very strong…"

\- "GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA !" when that laugh reached Panther and Mystogan's ears, their eyes shot wide opens, finally seeing who was at the origin of this madness. "I AM CALLED GREAT DEMON LORD DRAGNEEL ! I'LL BE HELPING MYSELF TO ALL OF THIS WORLD'S MAGICAL POWER !"

\- "Natsu…" Mystogan and Panther were completely taken aback by what they were seeing. Standing on a roof was Natsu, his best demon face on as well as a dark mantle and two obviously fake horns, laughing like madman, people running away from him.

\- "I've brought your precious king down !" He then pointed at Faust, who was tied up to what seemed to be a tree trunk, standing next to him. "Though I've seen fit to spare his life, Gahahahaha ! Redfox ! Wizard ! Marvell ! My servants ! Destroy the town !"

Following his orders, his 'servants' began to do as he told. Gajeel, covered in iron and with both arms changed into swords, was slicing his way through the town, having a blast destroying absolutely everything around him. Further away, Haruto, who agreed to play the role as well, was in All Dragon Style, flying around the town setting many houses ablaze, feeling weird doing this kind of things. Even Wendy tried to scare the inhabitants, and she did, but only because Gajeel was behind her to scare them for her. Anyway, they were spreading chaos across town and while Mystogan tried to ask them to stop, Panther's eyes widened, feeling like he just realized something.

\- "All who oppose me… Shall be destroyed !" Said Natsu, fire seeping out of his mouth as he tok a deep breath, readying himself for his roar when…

\- "STOP ! NATSU !"

Mystogan's voice pierced through the chaos and reached the fire mage, making him stop and turn to look at the palace, imitated by the citizen who finally took notice of the man standing on the balcony.

\- "Natsu ? Who's that ? I'm the great demon Lord Dragneel !"

\- "Stop this foolishness… the King has fallen, there's no further need to attack the royal city…"

\- "FIRE !" Not listening to the blue haired man, Natsu unleashed his fire at the house in front of him, almost charring down people ho stood in the way. "I wonder if you'll be able to stop me… Prince of Edolas…"

Murmur began to rise from the crowd as they all turned to the blue haired man, wondering if this could really be the prince that went missing 7 years ago. While the people began to wonder whether he was the true prince or not, Panther was still trying to understand what was happening.

\- "Why are they here ?"

\- "I told them." Panther turned around and saw, much to his shock, Nadi standing here, looking up at him. "I overheard your conversation."

\- "C'mon !" Meanwhile, Natsu was turning to look straight at the prince, a confident grin on his face. "If you don't come and fight, there won't be a trace left of this town when we're done."

Edo-Jellal was apparently trying to decide on what to do. This was the exact same hero and villain scenario he imagined, but the way it turned out was something he wasn't ready for. Could it really work ? He didn't know. But either way, he had to stop Natsu from destroying the town, so he jumped over the railing and onto the street, running toward Natsu.

\- "You idiots. I know what you're trying to do. But there's no way it'll bring this situation under control." He then grabbed his staff and thrusted it at Natsu. "Sleep !" But nothing happened. He had been so perturbated by the situation that he forgot about the Anima who had taken his magic as well.

\- "What's wrong ?! You scared without your magic ?" Taunted Natsu as he set his fist ablaze, Mystogan glaring at him. "You are, aren't you ?! Magic is power !" He then slammed his fist on the house he was standing on, breaking it down completely, the house now nothing more than a pile of rubbles.

\- "Natsu-san, you're overdoing it !" Chided Wendy.

\- "It's fine." Said Haruto, standing with the two Slayers. "This is all set to make him look like the 'villain' that got all the magical power, whose confronted by the 'hero' who doesn't have any."

\- "That's enough, Natsu." Said Jellal. "I can't be the hero here. And you playing dead won't work on this mob."

\- "It's a showdown !" Was al he got as an answer, as well as getting punched in the face by Natsu. Which only unnerved him even more.

\- "what a farce ! There's no way you'll fool even one among them like this !" He said as he threw a punch that Natsu caught effortlessly.

\- "You'd better bring it on."

Mystogan stayed still a moment before starting again, taking Natsu's advice to heart, spinning on himself to land a revolving kick on the fire mage head. And just like that, the crowd was starting to push behind him, cheering on him, asking him to take down the demon.

\- "Looks like the peanut gallery's along for the ride too !"

\- "Idiot ! This is all fake anyway, just go down."

\- "Not a chance !" Roared Natsu as he punched him in the guts. "This is my way of doing the Fairy Tail Farewell Ceremony." Mystogan's eyes widen at what he just said. "Anyone leaving Fairy Tail has got to be taught the three laws. First !" He then punched Jellal. "You must never, for the rest of your life, reveal any tactics which could prove to be a handicap to Fairy Tail. Second…" This time, it was Jellal who punched him to the face. "…What was it again ?"

\- "You must never contact past clients for personal gain." Reminded Jellal as they kept fighting, the blows getting stronger with each new one.

\- "And third… Though our paths may have diverged, you must continue to live out your life with all your might. You must never consider your own life to be of little value and you must never…"

\- "Forget about your friends, who loved you…" Finished Jellal as they both punched each other at the exact same time, time that stood still for a moment, before they both staggered back, the pink haired one literally toppling over, a large smile on his face. "You got it ? There's nothing you can't do as long as you have the spirit of the guild ! I hope we meet again. Mystogan."

And with that, he fell to the ground and the crowd exploded. Jellal simply stood there, looking at his friend who was laying there calmly while all around him, people praised him for defeating the demon that took their magic. In the end, his plan worked.

The villain had been slayed but the hero wasn't the one he thought it would have been.

It was him.

Suddenly, Natsu's body began to shine, much to everyone shock. But Natsu wasn't the only one. All of the people that had magic within them began to shine, as well as many Riders, namely the ones who had special abilities like Haruto or Takeru. Even Panther Lily and Nadi back at the castle were shining.

\- "What the… What's happening ?"

\- "The reversed Anima is removing all magical power from Edolas." Explained Nadi with chattering teeth. "In other words, those of us with internal magic, like the Exceed and Dragon Slayers are all being sucked into Earthland."

\- "What !?" Panther had a hard time believing it. This was clearly not what he was expecting.

\- "I think… her Highness was aware of it as well." Said Nadi, Shagotte actually surrounded by many Exceed, all of their bodies shining. Many were afraid of what was happening, but not their Queen.

\- "It's alright… There's nothing to be afraid of." She said with a smile while comforting two frightened younglings. "There's no longer any need for gods in Edolas. We, too, must bravely take a new step forward."

\- "We're being pulled into the Anima." Said Carla, holding onto a rock as she and the Earthland mages shone and began to feel the pull of the whirlpool in the sky.

\- "I see… That Anima is taking all the magical power in Edolas and basically it's kicking us out too." Resumed Lucy. Meanwhile, Gentaro approached Emu and gave him a pill.

\- "What is that ?"

\- "Something Mystogan gave us." Answered Fourze, gesturing at Sento and Shinnosuke who were gulping one down too. "This will give us temporary magical power so Anima can send us back to Earthland. We wouldn't like to be stuck here, right ?"

\- "So… All magical power is really being removed from this world…" Said someone among the Edo-Fairies, looking at the sky with distress in their eyes, which made Gray turned and addressed them.

\- "Don't make such sad faces. You think you can't have a guild without magical power ?" Eyes widen among the 'mages', Edo-Gray looking at his doppelganger who was smiling at them. "If you have friends, that right there is a guild."

And then, it began. The Anima grew in intensity and started to suck them all to the sky. Many tried to resist, mainly Exceeds who weren't aware of the situation, but they quickly had to let go. As for Natsu and his 'servants' they all began to pretend to suffer as they got sucked, staying in their 'bad guy' persona as long as they could be seen by the citizens who were all cheering, thinking this was all thanks to their prince who was looking at them go with wide eyes as he didn't expected people to get ejected by Anima. Among them, he saw Panther who was looking down at him with a smile, his arms crossed, both of them understanding that this was probably the last time they saw each other. In a matter of minutes, magic disappeared from Edolas as Anima closed up, letting Jellal alone to lead his people toward the future. Toward a new world.

/- Meanwhile -/

It was raining in Earthland when a hole opened in the sky, spitting out the Earthlanders who landed in a heap, Natsu being the unlucky one who began the pile and as such got crushed by everyone else. They stayed like that for a few seconds before finally getting up, realizing that…

\- "WE'RE BACK !" Shouted Natsu, his arms raised to the raining sky.

\- "Yeah… But did the town came back too ?" Asked Shinnosuke.

\- "It did !" Cried Lucy, pointing at the town, down the hill they were on. "Everything's back to normal !"

\- "Well, it's all cool and all, but before celebrating, we must make sure everyone is okay." Said Sento, trying not to jump to conclusion. Then, a bunch of flying cats appeared before them.

\- "They're fine. We reached Earthland a step ahead of you so we flew all over and everyone in the town are just fine." Said one, people looking at them all with wide eyes.

\- "And it seems like none of them even realized they were turned into a Lachryma." Said another, people still looking at them in shock.

\- "Earthland is overflowing with magic ! It's awesome !" Said a third one.

\- "How… How'd the Exceed end up in Earthland !?" Cried Carla as indeed, every single Exceed was here, hovering above them with happy faces, Shagotte appearing among them with the Elders.

\- "Well, if the Anima took us back because of the magic inside us, then they had to be taken too as they also have magic in them." Reasoned Takeru, which didn't seemed to calm Carla down.

\- "This is no laughing matter. These guys are dangerous ! We should return them to Edolas."

\- "Come on, Carla." Said Wendy, squatting down next to her friend. "Extalia's gone, too. Let's leave them be."

\- "No way." Was Carla's answer, adamantly refusing to let what they did pass. Despite their apologizes about what they did and them begging to let them stay, Carla refused to listen.

\- "I don't care about any of that !" Shouted Carla, clearly furious. "You sent us to Earthland with a mission to kill off the Dragon Slayers !"

\- "That's right !" Came Lucky's voice from the back of the group. "The Queen stole our eggs ! Don't you dare tell me you've forgotten !"

\- "We still haven't explained ourselves clearly, have we ?" Said one of the Elders before starting to explain everything, everyone listening closely. "This is a tale from 6 years ago. We've already told you of Shagotte's ability to see the future, have we not ?" Not everyone did, but they let that slide to focus on what matter the most. "One day, Shagotte foresaw an image of Extalia crashing to the ground. In hindsight, it's clear that it fell naturally as a result of the depletion of magic in Edolas, but… At the time, we thought it would come as a result of human actions. We realized that even if we went to war with the humans, we would never win. After convening a meeting, we established a plan to allow 100 children escape from Edolas."

\- "Escape ?!" Repeated Haruto, making many people's eyes widen.

\- "We kept this plan a secret, even from the citizens of Extalia. But the official story was that they were send to destroy beasts called Dragon Slayers in a parallel universe." Continued the Elders. "Of course, it's not that we had any grievance with the Dragon slayers."

\- "I understand." Said Wendy with a small smile. "It's just that you needed that 'setup'."

\- "And if you had spoken the truth, it would have certainly caused a panic." Understood Lucy.

\- "Borrowing the humans' Anima, we succeeded in our plan." Continued Shagotte. "However, just one thing occurred that we did not plan for. That was your power, Carla… You have the same power of 'prediction' as I do." Carla's eyes widen as she learned and listened attentively. "But because it activated while you were unconscious, it jumbled your memories. Among the 100 escaped Exceed, you were the only one with this power. It's likely that you foresaw bits and pieces of the future of Edolas and you probably mistook those impressions for your 'mission'."

\- "It can't be…" Was all Carla could say, her voice wavering as she realized what that meant.

\- "What you're saying is that… she imagined all of those things ?" Resumed Emu, thinking back to how Carla knew all those things, like the way to the castle and how she sounds so convinced when she spoke about her mission. Those were all prophecies.

\- "We thought it would be better for you not to know about your own power." Jumped in Nadi, addressing Carla and Happy. "So we said those things to manipulate you… Sorry."

\- "It was all a stupid ploy to display the majesty of the Queen. I truly apologized." Added Nichiya to a dumbstruck Carla.

\- "The bluff I used to confront the misfortune facing both my people and the humans caused you great suffering." Continued Shagotte. "No… It caused great sorrow to all those families who had their eggs seized. That's why I've surrendered my sword to you. It is not all the Exceed who are evil. It is only me." Silence fell for a few seconds, Shagotte letting her words sink in everyone's head only to get reaction she wasn't really expecting.

\- "That's not true, your Majesty ! You did everything will all of us in mind." Said one.

\- "We were overconfident in ourselves. We've made It all the way to Earthland, let's go find those kids who escaped 6 years ago !"

\- "Yeah ! We've got a new goal, now ! Let's get along with the humans this time ! It's a new beginning !"

\- "Everyone…" Shagotte was on the verge of crying as she looked at her people all forgiving her and feeling ready to go onto something else. As for Carla, she was looking at her through squinted eyes, arms crossed.

\- "Alright… I'll let it go." She finally said, agreeing to let them off the hook. "But why do I have the same power as you ?" Neither Shagotte not the Elders answered but they were all looking around, looking clearly embarrassed.

\- "I think the reason is pretty obvious." Smiled Belt-san, the Riders nodding but saying nothing.

\- "Hey, mister." Began Happy, addressing Lucky who was standing by his side in the exact same position.

\- "Huh ?"

\- "Don't Carla and her Majesty kind of resemble each other ?" Said the blue cat to the other, moving in perfect synch.

\- "You think ?"

\- "Aye ! I mean… like the way they move."

\- "The way they move ?" Repeated Lucky, all happening with Marl chuckling at the two for being so oblivious.

\- "Thank goodness everything ended up alright." Said Natsu as he was squatting down next to Nadi, his arm doing the same kind of shaking as the cat.

\- "Yes !"

\- "Hey ! It's contagious, Natsu." Said Gray, his own arm doing the same thing.

\- "This is like some weird kind of disease." Noticed Emu… not noticing his arm doing the exact same thing.

\- "We're thinking of settling down in this area for the time being." Finally said Shagotte, Wendy squatting down next to Carla with a big smile on her face.

\- "We can come see you anytime, huh ?"

\- "That's right…" Said Shagotte as she got closer and hugged Carla, much to her shock. "You can see us anytime, Carla." The younger white cat stayed in shock, before letting herself go in the warm hug. As for Happy, he was busy talking with Marl.

\- "Come over and play anytime, Happy."

\- "Aye !"

\- "KAH ! You don't have to come !" Cut in Lucky.

\- "I really like your smell, mister, ma'am… I wonder why ?" This brought tears to the couple's eyes thought they didn't let anything appear.

\- "KAH ! You're a hundred years too young to be smelling us !" Shouted Lucky, making Happy run away in fear while Marl wiped her tears off with her apron. Soon after, the Exceed all left, leaving the mages and Riders behind, looking at them fly away to find themselves a new home. And speaking about home…

\- "We should head on back to the guild, too." Said Natsu, shaking his fist without even realizing it.

\- "How're we going to explain all this ?" Wondered Lucy, doing the same.

\- "No worries… Nobody will have noticed anything this time, right ?" Reminded Grey in the same situation.

\- "But we can't keep quiet about what happened to Mystogan." Reminded Erza, her hand doing the same as the others, much to Wendy's slight embarrassment. As for the Riders, they were all turned to Gentaro, Sento and Shinnosuke with the same question in mind.

\- "How did the three of you ended up with Mystogan ? I thought you were on a mission at Mount Katalto ? " Asked Kouta.

\- "We were, but it had to be shortened as we got found." Explained Shinnosuke. "When we came back, the town was gone and Mystogan was about to go to Edolas so we decided to come along for the ride."

\- "And what did you learned ? About Shocker's plan, I mean ?" Asked Emu.

\- "They are working on something huge. Something that, according to the data we found, could wipe this world off as much as our." Said Sento, making the Riders frown. "We'll have to go back there soon, but we'll need to prepare. It's going to be a lot of work."

\- "W…Wait a sec." Came Gajeel's voice, pulling everyone out of their conversation. "Where's Lily . I don't see Panther Lily anywhere !"

\- "You're right. He's an Exceed, he should have been send to Earthland, too." Said Gentaro.

\- "If you're looking for me, I'm over here." Came Panther's voice as he stepped out of a bush… shrunk down to be the same size as Happy and Carla.

\- "You sure got a lot cuter." Commented Happy.

\- "It looks like Earthland didn't mix well with my constitution." Said Panther, not that disturbed by his new appearance. "Anyway, I want to join the guild that his Highness was helping out. As promised, you'd better let me in… Gajeel."

\- "OF COURSE !" Shouted Gajeel as he tackled Panther and pulled him into a hug, crying his eyes out. "MY CAT !"

\- "What is that rope for ?" Wondered Takeru, looking at the rope Panther was holding in his paw.

\- "I caught a suspicious looking person." Said Panther as he pulled on the rope. "Come."

\- "Wait…" Came a girl's voice that made some eyes widen amongst the mages. "I am not suspicious…" The girl came out of the bushes, her wrist bound as she fell to her knees, making the same widened eyes widen even more. "I am a member of Fairy Tail, too…"

\- "Huh, guys ?" Began Kouta whose eyes began to widen slightly, looking at the white haired and blue eyed girl in front of them. "Doesn't she looked familiar to you ?"

\- "She does… That's the same hair…" Agreed Haruto. "Don't tell me… She is…"

\- "Lisanna…" finished Natsu, too shocked to move as the white haired girl looked at her captor.

\- "What's up with this cat ?! Is it an Exceed ?"

\- "Who the hell are you ?!" Seethed Gajeel. "You picking on my cat, huh ?!"

\- "It can't be…" Said Gray in what was barely more than a whisper, not believing what he was seeing.

\- "Could it be… That Anima sucked her from Edolas ? But it can't be…" Said Lucy only to be interrupted by Sento.

\- "Unless she wasn't from Edolas to begin with."

The white haired girl turned her head to look at everyone else, her eyes landing on Natsu before she leaped to her feet and threw herself on him, dragging Panther along with her.

\- "NATSU !" She cried as they both landed on the ground. "I finally get… To see the real Natsu again." She then turned and grabbed Happy, hugging him as much as she could with her bounded wrist. "Happy ! And Erza and Gray too ! It's been so long !"

\- "Wait a sec… You… You couldn't be… Earthland's Lisanna ?!" Asked Gray, his whole body trembling. And as soon as she confirmed it, everyone began to shout their disbelief. Natsu and Happy were about to jump on her but were held back by Erza.

\- "Wait… You're supposed to have died 2 years ago." She reminded, prompting her to explain how she could still be alive.

\- "I… didn't die or anything like that." She explained. "2 years ago, while I was on a job with Mira-nee and Elf-niichan, I lost consciousness and…"

\- "You go sucked into the Anima." Deduced Shinnosuke. "Mystogan had been roaming the kingdom looking for the Anima to close them, which meant they were probably all over back then."

\- "Yeah. When I awoke in Edolas and found Fairy Tail, I was surprised. They were all different, but there were people who knew me there. In addition, they thought I was the Lisanna from Edolas. I figured the real Edo-Lisanna was probably already dead."

\- "And you didn't tell them the truth as not to hurt them more than they were already. So you pretended to be their Lisanna." Understood Takeru.

\- "Everything was pretty good. I hid my own magic and I got used to live in Edolas. That is, until 6 days ago…"

\- "When me, Natsu, Wendy, Carla and Happy came to Fairy Tail." Realized Emu. "But, why didn't you told us the truth then !?"

\- "I couldn't…" She simple said, making them all gasp at her. "I… Couldn't be found as I didn't wanted to make Mira-nee and the others sad ever again. I decided to bear with it and live my life in Edolas… But when the magical power was sucked in by the Anima, it included me. And that's when they told me that they knew all along that… I wasn't their Lisanna. They knew but they didn't say anything. They even asked me… To give their love to their Earthland selves…" Tears pooled in her eyes as she saw about her second family that she left behind in Edolas but she quickly wiped them off. She was home, that was all that mattered.

\- "Give their counterpart their love, huh ?" Said Kouta, everyone turning to him to see his mischievous grin. "What do you guys think of a little stroll in the cemetery ?"

/- Kardia Cathedral -/

Rain was pouring down on Magnolia. With this kind of weather, no one was outside, preferring staying in the warmth of their houses. Only two people were outside right now. In the cemetery right next to the cathedral, the Strauss siblings, Elfman and Mirajane, were currently bracing the rain to go and pay their respect to their deceased sister. Mirajane was currently squatting down in front of the tomb, Elfman standing by her side, holding an umbrella to protect them from the rain as they looked at the tomb with sadness filled eyes.

\- "Nee-chan, we should get going." Said Elfman to her sister.

\- "Just a little while longer…"

Alone in this quiet place, they both mourned peacefully, when suddenly, the silence was broken by the sound of someone running in puddles, shouting at them.

\- "Mira-nee ! Elf-niichan !"

The two aforementioned mages looked up, eyes widening slightly as they heard their sister's voice, wondering if in their sorrow, they were imagining her calling for them. But they turned around despite their doubts and their eyes widen even more, filling with surprise and shock as they saw that girl with unmistakable white hair and blue eyes running at them. They were really starting to feel like someone was toying with them, until they noticed their friends behind her, looking at them with smiles on their faces, realizing that they weren't dreaming. Out of shock, Elfman let go of the umbrella who fell to the ground with a splashing noise as they began to break, tears pooling in their eyes, their body shaking as they tried to process what was happening.

\- "It… It can't be…" Muttered Mirajane, breaking down as tears streamed down her and Elfman's faces, only now fully realizing that they weren't dreaming. "Lisanna."

And the girl, as tearful as her brother and sister, jumped on her sister, hugging her as if her life depended on it. Face in her hands, Mirajane cried as Lisanna hugged her, try to fill out the 2 years spend away from each other.

\- "I'm home." She said, her head buried in her big sister's shoulder. Soon, Elfman joined them, the Strauss siblings finally reunited after so many painful years, all under the smiling faces of their friends who looked at the scene, happy for them. And it's with a smile on her still crying face that Mirajane finally uncovered her face, happier than ever before as she answered her sister with two words she never though she could say to her.

\- "Welcome home."

/- Later, Fairy Tail -/

And welcomed back she was. When they all ran back to the guild, they were welcomed by a deafening silence as every single member stood in shock at the sight of the white haired girl who, in their head, just came back from the dead. Of course, this led to the riders and mages to explain everything that happened : Lisanna's 'death' two years ago, Edolas, the fact that they got turned into a Lachryma, their journey in this other world, the truth about the Exceed and of course, their new member Panther Lily as well as Mystogan's new life. But once everything had been said, every single ounce of shock disappeared and a massive party began, everyone cheering at Lisanna's return. Every one was feeling the joy of seeing their old friend being back home. Well, almost everyone.

\- "Hey, Takeru." Lucy said, inching closer to the Rider. "What's wrong with Juvia ?" Indeed, the blue haired mage was looking particularly gloomy and down, back in her old clothes and hairstyle.

\- "Well, I think Happy told her about how Edo-Gray was feeling for Edo-Juvia." He explained and suddenly, everything made sense to Lucy, sweat dropping as she looked at Juvia who was hiding behind a column, looking at Gray who was sitting by the bar, talking to Kana.

\- "The version of you over there... Pffft ! I can't… even just thinking about it…"

\- "It was far more healthier version for sure, but it was so different I'd rather prefer this one." Added Emu with a nod.

\- "What do you mean ?!" Growled Kana, hugging a barrel as usual. "Spit it out ! You're making the liquor taste bad !"

\- "Juvia… wants to go to Edolas…" Whispered the water mage, her fingers digging into the wooden pillar.

\- "M… Me too…" Added Alzack and Bisca sheepishly, both also knowing the way their astral twins acted with each other.

Amidst the chaos, there was one person, or rather one cat, that simply stood there and looked at the joyous chaos with a neutral expression on his face.

\- "This… sure is a noisy guild…" Said Panther, sweat dropping.

\- "Don't worry. Everyone feel the same when they first come to the guild." Said Shinnosuke, sitting at the table with the Exceed.

\- "So… Every last person here has internal magic…" To Panther, even if he knew he wasn't in Edolas anymore, it still felt weird and slightly frightening.

\- "That's right. That's how it is with Earthland mages." Said Erza, appearing by their table, Panther looking at her in shock. After all, he had yet to truly meet and talk with the one who looked so much like his previous colleague. "But what's important isn't the magic itself, but the hearts of those who wield it. Isn't that right, Lily ?"

\- "You may be a different person… But it's comforting to have even just a single familiar face around." Answered Lily with a grin.

\- "HEYY ! Salamander ! Girlie !" Shouted Gajeel as he jumped from the crowd. "Let's have a showdown between my Lily and your blue and white cats !"

\- "Why do I feel this is one of the only reason Gajeel wanted a cat ?" Muttered Haruto as he and the others sweat drop as Natsu agreed, Happy not really feeling like it. But it was Panther who put a stop to it.

\- "Stop it… I may look like this now, but on that side I was a division commander. If you engage in a senseless fight, you'll just get hurt."

\- "You're more mature than I expected." Said Erza with a touch of pride.

\- "I think it's just that they are the immature ones." Corrected Gentaro as he pointed at the massive brawl that just started in the middle of the guild, people joining and adding to the chaos, Makarov and Gildarts looking at the scene with smiles on their faces.

\- "My, my…" Simply said Makarov, tired by their antics, his mind wandering to his other preoccupation. "It's too bad about Mystogan, but… Let's hope he's in high spirits over there in Edolas or whatnot."

\- "I'm sure he is." Answered Gildarts, smiling as he looked at the massive brawl. "He grew up in this guild. Of course he's in high spirits." Makarov smiled broadly at that, arms crossed before turning to Sento who was typing at his computer next to them at the bar. "What about you, Sento ? Did you discover something during your little mission in Mount Katalto ?"

\- "More than we though. And it's not good news." All trace of smile disappeared of Gildarts and Makarov's faces, looking at the scientist who looked to be pretty worried. "We didn't get as much informations as we would have liked, but this is enough to know they're working on something huge. The kind of thing that could assure their victory, no matter the world."

Makarov and Gildarts looked at each other, worried about what this could mean, before looking back at Sento.

\- "I guess you won't let them do as they please, am I right ?" Said Gildarts.

\- "Yes you are. We won't let them finish whatever they are doing. But that's not just that. There's also something else."

\- "And what is that thing ? You can tell us. We'll help you in any way we can." Assured Makarov, which made Sento smiled.

\- "Thanks, but we have yet to know everything about what they're doing. Let me dig into those data a bit more and I'll tell you if you can help." The master of the guild and its strongest mage both nodded and smiled, which only internally pained Sento. _"I'm thankful that you want to help us, but this might not be possible. After all… This will probably be our last mission here. Our time in this world is running out."_

 **There we are. I have to say that we're nearing the end. I'm gonna give a bit more details in the next chapter, but I'd like to at least warn you about it, mainly because I have many things to decide about what's going to happen in the future chapters so I'm probably going to need more time to write. Anyway, I hope you liked that chapter. Follow, fav and review if you liked it. See ya !**

 **Next time : The final fight is approaching. The last mission begin. A worrying message.**


	55. Chapter 54 : The last mission begin

**HI EVERYONE ! It's been so long since last time. I'm so sorry ! I had been busy with my job and I had another writer block. And I've been working on other projects so I had less time to work on it.**

 **BY THE WAY, I need your help ! I can't spoil you, but there's going to be quite a lot of Hybrid in the next chapter and if I already know what to do with some of them, I lack some ideas for others. I thus need you to give me ideas of mages turning Hybrid. I'll take any ideas, but I'd prefer form using high power Rider form/trinkets. I already have ideas for Erza, Lucy, Natsu, even Cana, Alzack and Bisca but I need some more, like for Gray, Wendy, Gajeel, the Strauss, etc. I might not use them all, but the more ideas there are, the better. So send your ideas via review or PM, I'll read them all and credit you if I use yours.**

 **Thanks in advance for your help, and now, enjoy this long awaited chapter !**

 **EDIT : I edited a bit the part talking about Another Lucy as i realized i could do something else with its powers. Also, i needed to come and talk to you a bit regarding the current situation concerning a virus you probably heard about. I'm French, which mean that i have to stay at home all the time. One could think it's the perfect occasion to write : it's not ! Staying home isn't the best way to get creative, for me at least. So I'm sorry if i'm a bit late on my schedule, but with what's happening, i'm not a 100% motivated to work on my fic. I'm sorry but i hope you can understand.**

 **Stay safe, stay at home to make sure this shit doesn't spread more than it already did. And please, don't be stupid and listen to the shit some people says.** **Seriously, we can save the world by staying in our home so STAY AT HOME !**

 **Chapter 54 : The last mission begin**

The party for Lisanna's return lasted all day and a good part of the night, to the point where they all fell asleep in the now completely wrecked guild hall. People were sleeping on the benches, tables or even directly on the ground, using other people as pillows, snoring away peacefully. It was pretty endearing for the only ones who managed to stay awake, the Riders, who were looking at the scene with smiles on their faces.

\- "They really are noisy ones, aren't they ?" Began Haruto, putting some covers on the mages to prevent them from catching cold.

\- "Yeah they are. But that's what makes them so endearing, in a way." Added Emu, wrapping covers around Wendy and Carla.

\- "They kind of got overboard today. But who are we to blame them." Said Shinnosuke, smiling as looked at the scene.

\- "It's true. Besides, they had every right to party like this : it is not everyday someone you though dead come back to you." Smiled Belt-san.

\- "This only show how much their friendship is strong." Added Gentaro.

\- "Yes, you're right." Cut Sento, his smile faltering a bit. "But I'm afraid that this could be the last time we can party with them like that." All of the Riders lost their smiles at this statement, turning to look at Sento.

\- "You're talking about your mission, right ?" Deduced Kouta. "This means that you've discovered important things, isn't it ?"

\- "Exactly, and it's not good news." Revealed Sento. "We couldn't explore everything, but they are building something in those mountains and from what we could find, it is not good for us and it is not better for this world."

\- "The good news is that we found their schedule." Added Belt-san. "Their project will operational in one week, which leave us this time to prepare and then go back to make sure they can't use whatever it is."

\- "Okay, then should we ask them all for help ?" Asked Takeru, gesturing to the mages in the room. "Shocker probably is going to have a little bit of magic on their side so we're going to need it too, right ?"

\- "I don't know. After all, this is our mission, not theirs." Said Shinnosuke. "Guess we'll have to see when the time will come. For now, they deserve to rest a little. Besides, we have work to do before going back. We'll see how things turn out."

The followings days, life was back on its usual tracks. Mages were going on jobs all over the country, Lisanna was slowly getting back in the business, with Elfman acting as her personal bodyguard, the bulky man not letting anyone get to close to her, which was starting to embarrass her. Juvia kept stalking Gray, Panther was training to use his human form as much as before, Nab was looking at the Request Board, Gray and Natsu fought for no reason… In short, everything was truly back to normal. Except for the Riders. Indeed, many noticed that they began to act pretty weirdly ever since they got back from Edolas. They spent most of their time working together on some sort of battle plan from what the mages could gather but they didn't get much to work with. They did notice a map showing Mount Katalto topography among the document, proving that this had something to do with the reconnaissance Sento, Shinnosuke and Gentaro did while the rest was in Edolas. And everything got explained a few days later, when the Riders all entered the guild, the mages greeting them but without receiving an answer, making them look at the Riders only to see the grave look in their eyes as well as all of their tools and gadgets following behind them. No one understood what this meant, except Makarov who was sitting on the bar, looking at them with a serious face.

\- "So… It is time, isn't it ?" He said, silence filling the room as the Fairies all looked between their master and their friends who only nodded in response.

\- "It is." Confirmed Kouta. "It is time for us to go and do what we came here for."

\- "We're going back to Mount Katalto to get this world rid of Shocker once and for all." Stated Shinnosuke, making the mages whispers as Mirajane spoke up.

\- "But even if you are… Why does it look like you're not coming back ?"

\- "When we explored their base, we found, among other thing, the same kind of portal that brought us here." Explained Sento, giving a bit of context. "If, during our fight, they escape and go back to our world, we'll have to pursue them to make sure they don't bring anything from this world with us. And should this happen, we won't be able to come back here. As such, there's a very high possibility that we won't come back from this mission."

Everyone was now looking at them in shock, eyes wide and mouths hanging open. They all knew that the Riders wouldn't stay here forever as this is not their home world, but they hoped they could have a bit more time to prepare for their departure and instead, it is just coming at them like a ton of brick.

\- "Is there any way we can help ?" Suddenly asked Natsu, standing in the middle of the hall, quickly joined by Gray.

\- "For once, I agree with ash for brain. You are all members of Fairy Tail. We have to help you."

\- "I'm afraid this might not be possible." Said Takeru, shaking his head sadly. "This is our mission, not yours. We can't ask you to come and risk your life for us."

\- "But why couldn't we ? You helped us with our problems, did you not ?" Cut in Levy.

\- "Yeah, but every time it was because Shocker was among the enemy." Reminded Gentaro. "This time, it is going to be just Shocker. It's our job to take care of them."

\- "But Shocker proved they could use magic too, with those Hybrids. What if some of those are waiting for you ? You'll need our magic." Stated Erza, taking a step, only to stop when they all showed them blank version of their respective trinkets.

\- "We could use your magic, but this doesn't mean you have to be here." Revealed Takeru. "If you fill those with your magic, we'll be able to use your magic to fight any Hybrid that might wait for us, as you said."

The mages all looked at the trinkets then at each other, wondering about it. They wanted to help, to fight with them, but they were clear that they didn't want them to come.

\- "I know it is hard to accept, but we really don't want you to face this kind of problem when you just came out of another one." Added Emu in an apologetic tone. "You have all already been a great help. And not just in term of power. You all were great allies, among the greatest we ever had, all world combined, and even greater friends." A smile graced their lips as they saw some tears filling the mages eyes. "You already did a lot for us. It is time we repay you by getting this world rid of Shocker."

The Fairies were all struggling to not let their sadness overcome them as Makarov jumped down from the counter and walked to the stand just in front of the Riders, looking up at them.

\- "I understand your feelings and if you really want to go alone, then I won't stop you. But before, I'd like to say something to you." He was dead serious and so were the Riders, wondering what he was about to say. "Thank you." This wasn't what they were expecting, their eyes widening as they looked at the small man who had a kind smile on his face. "You may have been from another world, but you fought for this guild as if has always been your home. You protected it from destruction. You fought to save us whether it was from your enemies or ours. You also did your share to protect this world from threats like Nirvana. And you even played a decisive role in bringing a family back together." As he said that, the Strauss took a step forward, tears in their eyes as they looked at them with gratitude. "If it is your wish to go and fight by yourselves, so be it." He then grabbed a Gashat, letting his magic fill it as it slowly became MIGHTY GIANT X. "But even if it is like this, you won't go without us. Through those devices, we'll fight with you to the very end."

Soon after that, every single mages in the guild came to the Riders to not only fill the trinkets with their magic but to also say goodbye to them as this might be the last time they saw them. They all hugged or at least shook hands with the Riders who could feel their hearts swelling with this love but also clenching a bit in sadness at the prospect of not being able to see them again.

\- "We're going to miss you all." Said Lucy, tears in her eyes as she hugged Gentaro for a few seconds before putting some distance between them. "I'll never forget that you helped in saving Leo's life".

\- "Everything for my buddies." Simply said Fourze as he did his usual handshake with her before turning to another one.

\- "I'll miss you. I've never had a sparring partner like you before and I don't think I'll ever find one again." Erza said to Kouta. "I'm going to miss you."

\- "You sure it's not just my Ichigo Arms you're gonna miss ?" Smirked Kouta, Erza reddening slightly, remembering the first time she saw the said armor. "To be honest, you're gonna miss me too, Erza."

\- "I-I'm gonna miss you…" Sobbed Wendy, hugging Emu tightly, sad to see the one she could consider to be like her big brother go.

\- "I'm gonna miss you too. Take care of everyone for me, okay ?"

\- "I… I will !" She stated, smiling at him.

\- "You'll find your dragons, one day. I'm sure of it." Said Haruto to Gajeel and Natsu. "Don't lose hope."

\- "Don't worry, we won't !" Stated Natsu with a large grin, mirrored by Gajeel.

\- "Just don't forget to kick those Shocker's asshole for me. I still want them to pay for that trick they played on us back in Phantom."

\- "We will, don't worry. They won't get away this time." Assured Shinnosuke, shaking their hands.

\- "It's really sad to see you all go." Said Mirajane, standing with her siblings in front of Takeru, small tears in the corner of her eyes. "You did so much for us all."

\- "It was nothing." Answered Takeru. "We only did what we always do. And I have to say that I'd like to stay here a bit longer. But our mission is to stop them."

\- "Guys, I think it is time for us to go." Stated Sento, giving one last hug to Juvia who had just thanked him for the time he helped Gray in saving her after she had been turned into a Smash. The other riders nodded and got ready to turn around and leave when they were stopped by Makarov.

\- "Wait a second. I'm not finished with you." He said, grabbing their attention as Erza appeared by his side, holding a banner with the Fairy Tail mark on it. "I still have to say something to you : the 3 rules one leaving the guild as to follow." The Riders smiled at the mages as they all stood side by side behind Makarov. "One ! You must never reveal any sensitive information about Fairy Tail to outsiders, as long as you live and no matter the world ! Two ! You must never use the clients you met though the guild to achieve personal gain !"

\- "Even if we wanted, we couldn't do it." Stated Haruto with a smile, the old man grinning as he ended with the last rule.

\- "And three ! Though our paths may differ… You must always live out your lives with all your might ! Never must you consider your own life to be insignificant ! Never in your lives must you forget the friends you held dear !"

By this point, the Riders had all turned around and walked to their vehicle but before leaving, they all raised a hand, thumb and index finger pointing respectively to the side and skyward, forming a L, exactly like they all did during Fantasia to say goodbye to Laxus. The sight proved to be too much for most of the mages who broke down in tears as they looked at the Riders who were now all on their bike, or in a car for one of them, starting their engine and speeding into the street of Magnolia, off to their last adventure in this magical world.

/- The following day, Mount Katalto -/

It took barely more than a day for the Riders to reach Mount Katalto where Shocker's base was hidden. They were all on top of a cliff, looking down at an opening in the mountain, opening that was heavily guarded.

\- "Looks like they increased their defense since last time." Noticed Sento, looking at the guards with a pair of binoculars.

\- "That was to be expected. They know we know about their base and that we would return at some point." Stated Shinnosuke.

\- "So… How do you think we should do it ?" Asked Kouta to the three who already came while they were in Edolas.

\- "Well, last time we managed to sneak our way inside the base, but I don't think it's going to work this time." Said Gentaro. "There's at least 5 more guards than last time, we'll never walk past them."

\- "Then this means we'll have to force our way inside." Deduced Emu, already grabbing his Gashats. "Let's do this !"

\- "You're right ! Time to put an end to this !" Added Takeru, he and the others putting their Drivers on.

 _ **SHABADOOBI, TOUCH HENSHIN ! SHABADOOBI, TOUCH HENSHIN !**_

 _ **ORANGE !**_

 _ **START YOUR ENGINE !**_

 _ **EYE ! BATCHIRIMINA ! BATCHIRIMINA !**_

 _ **MIGHTY ACTION X !**_

 _ **RABBIT ! TANK ! BEST MATCH ! ARE YOU READY ?**_

 _ **3 ! 2 ! 1 !**_

\- "HENSHIN !"

The first dozen of guards had been destroyed before they had even realized their were under attack. After taking care of the guards in the entrance, they entered the base and began plowing their way inside, defeating soldiers after soldiers, either bare-handed or wielding a weapon, slashing or shooting at every single soldiers that came rushing at them. The Riders were progressing pretty easily inside the base, switching between forms and weapons depending on the situation, but truth to be told, they were quite worried. It was too easy. They met nothing more than basic soldiers, not a single general, not even a lieutenant came to try and stop them. At some point, they reached a massive room filled with computers that were processing data continuously, the group going straight for one of them, Sento immediately looking through the data and files while the others were on guard.

\- "You're looking for something specific ?" Asked Kouta to Sento.

\- "When we first came, we learned they were building something, but we couldn't find anything on its abilities nor about his power source." Explained the scientist. "We have to learn about it if we want to be able to destroy whatever they built."

That was the moment Shocker soldiers choose to enter the room, all of them rushing to them, the Riders keeping their position to protect Sento while he worked, trying to find whatever he needed. After some times, he finally found what he was looking for, immediately joining his friends to repel the enemies.

\- "I got it !"

\- "Alright ! So what's the plan ?"

\- "They are currently charging their weapon thanks to many generators scattered all around the base."

\- "Let me guess." Began Gentaro while showering the Shocker Footsoldier with his Gatling Module. "We have to destroy them all."

\- "Yes. They are currently charging the weapon and if we take too much time, they'll have enough power to activate it."

\- "Then it's better if we all split up. That way, we'll be able to seek and destroy them quickly enough." Stated Shinnosuke.

\- "Then let's do it !" Shouted Takeru as he and the others took care of the last soldiers, allowing them to leave, each one of them taking off in a different direction. What they didn't realized was that they were currently being watched by Doctor Shinigami from his office.

\- "So they just split, huh ? Perfect." He said with a smirk on his face. "You can try all you want, Riders. This time, you won't succeed, no matter what you're trying because this time, you won't have the power to do it." As he said that, he looked down his hand, which was clutching a big black circular device with a button on top of it, looking like some kind of watch. Shinigami's sinister laugh echoed in the room as he truly believed that this time, the Riders were in for a tough ride.

/- Back to Fairy Tail -/

After the Riders left, everything went back to normal for the mages of Fairy Tail. It could almost be as if nothing happened. They were all either talking, eating, drinking or fighting for basically no reason, but deep down, they felt the loss. It was hard to come to the guild and to not be greeted by Gentaro's enthusiasm and special handshake, with Sento tinkering on the side, Kouta sparing with Erza or Emu teaching Wendy about the advanced medical technology he had in his world.

\- "Damnit, I'm bored." Sighed Natsu as he was eating his fire chicken at the bar, Happy munching on a fish next to him.

\- "Natsu… You fought with Gray not even 2 minutes ago." Reminded Happy.

\- "I can understand Natsu's state of mind." Admitted Mirajane. "They may have left just yesterday, but it already feel like they left a week ago. We truly lost a part of our family with them gone."

\- "Come on, don't be so down." Said Makarov, sipping on a beer. "Don't go thinking I'm heartless : I'll miss them too. But instead of mopping around and be sad for them leaving, let's just keep on living to our fullest in their stead. They did so much for us, it is the last we can do for them."

\- "Yeah, you're right, gramps." Smiled Natsu before his nose caught a familiar sweet scent that made him turn around, seeing a blonde haired girl walking toward them. "Hey, Luce !"

\- "Good morning, Lucy/Luchy" Welcomed Mira and Happy.

\- "Good morning to you, Lucy."

\- "Good morning to you too." Smiled Lucy, sitting down next to Natsu, her head instantly turning to the old secret passage that led to their hideout, a melancholic smile gracing her lips. "I still can't believe they are gone."

\- "Yes it is, but as master just said, we should keep on living for them, just like they are fighting to protect our world."

\- "Still, I think we should go and give them a hand." Pouted Natsu. "I'm sure we could have been of some help, even if just a little."

\- "They said that this was their fight, Natsu." Reminded Lucy with a sigh.

\- "Yeah, but they fought alongside us all the time, why couldn't we do it to ?"

\- "Because Shocker was involved in almost every battle we fought since they first came." Said Makarov. "They had a reason to fight every single time. And since mages aren't involved this time, then it is not our fight."

The four nodded at their master, wondering what kind of enemies their friends were fighting when a bright light shone next to them, Leo appearing out of it next to Lucy which annoyed her a bit.

\- "Leo… How many time do I have to tell you not to force open your door like that ?" However, when she saw Leo's face, her annoyance got replaced by worriedness as Leo seemed to be in pain. "What's wrong, Leo ?"

\- "To be honest… I have no idea." Admitted the spirit, much to everyone shock, including the rest of the guild who saw the spirit appear. "It happened suddenly, out of nowhere. And strangely enough, I'm not the only one concerned. Every other spirit are feeling quite down. It's as if we were sick. But we CAN'T get sick."

\- "Is something wrong in your world ? Something out of the ordinary ?" Asked Makarov, worried for the spirit as he would be for any other member of the guild.

\- "Well, no. Not that I know of, at least." Answered the Lion. "It's really weird. I feel exactly like the time I stayed in the human world to force Karen to free Aries and I."

\- "We should look to see if there is an explanation." Stated Makarov as he pointed at Levy. "Levy-chan, please go to the library, see if you can find anything that could explain what's happening. I have a very bad feeling about this."

Levy nodded and ran to the library but before she could reach it, something rang inside the guild. The noise took everyone by surprise, the mages looking all around to see who was making such noise. And of course, it was the Slayers who picked the origin first thanks to their hearing which led them to the Riders stuff, more precisely from a black briefcase.

\- "It's coming from there." Stated Gajeel, picking the briefcase up.

\- "Let's see what's inside." Said Wendy, Gajeel putting the briefcase on a table before opening it, reveling a screen on the vertical panel and a keyboard with many button on the horizontal part.

\- "The heck ?" Was all Natsu could say as he and the other gathered around, Makarov taking the front seat.

\- "Look, this button is the only one whose flickering." Said Panther, pointing at said button which Makarov pressed, which made the screen light up, showing the face of a young man with mid-length brown hair with a black and magenta camera hanging around his neck. Both sides of the screen seemed surprised by who they had in front of them, the old man being the one to break the silence.

\- "He-Hello ? Who are you ?"

\- "Oh, I guess we've never met before. My name is Tsukasa Kadoya, also known as Kamen Rider Decade." Said Kadoya, introducing himself. "And I guess you're the mages my comrades are working with. Fairy…"

\- "Tail. Fairy Tail. I am Makarov Dreyar, Guild Master of Fairy Tail. I guess you wanted to talk to your fellow Riders ?"

\- "Yes. They send a message a few days ago to tell us they were preparing for their last assault against Shocker and I would have liked to talk to them about that."

\- "Well, I'm sorry to be the one to break it to you, but they already left." Revealed Makarov. "They left yesterday in the afternoon."

\- "I see. Too bad, then."

\- "Truth to be told, I'm a bit worried for them." Revealed Makarov, looking down for a moment as a frown appeared on his face. "Just the seven of them against what's probably going to be a whole army… Besides, those Shocker proved they could use magic in their own way and I fear they have one last trick up their sleeves."

\- "I understand but don't worry. They are all skilled fighters and they can do pretty much anything they want thanks to the diversity of powers and skills they all have. I can't really think of anything that could stop them."

But soon, Tsukasa was proved wrong. As soon as he closed his mouth, another window appeared, visible by both side and taking them all by surprise. The video was shaking and in the video, they could see the back of a man clad in a red armor with a massive fire extinguisher in his arms, his armor covered in stars, the head of the gun shaped like a star and golden decorations covering every piece of the armor, fighting against an unseen opponent.

\- "What's that ? Who's that red and golden dude ?" Wondered Natsu, looking at the screen in half-wonder, half-confusion.

\- "Is that… Gentaro ?"

\- "It is." Said Tsukasa, confirming Gray's suspicion. "It's his Fire State with… Some kind of shiny upgrade ?"

\- "He must have used one of those trinkets we filled with magic." Realized Wendy. "This is probably an hybrid Gentaro/Lucy."

\- "But that video…" He then turned to look outside the screen, calling someone. "Kengo ! Can you come here ? We need you."

The young man named Kengo came and with a curt nod to the mages through the screen, he began to work.

\- "This is Burgermeal's live stream. It's showing us what is currently happening to Gentaro." Revealed Kengo.

As soon as he said that, Gentaro was sent to the ground by his opponent, letting the mages, Tsukasa and Kengo get a good look at the thing Gentaro was fighting. It was a monster, obviously, fighting with a whip of some sort, dark blue with star shaped stud covering it. It had a pretty feminine body with metallic golden hair, a horn standing out on the side of its head and glowing red eyes shining on a pointy face with sharp teeth. It was also wearing a white jagged armor on top with what would have been a deep cleavage if it was a human and a blue metallic skirt. Around its waist was a ragged brown belt.

\- "It is weird." Muttered Natsu. "Is it me or does that monster look like Lucy ?"

\- "How dare you !?" Roared Lucy, slapping Natsu in anger. "Why the hell are you comparing me to that thing ?!"

\- "Wait Lu-chan, I have to admit he's not wrong." Said Levy, which shocked Lucy even more. "I mean, look at it closely."

Lucy did as she was told and slowly came to realize they were right : it did look like her. The color scheme of the armor was reminiscing of the clothes she wore when she first came to the guild, the monster also wield a whip and that golden horn on the side of its head was like her side ponytail.

\- "Did… Did Shocker made a monster out of me ? But why ?"

\- "I don't get it." Said Erza. "If they wanted to make them hesitate by making them fight copy of their friends, why giving them such monstrous appearance ?" Tsukasa and Kengo looked at each other, fearing they knew what the hell was happening and what the video showed proved them right. Putting a hand to its waist, the monster made some kind of rusted key appear in its hand, key that shone and out of light appeared another monster, a humanoid one with some kind of grey mane on his head, white armor above a grey body with blue spheres connected by blue lines on his legs and torso and sharp claws on his hands and feet. The sight made Kengo gasp in shock and as soon as the monster appeared, Leo, who was still here, fell to his knees, clutching his chest in pain.

\- "Leo !" Everyone turned to look at him, ignoring the fight between Fourze and the Lucy monster. "What's happening ?!"

\- "I… My powers… It's getting weaker…"

\- "And that happened exactly when that fake Lucy summoned that lion monster. It can't be just a coincidence." Stated Mira.

\- "It's not just any monster it summoned." Said Kengo, gritting his teeth as it looked at the creature. "It's the Leo Zodiarts. Back in our world, he was one of the strongest monsters Gentaro had to fight when he became Kamen Rider Fourze."

\- "So what ? Does that mean this monster is a perverted version of Luce that can use the same power and magic but in a nightmarish way ? How can that be possible ?"

\- "Another Rider." Every single head turned back to the screen, looking at Tsukasa who was frowning in worry. "It's an Another Rider of some kind."

\- "Excuse me, but what is an Another Rider ?" Asked Makarov, really wanting to get an explanation.

\- "To put it simply, it's a monster born from a human in which one forcefully inject the power of a Kamen Rider." Explained Tsukasa. "The result is a monster that looked like a nightmarish version of said Rider with the same kind of power, but twisted."

\- "So this creature is like, what, Another Lucy ?" Deduced Happy, looking concerned. "But how did they do that ?"

\- "From what our Riders friends told us, you all faced Shocker at least once." Reminded Kengo. "They probably had all the time to scan you and create a copy of your powers."

\- "But why does it make Leo feel like that ?" Asked Lucy, unnerved that they created a monster with her own powers. "I have Leo's key, he shouldn't be able to weaken him with a fake."

\- "Unless he genuinely know how to summon spirit." Said Tsukasa, taking everyone by surprise. "The Another Rider usually keep some of their host traits and abilities from the human that absorbed the power. If the one they turned into this Another was already able to summon spirits… It is possible it can use those fake keys to power his own 'spirits', or rather Zodiarts."

\- "Which is not a good news. The Zodiarts are all based off a constellation, just like those Stellar Spirits, which means that this Another Lucy as you call it might be able to summon any Zodiarts it want by sucking the strength of the corresponding spirit." Added Kengo.

\- "It is bad." Seethed Gajeel, looking at the screen as Gentaro was about to use a finisher on his opponent. Inserting the new Fire Switch in his gun, a mix of star light and fire gathered inside the gun and, pressing the trigger, unleashed a massive ball of golden flame at this opponent who took it dead on. But when they flames died out, Another Lucy was not even scratched. "Really, really bad."

\- "Why didn't it worked ? It is Hybrid against Hybrid, it should have at least made some damages." Said Juvia.

\- "The fact is, until now, the Hybrid were either a mage wielding Rider power or the opposite. But if our theory is confirmed, then this Another is a mage, using the magic of someone else through Rider technology." Explained Tsukasa. "Normally, the only way to destroy an Another rider is to fight it with the power of the Rider it copy."

\- "But Gentaro did just that. He used Lucy's power against it and it did nothing."

\- "I'm afraid this means that simply using the power won't be enough." Added Kengo. "This could mean that the original wielder of that magic is the only one that can destroy this thing."

Everybody turned to look at Lucy who looked a bit stressed at the idea of fighting against, well, herself, but she quickly shook it off, sending Leo back to his world before standing up.

\- "Alright ! I'll do it then." She stated. "But if they made a copy of myself, then there's a high chance they also made copy of everyone else."

That was true. And if the Shocker base was filled with another version of Fairy Tail mages, they couldn't take any chance : they all had to go.

\- "Very well." Said Makarov, standing up with a determined expression on his face. "In that case, we are all going to help our friends." Everybody cheered at that, making their friends on the other side of the screen smile at such determination.

\- "But… how are we going to get there ?" Asked Wendy, silencing everyone. "I mean, Mount Katalto is at least two days from Magnolia on train, we'll never be there on time."

\- "Don't you worry about that." Stated Kengo with a smile. "We managed to create a portal stable enough to send something that is probably going to be pretty helpful. Just go outside and wait. Help is on the way. Oh, and take that computer with you, so we can communicate while you're on the way."

With that, the screen turned off, making the mages all look at each other before nodding, Makarov jumping on the table.

\- "Alright, brats. Looks like we'll have to go and give a hand to our friends. It is time for us to show this Shocker what Fairy Tail mages are really made of !" A chorus of motivated shouts answered him as they all ran to the exit, everyone waiting outside for the help Tsukasa and Kengo promised. They stayed here, not moving, for a few minutes before the silence was interrupted by a jingle of some kind. Soon after, a massive red and white bullet train appeared out of portal in the sky, following tracks that appeared out of thin air until it came to a stop just in front of the subjugated mages, some of them looking at the train in horror. A door opened on the side of one of the car and a young man with mid-long dark hair and a kind smile stepped out, looking at the mage.

\- "Hi, everyone." Said the young man, stepping up to Makarov to shake his hand. "I am Ryotaro Nogami, Kamen Rider Den-O. You must be the guild master, Makarov, right ?"

\- "Indeed I am. Nice to meet you."

\- "What kind of train is that ?" Asked Lucy, still shocked by the sudden appearance of the vehicle.

\- "This is the DenLiner, a train that can travel through time and thanks to the portal we stabilized, it can even go travel through dimensions. We're here to give you a lift and go and help our friends."

\- "Yo, Ryotaro ! Now's not the time to talk ! We gotta go !"

\- "WHAT THE HELL !?" The mages all roared in shock as they saw a whole squad of monster looking at them from the train windows. A red one with two horn and black markings, a blue one with a few turtle shaped armor, a yellow and black one with a single horn and fur on his shoulder and wrist and a dark purple one with a long coat. Ryotaro turned around and seeing them, he sighed and look back at the mages.

\- "Don't worry, it's okay. Those are Momotaros, Urataros, Kintaros and Ryutaros and they are all Imagin. They are my friends, don't worry about them. Now come on, we've got to go."

They all followed the young man to the train, the mages splitting in the different cars, Ryotaro entering the one with the Imagin, followed by the 'main mages', Erza dragging Natsu and Gajeel to the train. As soon as they were on board, the door closed and a woman with a pink streak in her black hair jumped in front of them with a big smile, wearing a stewardess uniform.

\- "Thank you for aboard the Denliner today. Your attendant today is...Me! Naomi! If you have any requirements, please call me Naomi-Chan."

\- "So those are the mages, huh ? They don't seem that tough." Said Momotaros, looking at the mages while the blue one approached Lucy.

\- "Do you mind if I reel you in ?"

\- "Yes… Yes I do mind." Answered Lucy, ill-at-ease by the Imagin sudden proximity.

\- "Are you the only one here to help ?" Asked Gray as Ryotaro and the Imagin were the only ones in this car.

\- "No, there are other Riders in the other cars." Said Ryotaro. "We decided to send as much help as possible."

\- "Don't be afraid." Said Kintaros. "Our strength is going to make them cry, you'll see."

\- "Yay ! We're gonna beat them all in a flash !" Added Ryutaros, jumping around like a kid.

\- "Are they always so… weird ?" Asked Wendy.

\- "Yes, they are." Answered a newcomer, redhead wearing a fur coat and carrying a backpack. "But don't worry, they grow into you."

\- "And you are ?" Asked Gajeel, wondering who that man was.

\- "Kosuke Nitou. Kamen Rider Beast." The man said, introducing himself. "A friend of Haruto. I came to give you an hand."

\- "It's a pleasure to meet you." Said Erza, shaking his hand before turning to the rest, arms crossed. So, when are we going to get there ? And how can you know where they are ?"

\- "We're following a signal given off by the other Riders. It should lead us straight to Shocker and their base. As for when…" The train suddenly slowed down before coming to a stop. "Right now."

They all exited the train and realized that they were indeed in the middle of Mount Katalto, Natsu and Gajeel not paying any attention to it as they rushed outside and began to cry in relief, happy to finally be out of that train.

\- "Alright. Now, let's look for our friends." The mages and Riders all began to inspect those mountain, looking for Shocker's base and their friends, hoping it wasn't too late to help them. After sometimes, they finally came across a big opening in the mountain that probably led deep inside the mountain, which could be a great place to hide a base. Theory that was pretty much confirmed by the battle traces left all around the entrance.

\- "Looks like they came here, too." Said Makarov, looking all around. "I guess they probably inside this grotto."

\- "Something doesn't feel right." Said a young man with black hair and wearing a black vest, looking from side to side with squinted eyes. "Even if our Rider comrades are in a bad spot, they would never leave an entrance without any kind of protection."

\- "So this can be a trap. Let's be on our guard." They all approached the cave cautiously, wondering what kind of trap might be waiting for them when they all stopped, hearing a grunting noise coming from the cave. They all came to a stop and looked at the cave attentively, waiting for whatever was coming for them. A few seconds later, the grunt were revealed coming from a humanoid monster that was walking toward them. It was a creature with a brownish armor, with a streak of purple going from the neck to his waist, and some beige fur around the elbow and separating the purple from the brown. He was pitch black on the leg and his hands and feet were shaped like falcon's talons. As for the head, it was long and brown with circle of fur all around it, as if his head was hidden inside a long top hat, his red eyes and sharp teeth showing through rips in the hat.

\- "So here's the welcoming committee." Stated Gray, already topless. "Why sending only one of them, though."

\- "It doesn't matter. We'll just have to beat him down !" Roared Natsu as he shot at the monster who stood there, not moving an inch. "Fire Dragon's… *BAM* URGH !"

Without anyone understanding, Natsu had been send flying back as if he had been punch, the problem being they didn't saw the monster move at all.

\- "Wh… What ?! What happened ?!"

\- "Looks like this fucker is tougher than he looks !" Said Momotaros voice, which was coming from… Ryotaro, whose hair were now swept back with a red streak in it.

\- "The heck ? What's happening to you, Ryotaro ?" Asked Wendy, worried for the young man.

\- "There's no Ryotaro for now, little lady. Only I, Momotaros !"

\- "Heh ?!"

\- "Ryotaro have to be possessed by an Imagin to fight, don't worry." Explained the black haired man from before.

\- "And who are you, by the way ?" Asked Lucy as she helped Natsu back to his feet.

\- "Souji Tendou." Said the man, a red robotic beetle flying to his hand. "Kamen Rider Kabuto."

\- "It is Rider time !" Shouted Momotaros, putting his Driver on and pulling the Rider Pass out.

\- "HENSHIN !"

 _ **HENSHIN !**_

 _ **SWORD FORM !**_

\- "Ore… Sanjou !"

Both Rider now transformed, they ran at the creature that faced them, followed by many mages, all of them aiming to get rid of that beast so they could continue. Gray and Juvia worked together, the water mage sending a massive wave at the creature which Gray immediately froze. But the monster moved out of the way in the blink of an eye, blocking both Rider in the process and sending them back.

\- "God dammit, he's fast !" Complained Momotaros while Tendou got back up next to him.

\- "Then we'll just have to be faster than him." He said, putting an end to his Zecter, electricity coursing through his armor which was starting to detach. "Cast Off !"

 _ **CAST OFF : CHANGE BEETLE !**_

The armor 'exploded', parts flying all over, pushing the monster slightly away as the mages looked at Kabuto in his new armor. However, he wasn't done.

\- "Clock up !"

 _ **CLOCK UP !**_

Kabuto then began to move at a blinding speed, matching the monster's as they both began to fight, the mages and other Rider looking at them go, or at least trying to look, their movement being nothing more than a blur for them. They could still see that Kabuto had the upper hand, even if it was only by a slight small margin.

\- "Do you think he can beat him ?" Asked Droy, trying to follow the fight as much as he could.

\- "Kabuto is a really strong Rider. I'm pretty sure is already about to finish it." Said Urataros from the train as blue electricity began to sparkle on the Rider's foot as he jumped and threw a flying kick at the monster. However, and much to everyone's surprise, his attack was blocked by a wall of what seemed to be withered and spiked roots that came out of the ground to protect the fast monster who used this opportunity to rush at Kabuto and send him flying back to the mages.

\- "What is it this time ?" Sighed Souji, looking at the cave entrance to see that another monster had just joined the fight. It was a monster with a white armor with two yellow kind of belt wrapped around his upper body. The bottom of his body was dark green and his round head was topped with some kind of curved horn on top. And above all, his body had a global vegetal look, as if he was made of wood and roots.

\- "Great, as if it wasn't difficult enough with just one of them." Groaned Jet, looking at the two creatures. Levy's eyes were also glued to the monsters but she was confused, looking as if she was thinking about something.

\- "We have to keep fighting. We need to get past them !" Shouted Erza, requipping into her Heaven Wheel Armor.

\- "The lady's is right." Said Den-O, Ryotaro's voice now much more deeper, matching another Imagin's. "I'll show them my strength, this will make them cry !"

 _ **AX FORM !**_

Following Den-O, the mages rushed in to attack those monsters, but the fight became pretty much inequal. The new monster was able to summon withered vegetal that slithered between the mages and if it didn't took out everyone, those who managed to dodge the plants saw their movement being hindered and thus rendering them unable to dodge the fast one. It truly was a difficult combination to fight but not everyone was taking part to the fight. Levy was still analyzing the situation, finding the monsters power to be pretty familiar. TOO familiar in fact.

\- "Those monsters truly are something else." Said Makarov, about to jump in when Levy stopped him.

\- "Those powers… why do they feel so familiar ?"

\- "Maybe it has something to do with what you learned back at your guild ?" The question came from Kosuke who stood by their side. "I mean, from what we were told, Gentaro was fighting some monster looking like a friend of your, right ?"

Just then, everything fell into place as Levy's brain finally connected the dots. It was obvious and yet she took so much time to realize it, it was infuriating.

 _ **RIDER KICK !**_

 _ **FULL CHARGE !**_

As Levy just realized what their opponent truly were, both Riders currently fighting used their finisher on each monster, using an opening won thanks to a group effort. There were massive explosion, but as the smoke cleared out, the monster weren't even grazed, which made everyone flinch.

\- "For real ? We did all of that and it's not even working ?"

\- "There has to be a way to destroy them !" Said Gray, panting. "We just have to find it."

\- "It's Jet and Droy !" Levy's sudden shout made everyone look at her, wondering what she meant by that, her two partners looking at her in even greater confusion.

\- "What do you mean, Shrimp ?" Asked Gajeel.

\- "Those monsters… They have the same kind of power as Jet and Droy and they even looked like them in a nightmarish way, just like that creature we saw at the guild that looked and fought like Lu-chan !" everyone gasped as they realized that she was right, about both the power and the look. As for the Riders, they seem to understand what it meant.

\- "I see… Those two thing are basically Another Rider… Or should I say Another Mage ?" Wondered the red head from before. "If that's the case, then the one who they are imitating have to destroy them." Jet and Droy looked at each other, uneasy and pretty much scared.

\- "Can't… Can't we just give a Rider our magic ?" Tried Jet.

\- "This would be the same, no ?" Added Droy.

\- "No it's not." Countered Makarov. "Remember what we saw : Gentaro used Lucy's magic to boost himself but he couldn't destroy the monster despite using the right kind of magic. The original has to best and beat the copy."

Jet and Droy looked at each other, then at the monsters who were fighting their friends, then back at each other, both of them nodding, taking a decision.

\- "Okay, we'll do it." Said Jet, trying to look confident.

\- "But we'll need to be Hybrid to deal with those things." Added Droy.

\- "And that's one of the reason why we're here." Said Kosuke by handing Droy a Ring, similar to the ones Haruto used. "I'm sure you'll know what to do with that."

\- "And what about me ?" Asked Jet just as Kabuto appeared by his side, still looking at the two monsters whose combined attacks were really annoying the other mages and Riders.

\- "You're a fast one, right ? Then this might be a good partner for you." Said Kabuto, handing Jet a blue beetle shaped Zecter that Jet grabbed and inspected closely. "This is the Gatack Zecter, lent by a friend of mine. I'm sure it will make a good combination for you."

Jet and Droy looked at each other, shared a nod and then let their magic fill their respective trinkets. The Ring shone and turned bright green and with an oval shape with little plant engraved around the ring. As for the Gatack Zecter, it turned brownish with black stripes and changed shape slightly, the mandible replaced by some kind of antennas. As they did this, Drivers appeared on their waist and after that, they turned to face the battle, ready to jump in, Droy switching his Driver's orientation.

 _ **SHABADOOBI, TOUCH HENSHIN ! SHABADOOBI, TOUCH HENSHIN !**_

\- "HENSHIN !" Everyone turned to look at the two, eyes wide as they transformed.

 _ **PLANT, PLEASE ! SA-SA-SARA, SARA-SARA**_

 _ **HENSHIN !**_

Dory was now wearing a bright green version of Wizard classic form with brown where it normally was black and vines wrapped around his arms, without an helmet, replaced by a bright green vizor with silvery base, a bunch of seeds and green rings hanging on his side.

As for Jet, he was wrapped in a massive armor, the same kind as Kabuto before his cast off, grey and black and pretty basic. The Another Jet and Droy, seeing that, screeched and the first one ran at the two of them, but Jet was ready to receive him, his armor slowly detaching.

\- "Cast Off !"

 _ **CAST OFF : CHANGE TIGER BEETLE !**_

The armor exploded, the fragments raining down on the monster, pushing him back and showing Jet's true form. A brown armor with black stripes on the torso, the same color scheme repeating on the legs and if the helmet wasn't here, he had a red vizor that folded into place on his face, followed by two brown antennas.

\- "Wow. This feels… nice." Said Jet as he looked at himself.

\- "It sure does." Admit Droy, glancing at his Another who was sending a bunch of vines at them. "Now, why don't we test our new power ?" He grabbed a bunch of his seeds and threw them to the ground at his feet before pulling out one of the ring that came with his armor.

 _ **GROW, PLEASE !**_

Bolts of green light shot out of the magic circle that appeared, each hitting a seed who then grew extremely fast, forming massive vines that shot at the ones summoned by the another, the two bunch of plants shredding the others. While the plants were battling it out, Droy's one slowly winning the battle, Another Jet tried to get around the plant and attack the two mages, but Jet was keeping an eye on him and ran to meet him halfway? The two speedster clashed at a such speed that the onlookers had a hard time following them, the two moving at such a speed that they, most of the time, looked like blurs. Back on Droy, his plants were about to reach his target when his Another summoned others dried out vines that aimed at Droy, skirting the other plants but this time, Droy had more than just plant by his side.

 _ **CONNECT, PLEASE !**_

Just as the plants were about to get to him, he pulled out a green and brown version of the WizarSwordGun, using the sword mode to slice the plants to bit, moving around expertedly as he sliced his way through the vegetal. Once the vines were all taken care of, he turned the sword into a gun and shot a few times at his clone, the bullets hitting home and breaking his concentration enough to allow Droy's plant to take over the others, the Another getting swept by the vines. Droy, using his own plant, rushed at his Another and began to pummel him, using his sword to push him back to the cave entrance.

As for Jet, his fight was, at first, pretty much even. Both were more or less as fast as each other and they fought tooth and nail. After a few minutes, sometimes dodging a root from Droy's fight that came their way, Jet grabbed two handles that were sticking out of his leg, each hand pulling out a jagged blade that looked like an insect leg and then, the fight became much more one sided. Using his newly acquired weapons, the mage began to deal a whole lot of damages to his opponent, combining his speed with his sharp blades to cut down his opponent, sending him back with each blow.

At some point, the two monsters were sent rolling on the ground, Jet and Droy standing side by side, both nodding at each other, wordlessly deciding to finish this as they had Riders to save. Droy pulled out a ring while Jet folded the antenna on his Zecter and pushed some buttons on it.

 _ **LUPACHI MAGIC TOUCH GO ! LUPACHI MAGIC TOUCH GO !**_

 _ **ONE, TWO, THREE !**_

\- "Heavenward Kick !"

 _ **CH**_ _ **ŌĪ**_ _ **NE, KICK STRIKE ! SAIK**_ _ **Ō**_ _ **!**_

 _ **HEAVENWARD KICK !**_

Plant suddenly grew around Droy, some forming a pillar that sent him flying high while the rest grabbed Another Droy and lifted him up at least 5 meters into the air while electricity crackled on Jet's antennas, slowly flowing down his body to his legs before he ran at a blinding speed at his Another just as Droy began to dive at his own, foot first, going through a magic circle that covered his foot in bright green energy with leaves shaped sparks flying around the leg. Both attacks connected at the exact same time, both mages going through their respective Another before coming to a stop a few meters behind them, a knee to the ground as their Another exploded, much to their friends joy and amazement.

\- "They are both done for !"

\- "Well done, Jet ! Droy !" Congratulated Levy, feeling proud of her two teammates.

\- "Well… they aren't that useless after all, huh ?" Snickered Gajeel.

\- "It was well done." Admitted Souji as he powered down, walking to a now powered down Jet.

\- "It was thanks to you. And thanks to that." Said Jet, gesturing to the Zecter which he gave back to Kabuto.

\- "We may have given you the tools to succeed." Admit Kosuke as he grabbed the magic Ring Droy was handing him. "But it's you who used it perfectly to win."

\- "Would you look at that." Makarov, while proud of the two, had been more intrigued by what the Another left behind, namely two broken black watch like devices and two men, both knocked out. "Looks like there were mages under those monsters."

\- "That only confirm Tsukasa's theory." Said Ryotaro. "To ensure the magic they copied could be used to their full potential, they gave them to mages, people who knew what it means and feel to use magic."

\- "If that's the case, then we'd better split and form group with Riders and mages." Said Erza, pointing at the cave. "Who know what kind of Another we'll find inside ? We already know for Lucy's, but it's just the one who fought Gentaro. If there's at least one Another by Riders, and given we ignore where they are, then we have to split and find them before it's too late."

\- "You're right Erza." Agreed Makarov, walking to the cave, glaring at it. "Our family is in danger and we won't back down until we are sure they are all safe and sound ! Now come on, brats ! It is time to show them what Fairy Tail is truly made of !"

\- "AYE SIR !"

 **Here it is ! For those who wondered, Sarasara means rustle in Japanese, according to google translate, so I used it for Droy's Plant Ring. And the Tiger Beetle, or Cicindela Hudsoni is, according to what I found, the fastest insect in the world (on the ground), so yeah, I didn't looked that far. I hope you liked that chapter. Review, Fav and/or Follow and I'll see you again late ! Bye !**

 **Next time : Searching for their friends. Gunfight between cow-boys. Let the cosmos shine.**


	56. Chapter 55 : Cowboys and Cosmos

**I'M BACK ! I'm really sorry if this chapter took its time coming out but as you probably know by now, we're in a very particular situation. Personally, I have to work from home which is hindering a lot with my writing schedule. And if you add the fact that staying home all day doesn't help in making me want to write, it explain why the chapter will take some time to come. I hope you can understand that and that you'll excuse me for the delay.**

 **In those times, the best thing to do is stay at home as much as possible to prevent that freaking virus to spread even more than it already did and what better way to spend time than to read some fanfic, huh ? So stay safe and enjoy !**

 **Chapter 55 : Cowboys and Cosmos**

As soon as they entered the underground base, the shitstorm began. Shocker's soldiers, who were nowhere to be seen when the Riders came before, were now filling the long and once deserted hallway to fight and repel the groups of mages and Riders who had split up to try and found their Rider friends. For instance, one of those group, including Lucy, Alzack, Bisca and three Riders, Specter, Snipe and Meteor, was quickly progressing in one of those hallway, plowing through the Shocker' soldiers without much difficulties.

\- "That's a lot of soldiers." Stated Alzack as he shot at the soldiers that kept coming like a never-ending human wave.

\- "How can there be so much if Sento and the others came here before me ?" Asked Bisca, armed with a magical shotgun, unloading on the soldiers that came her way. "Is their army that big ?"

\- "That's a possibility." Said Snipe, using the Gashacon Magnum to open a way. "But they also could have stay hidden and let those Another fight them to preserve their men."

\- "That does explain a lot of things." Admitted Specter, using Tutankhamun's Damashii to fight. "But it doesn't change the fact that we have to get rid of them and quickly."

\- "He's right." Agreed Lucy, whipping at their opponents. "We have to found Sento and the other as quickly as possible to help them before it's too late."

Agreeing with her, the Riders and mages kept progressing in the hallway, getting rid of the soldiers that came their way effortlessly until they reached a room. It was a large rectangular storage room filled with crates, container and scaffolding on the side, with a sort of hallway in the middle leading to a door. The room seemed empty, but the calm was creeping the heroes out.

\- "It's too calm."

\- "Yeah. But it's not like we have any choice on the matter. We have to continue." The group walked more inside the room but they were soon stopped when a gunshot rang through the room, sending Snipe to the ground.

\- "What the hell was that ?!" Asked Specter as they all took position around Snipe, looking for the shooter.

\- "I think I know." Answered Meteor, looking at something in front of him. "We're not alone." As soon as he said that, footsteps echoed from the darkness of the room and out of it walked, you guessed it, a monster.

The monster wore a yellow pant with a creepy dark green belt with studs and a demon skull shaped buckle and two empty holsters of some kind on his waist. His upper body was mainly made of a red armor hidden under a ragged poncho that hid his arms and his face only showed sharp teeth and one onyx eye, his other eye hidden behind a thick mane of dark hair.

\- "I think we found your Another, Al." Stated Bisca before dodge rolling another bullet that didn't came from the Another Alzack in front of them but from somewhere else in the shadow.

\- "And if I'm right…" Began Alzack before shooting a Sun Bullet in the shadow, the flash shedding light on the shooter. "…There's yours, Bis."

Indeed, the light had revealed another monster that was crouched down on a scaffolding in the back of the room. This one had its head inside a yellowish ten-gallon hat with bright green hair cut in irregular strands sticking out of it. Purple eyes shone behind target-shaped scope that were sticking out of holes in the hat as they were locked on her opponents. The armor she wore was a reminder of Bisca's, mainly black with white trim, covering most of her body, completed with blood red boots. In her hands was a sinister looking sniper rifle, blood red and covered in bones like designs with a skull shaped scope and cannon.

\- "At least, we've got the good mages to take care of them." Said Meteor as the two monsters stood in their position, looking at them and not moving, at least for now.

\- "We've got no time to lose." Added Lucy, a determined look on her face despite her evident uneasiness as she glanced at the two Another. "We've got to find the other and help them." She took a step, only for two bullets to be shot at her, bullets she managed to dodge at the last moment, one of the two grazing her cheek. Looking at the shooter, realizing it was the Another Alzack whose hands were now visible, guns attached to them.

\- "I got the feeling we won't be able to continue as long as those two are here." Stated Snipe, holding his Gashacon Magnum in position, ready to shoot at the first opponent whose going to attack.

\- "Maybe we don't need to." Added Specter. "Some of us can stay and take care of them while the rest continue."

\- "You're right." Agreed Bisca, taking a step forward. "Then me and Al have to stay to take care of our Another."

\- "But we're going to need Riders too." Added Alzack. "We just have to decide which one."

Luckily for them, they didn't had to think about it too much as the answer literally walked into the room. A full platoon of Shocker Soldiers walked in, led by two new creatures. The first one was dressed like knight of some kind, with shining metallic armor that covered his upper body covered with engraving that represented eyes and the front of his legs. He was holding a longsword with a jagged blade and his left arm was fused with a shield and blue eyes shone from behind a half broken helm. The other one had a pretty squared shape and was mainly grey and black, wearing some kind of military outfit, with a cannon shaped arm and a gatling on the other one.

\- "Well, here's our answer." Said Specter as he took a step, imitated by Snipe. "The knight one is a Gamma…"

\- "And the other a Bugster." Finished Snipe, turning to look at Lucy and Meteor. "We'll stay here with them. You two continue and go find the others."

\- "Alright." Meteor then turned to Lucy. "Let's go."

\- "Oh ? You think we're going to let you pass ? Preposterous !" Shouted the Knight, raising his sword. "If you want to pass, you'll have to get through us first."

\- "Unless we're the one who will go through you." Said the Soldier, raising his guns and pointing them at the mages and Riders. "Alright, fire at will !"

Bullets began to rain down on them as the Knight rushed forward, aiming for Meteor and Lucy who were trying to get around them, only to be stop by Specter who jumped in the way. The rain of bullet also came to a stop, Alzack shooting magical bullet at his counterpart, Bisca summoning an assault rifle of some sort to fire at her sniping twin and Snipe opening fire on the Soldier Bugster who had to change his target, thus allowing Lucy and Meteor to slip out of the room, leaving their friends behind. The four monsters tried to stop them but they were quickly brought back to their opponents who stood there, ready to fight.

\- "Well then. Let's do this."

And the fight began. Snipe and Specter rushed at their respective opponent, the doctor and the Bugster firing at each other along the way. Specter brawled with the knight Gamma, dodging his sword and dealing some blows while Alzack and Bisca fired at their respective Another. Bisca had summoned a rifle and fired at her Another, forcing her to go down from her perch and join the fight, replacing the sniper by a classic rifle, the two Bisca firing and dodge rolling continuously. And the same could be said for the Alzacks, one attacking with a spell only for the other to answer with the exact same spell. In a matter of minutes, the storage room became nothing more than a battleground, charred bits of woods scattered on the floor, the scaffolding either destroyed or toppled over, cracks and holes covering the walls, floor and roof due to the many missed and dodged attacks. At some points, the four fights not going anywhere, the riders decided to bring out bigger guns.

 _ **JET COMBAT ! A GACHA ! JET ! JET ! IN THE SKY ! JET ! JET ! JET COMBA**_ _ **T !**_

 _ **EYE ! BATCHIRIMIRO ! BATCHIRIMIRO ! KAIGAN : TUTANKHAMUN ! PYRAMID-WA SANKAKU ! OHKE-NO SHIKAKU**_ _ **!**_

Respectively changing into the jet fighter themed armor and Egyptian themed parka, both Riders return to the fight, dealing damages with much more ease than before, Snipe using the aerial superiority granted by Jet Combat to take the advantage over his opponent while Specter, now armed with the Gan Gun Hand's scythe mode, rivaled much more easily with the knight. But alas, things were not as simple and easy for the two mages. At first, they were even, but as the fight continued, the gap in strength was starting to show more and more. On Bisca's side, things started to go downhill when her evil twin began to use more than two guns at once. Bisca, armed with a rifle, had shot down one of the scaffolding that was still standing, the fall creating a distraction that allowed her to get closer to her opponent, requipping a shotgun in hope of dealing a large amount of damages at point blank range. When she got close enough, she saw that Another Bisca had yet to see her, which was perfect for her. However, that's when a shotgun cannon came out of her squared shoulder, pointing at Bisca and firing a buckshot at the green haired mage, dealing a whole lot of damages and sending her back, crashing down in a pile of crates, disoriented. And when she got her focus back, she realized her doppelganger was standing in front of her, two machine gun in her hands, and two others sticking out of her shoulder like turrets. Bisca barely escaped the bullet storm, a few of them reaching their target as the rest vaporized the crates she had landed into. Bisca was now in a tight spot, trying to fight something she couldn't face as the twin kept firing at her with the clear desire to shred her. Alzack wasn't in a better situation than his partner and for a reason that was much easier to understand, though just as hard to deal with. His opponent was a better shooter than him. With guns stuck to his hands, he was a much better quick shot, able to fire bullet twice as fast as Alzack could, which was the main reason why he was in such a bad shape, with a poncho covered with holes and burns and scratches all over his body and face. And if it wasn't enough, the bullets, no matter the shape, were much faster and powerful than his own, each one of his shot useless as they all got stopped by his evil twin ones. After a few minutes, while the Riders dealt a good share of damages to their opponent, Bisca and Alzack were more than in a bad spot, the young woman taking a rocket dead on while the cowboy took a grand total of 12 bullets in an instant, the two of them being sent to the ground as a result, landing near the Riders.

\- "Looks like you're in a pinch, right there." Said Snipe as he landed and helped them to stand up.

\- "They're far stronger than they look." Seethed Bisca, her body hurting from the explosion that just blew her away.

\- "And the fact that they've got the same power as us isn't helping us feel any better." Added Alzack, putting a hand on his wounds as he glared at his opponent. "And our magic doesn't seem to be enough." He would say this due to the many times he managed to land some hit on his evil twin, hit that basically didn't do anything.

\- "Maybe you need a little help." Said Makoto as he glanced at Taiga. "She's basically a sniper…"

\- "And he's literally a cowboy." Finished Taiga before turning to the mages. "Looks like we've got exactly what you need."

 _ **GASHUN !**_

 _ **OYASUMI !**_

\- "Here, take this." Taiga than handed Bisca his Bang Bang Shooting Gashat while Makoto gave Alzack the Billy the Kid Eyecon, the two mages looking at the devices in awe, and slight confusion for Bisca.

\- "But… Don't you need it ? How are you going to fight without it ?"

\- "You have to know that Kamen Riders aren't one trick ponies." He said as he took out a big Gashat with a yellow wheel on it.

\- "Don't you worry about us and let's do this together !" Added Makoto, pulling out a white and purple Eyecon with a glaring red eye. The two mages looked at each other and with a nod, began to infuse their magic inside their trinkets. Alzack could feel the soul inside the Eyecon smiling at him and giving him a nod as he let his powers fuse with the magic and soon, they both held new trinket. Alzack held a light brown Eyecon with black buttons and Bisca held a green and dark blue Gashat with the picture of a woman in camo with a whole load of weapons by her side and firing at several target with a sniper.

\- "Alright, time to do this." Said Alzack as he got back up. "You ready, Bis ?"

\- "Of course I am, Al !" Answered his partner. "Let's make them pay !"

\- "Tactics N° 50."

 _ **EYE ! BATSHIRIMIRO !**_

 _ **EYE ! BATCHIRIMINA !**_

 _ **BANG BANG SIMULATION !**_

 _ **SILENT SNIPER !**_

\- "HENSHIN !"

 _ **GEN KAIGAN ! DEEP SPECTER ! GET GO ! KAKUGO ! GI ZA GI ZA ! GHOST !**_

 _ **KAIGAN : CONNELL ! DANGAN ! MAH**_ _ **Ō**_ _ **! SAISOKU NO MUH**_ _ **Ō**_ _ **MONO !**_

 _ **GACHAN ! DUAL UP ! SCRAMBLE DA ! SHUTSUGEKI HASSHIN ! BAND BANG SIMULATIONS ! HASSHIN !**_

 _ **GACHAN ! LEVEL UP ! SHIZUKANA SHI ! KANPEKINA SOGEKI-HEI ! SILENT SNIPER !**_

Along with the battleship clad Rider and his silver and purple ghost friend, the two mages were now wearing Rider armors according to the power they got offered. Bisca was wearing a green version of the Bang Bang Shooting Level 2 with dark blue linings all over the suit. The yellow cape was out of the picture as well as the helmet, replaced by a scope-like vizor, her green hair tied into a bun, her hat nowhere to be seen. As for Alzack, he was wearing the classic black armor of the Transient version of the Riders, and above that, he wore not a parka but a poncho, opened on the front to show the eye on his chest. He had no helmet, only wearing the cowboy hat that usually came with Billy the Kid, and the poncho, a darker brown that his usual poncho, looked like an armor on the upper part, mainly around the shoulder, and the poncho was also wrapped with cartridge belt. But not only did they got a complete makeover, they also had new toys to play with. Alzack had received two upgraded versions of his usual gun, more massive with eye designs on the handle and the cannon, and if Bisca had no weapon for now, she instinctively triggered one of her new power which made several digital screen appear, each one showing a gun and when she touched the assault rifle one by sheer curiosity, said weapon appeared in her hands, a white weapon with green designs lined with dark blue.

Soon, the battle started over and it was suddenly much more easier for the mage to deal with their evil counterpart. Alzack's bullets were much faster and stronger than before, but it wasn't the biggest change the mage from the west had undergo. In the time it took his opponent to aim and fire at him, Alzack had drew his guns and shot down each and every bullet fired by his opponent. And if it wasn't enough, he also had fired a few explosive rounds at the Another which had taken a step back with each explosion.

 _ **TORNADO SHOT !**_

Eyes shone on the tip of his guns as Alzack aimed at his opponent, firing two tornadoes that quickly fused into a single massive one which send the monster flying alongside the rubles in the room which got sucked in the attack, the monster crashing onto a wall before being buried under a pile of wood and metal. With his opponent temporarily out, Alzack turned to look at his partner and needless to say, he was impressed.

Bisca quickly realized that her new weapons were much more stronger, each shot dealing much more damages than before, but it wasn't the thing that surprised her the most. It was the scope on her eye that truly became her ace. If she focused on it, it could lock onto anything she wanted and use this lock to target automatically anything she wanted, be it people or objects. One of the first thing her opponent did when they started the second part of their fight was to pull out rocket launchers and send a whole salvo of missile to her. The Scope then kicked in, locking into each and every missile she then took out, shooting only one bullet for each projectile that exploded in mid-air after covering less than half of the distance between them. And she did all that while firing at will at her opponent, dealing a fair amount of damages that got emphasized by the 'HIT' that appear every time a bullet hit its target. However, she realized that some shots were followed by a 'GREAT', sign that it somehow did more damages. And using the fact that she had sent her evil sister to the ground after a buckshot fired at point blank range, Bisca used the scope and realized that it showed her red circle here and there on the monster, one on the forehead, one on her chest and two other on her shoulders. Curious, she had pulled a sniper rifle out of her inventory and fired a bullet in the circle on her chest and another one just next to it, the first one showing a 'GREAT' while the second a simple 'HIT'.

\- "Al ! I can see those things weak points !" She shouted happily, looking at her partner who looked back at her.

\- "That's great news Bis ! Do you think you can tell me where my twin got his own ?" He asked just as the Another Alzack pulled out of the rubbles and ran at his original, only to be shot down by three sniper shot, one to the head, one on the chest and the third on his belly.

\- "Here they are !" Smirked Bisca, only for Alzack to shot at her, or rather behind her, her evil twin back up and ready to fire at her, Alzack's shot interrupting her easily.

\- "Thanks for the tip, Bis. Now, let's see how it goes."

While the two mages now stomped on their opponents, in the meantime, the two Riders took care of their own problems with a lot less trouble than the mages. They were already destroying the Bugster and the Gamma when they were in their basic form, but now that they brought out the big guns, they were basically toying with them. The monster's attacks weren't even grazing the Riders who, using either their fists or their cannons, pummeled the creatures who were so overwhelmed they at some points that they couldn't even counter-attack. After a few more minutes of superiority, the four of them decided to finish it off as they had some other things to do after that.

 _ **GENKAI DAI KAIGAN ! DEEP SPECTER GIGA OMEGA DRIVE !**_

 _ **DAI KAIGAN ! CONNELL OMEGA STRIKE !**_

 _ **GACHON ! KIMEWAZA ! GACHAN ! BANG BANG CRITICAL FIRE !**_

 _ **KIMEWAZA ! SILENT CRITICAL FINISH !**_

Specter jumped high in the air, flying kicking the Knight Gamma with a purple energy covered foot while Snipe combined his arms cannons together and charging them with blue energy before firing it at his opponent, the two monsters exploding soon after. As for the mages, eyes appeared in front of Alzack's guns as he unloaded 12 bullets, 6 by guns, the 12 shots hitting home at a blinding speed, each bullet leaving a shining eye on the monster, eyes that exploded when the last one hit the Another Alzack, destroying it completely, while Bisca's weapons appeared all around the monster, firing at Another Bisca, pummeling her with bullets while the mage charged one sniper shot which then hit the monster with a 'PERFECT', the creature exploding as a 'GAME CLEAR' appeared out of the explosion. The room now free of enemies, the two mages and two Riders cancelled their transformations, Al and Bis looking at each other with large grin on their face.

\- "That was awesome !" Bisca grinned like a child.

\- "Yeah, it was." Admitted Alzack, just as excited.

\- "I kind of understand your excitement, but we're not completely done here." Reminded Makoto.

\- "He's right. We've got to keep going and find Ryusei and your blonde friend. They might need some extra help." Added Taiga.

\- "You're right. Let's go, we've got friends to help."

/- With Lucy and Ryusei -/

After leaving their friends behind to take care of Alzack and Bisca's Another Mage with Makoto and Taiga to assist them, Lucy and Ryusei, who had yet to transform as he was more than used to fight than some other Riders, had followed the hallway and were now exploring more of the base, looking for one of their lost Rider friend.

\- "I hope they'll be alright." Said Lucy, looking back at the way they came, thinking about those they left behind.

\- "Don't be so worried, they'll be fine." Said Ryusei. "Besides, we've got our own problem to deal with." He finished just as Shocker Combatmen appeared at the other end of the hallway they were in, making Lucy turn around with a fierce look in her eyes, grabbing her whip.

\- "Then let's show them what we can do !"

\- "Not going to use one of your spirit ?" Asked the Rider.

\- "No, not this time. They are all weakened because of that fake me fighting Gentaro and I won't let them get hurt even more." The answer of the blonde made Ryusei smirk before they both ran at the enemies. Even without his powers, Ryusei was a real pain to be dealt with thanks to his training, each one of his strike hitting home and dealing a fair share of damage, not a single Combatmen succeeding in even grazing him. As for Lucy, she might not be the strongest in hand to hand fighting, but she was strong enough to deal with some soldiers, mainly thanks to her mastery in whip wielding that allowed her to literally wipe the floor with opponent she had caught with her magical weapon. In a matter of minutes, the whole platoon had been disposed of, allowing the two comrades to keep looking for their friends.

\- "Where the hell are they ? This base can't be that big, can it ?" Asked Lucy as they walk along yet another empty hallway.

\- "I wouldn't be surprised if it was." Admitted Ryusei and then, they got a sign. At the other end of the hallway, a wall suddenly exploded, making the two of them look at each other and then, with a nod, run toward it to see what happened. When they arrived, they saw that it was Gentaro who had gone though the wall, the Rider back to his civilian clothes, his body bruised and his pompadour out of shape but otherwise still able to fight as he stood up, glaring at the hole he just made.

\- "GENTARO !" Shouted the two as they ran to their friend, who turn his head just in time to see them approach.

\- "Lucy ! Ryusei ! What are you doing here ?"

\- "What do you think ? We're here to give you all a hand." Said Ryusei.

\- "We saw what happened thanks to one of your Foodroids." Gentaro guessed Lucy was talking about Burgermeal but said nothing. "You were in trouble and it's not like Fairy Tail to let down a friend who's in need of help."

\- "Yeah, I figured as much." Answered Gentaro with a smile before turning to the hole. "And to be honest, I do need some extra help with this guy."

Turning their head, Lucy and Ryusei saw none other than Another Lucy, standing in the middle of a room where it was defending some kind of generator. Ryusei and Lucy both stood on each side of Gentaro, eyes locked on the monster. Ryusei pulled out his Driver and put it on his waist as Gentaro pressed the red switches on his own to transform back again as Lucy clutched her whip in her hand.

 _ **METEOR, READY ?**_

 _ **3 ! 2 ! 1 !**_

\- "HENSHIN !"

In a show of light and smoke, both Riders transformed standing side by side, armored and ready to fight while glancing at Lucy who had yet to pull out a key, which surprised Gentaro.

\- "You're not gonna fight with your friends, Lucy ?"

\- "This monster… The creatures he can summon…"

\- "Yeah, the Horoscopes. Gotta say that surprised me when it first did it." Said Gentaro. "What's the problem with them ?"

\- "Those creature… They are stealing the strength of the corresponding Stellar Spirit." Gentaro's eyes widen under his helmet. "And if they're weakened, I won't summon them to be hurt even more." Gentaro smiled, loving this state of mind of her before turning back to their opponent who had yet to move.

\- "Alright then. Let's do this !" And they all rushed at the Another who immediately countered with two summon, the Taurus and Aquarius Zodiarts, which made Lucy's glare harden, the Stella Spirit mage rushing at her evil twin while Meteor fought Taurus and Gentaro faced Aquarius.

 _ **ELEK ON !**_

Switching to Elek State, Gentaro swung at Aquarius, the monster barely dodging the rod at each swing, throwing some attacks of his own that Gentaro dodged too, the fight pretty balanced. With Meteor, the fight was pretty much the same, Ryusei and Taurus both dealing as many blows as they dodged. For Lucy however, it wasn't exactly the same. Another Lucy's whip wielding was as good as the original, the two also evenly matched when it came to dodging. But Lucy wasn't the same as usual. She was driven by pure rage and fury aimed at this thing that not only dared to use her powers but also made her spiritual friends suffer simply by existing. As soon as Lucy managed to wrap her whip around her opponent, she had a way to vent of her anger. Using a strength she didn't knew she had, she lifted the creature and send it crashing into a wall then, pulling it back to her, Lucy Kicked her hard in the chest, sending it rolling to the ground.

\- "Damn ! I never knew Lucy was this strong." Said Gentaro as he kicked at Aquarius with Chainsaw.

\- "Looks like she want to make that Another pay for making her friends suffer." Explained Ryusei while side-stepping Taurus.

\- "And when you're fighting for your buddies…"

 _ **SCISSORS ON !**_

\- "…You're always stronger !"

 _ **JUPITER, READY ! OK, JUPITER !**_

They both struck their opponents thanks to an opening, the first slashing many times Aquarius with the Scissors Module while the second sent Taurus flying by slamming Jupiter into it. The Zodiarts hadn't been destroyed, but it gave an opportunity to the Riders to go and help Lucy. Or so they though. Another Lucy had yet to give up, summoning two others Zodiarts, namely Virgo and Sagittarius, which respectively blocked Fourze and Meteor while the Another managed to free itself from Lucy's whip and then summoning the Leo Zodiarts. Lucy glared at the feline monster and threw her whip at it, but it caught it and used it to pull her toward him and then punch her hard in the gut, sending her to the ground, breathless and spitting blood.

\- "LUCY !" Shouted the Riders, worried for the blonde, Leo walking to her as they struggled with the Zodiarts, now two on one, making the fights pretty much one-sided as they had to not only fight Aquarius and Taurus but also dodge Virgo's black hole and Sagittarius' shots. As for the blonde, she got back up, her glare still intact despite the pain, once again running at the lion, her mind set on beating it so she could go and make her doppelganger pay. But the Zodiarts was a merciless opponent who didn't waste an opportunity to beat its opponent. When she got close enough, it took barely into account the whip slashes and the kicks she dealt, too busy beating her to a pulp, cutting her skin with its claws, drawing blood and sending the poor blonde to the ground. The Rider immediately tried to go help her as she was barely moving on the ground, but it only gave their opponents openings they instantly used, jumping and firing at them, which sent them to the other side of the room, away from Lucy who had yet to get back up.

*LUCY !* In her head, the blonde could hear her spirits talking to her. "Stop being so stubborn, moo ! Let us fight with you !"

\- "I… I can't…" She muttered stubbornly.

*Princess, surely you can't be serious ? You need help and we're here to provide just that.* Added Virgo.

\- "You're all… sick… Can't let you… get hurt…" She said as she pushed on her hand, pulling her upper body off the floor.

*You little brat ! When did you became so stubborn !* Roared Aquarius, her anger laced with a tint of anguish. *You can't fight that thing alone !*

\- "I don't care…" Seethed the blonde as she lifted her head. Her hair where all out of place, blood was flowing out of the corner of her mouth, she had bad bruise all over her body and face, but her glare was just as fiery as before having lost nothing of her fury.

*Lucy, we're your friends ! You know that better than anyone !" Stated Leo, her Leo. "It doesn't matter if those things are stealing our powers, we can and will fight for you !*

\- "I've always been… The one that has to be saved…" She remembered all those times she'd been helpless and needed someone to save her, the help often coming from her spirits. "This time, I'll be the one to save you all." She then stood back up, slightly wobbly on her legs. "So I'll fight to the end and win !" She ran at the Leo Zodiart once again, the monster side-stepping to dodge her sloppy punch and then grab her by the neck, lifting her in the air with one hand, her feet dangling above the ground. It was slightly choking her, lifting her other hand to deal one last and fatal blow. The Riders were frantic, trying to free themselves from their opponents, using either stealth or strength to pass by them but nothing worked. As for Lucy's spirits, they were all crying for her to summon one of them to save her and for a moment, she didn't reacted. She just stared at the roof of the room, wondering if she hadn't bit more than she could chew. She slowly dragged her hand to her pouch, feeling like she had no other way to pull herself out of this one when suddenly she was reminded of what Leo told her in her mind.

 _*… It doesn't matter if those things are stealing our powers …*_

"They stole their power ?" Then she glanced at her evil twin and at the rusted keys dangling on her waist then at the lion beast that was strangling her. She then had an idea. The kind of stupid idea that only seems bright when you're out of option. She didn't knew if this could work, but her guts said that it could. She clutched Leo's key in her hand and closed her eyes, concentrating on her power, on the link she shared with her spirits.

\- "What is she doing ?" Wondered Ryusei as he was blasted once again by Virgo.

\- "I don't know. But her magic… Its growing." Added Gentaro, seeing a shimmering golden light coming out of her hand that slowly formed an aura around her.

\- "Close… the door…"

\- "What is she mumbling now ?"

\- "CLOSE THE DOOR TO THE LION !"

In desperate cases, people often tend to pray for a miracle to happen and save them. Lucy didn't prayed for it. She shouted for it. And as soon as she did, much to everyone surprise, the Leo Zodiarts began to shine, particle of light coming out of its body as he let go of Lucy and took a few steps back trying to understand what was happening to him when he totally disappeared. Now free of the choker hold and using the fact that everyone, monsters included, were too shocked by what happened to do anything, Lucy threw her whip which wrapped around Virgo she then brought back down, straight into Sagittarius as they both got sent to the ground, the surprise allowing Fourze and Meteor to get rid of Aquarius and Taurus. The Another Lucy, the surprise passed, headed to Lucy, her spiky whip ready to lash at her, but this time…

 _ **MARS, READY ! OK, MARS !**_

 _ **CLAW, WHEEL LIMIT BREAL !**_

It was stop dead in its track by the two Riders that suddenly appeared in front of the monster which was sent flying by the double impact, the monster rolling on the ground as the Riders helped Lucy to stand.

\- "Lucy, you were amazing ! How did you do that ?!" Asked Fourze, talking about what happened with the Leo Zodiarts.

\- "Just like this thing is an evil twin of mine, those Zodiarts are evil copies of my spirits." Explained Lucy. "And since they used stellar spirit energy to exist, I figured that they were connected in some ways and if this guy can summon part of my spirits power, then I probably could send it back by closing the door. And apparently, it worked pretty well." Just then, the 4 Zodiarts left came running back for them, but Lucy reacted quickly enough and grabbed the four keys corresponding to the Zodiarts and managed to force them to close, the monsters disappearing in flashes of lights as Lucy fell to her knees.

\- "Lucy, are you alright ?" Asked a concerned Ryusei as Lucy simply smiled tiredly.

\- "Yeah. Looks like forcing door to close like that is pretty energy consuming." She said as she managed to get up.

\- "It doesn't matter. Now thanks to you, we only have one bad guy to deal with." Said Gentaro, turning to their opponent while pulling out his NS-MagPhone.

 _ **N/S MAGNET ON !**_

\- "He's right. Let's end this as soon as possible." Added Ryusei as he stood by Gentaro's side. But as they were about to attack, the Another Lucy pulled out two new keys and summoned two Zodiarts to face the Riders. "Libra and Pisces, huh ? Lucy, can you do that thing again ?"

\- "I can't. And it's not a matter of having enough strength." Answered Lucy while gritting her teeth. "I don't have their keys. I can't close their door."

\- "Then we'll have to deal with it the old fashioned way." Said Fourze as he fired at Pisces with his N and S Magnet Cannon while Meteor fought against Libra. Both Riders fought evenly with their opponent, but the fight quickly became unfair when they were joined by others Zodiarts. Orion, Altar, Hound but also Canis Minor and Lyra appeared to fought the Riders, each new summoning making Lucy's anger grew as she could feel her own Lyra and Plue suffer from the presence of their evil twins. And knowing that this suffering was shared by spirits all over the world didn't helped to ease her mind. Having a hard time, Meteor decided to kick it up a notch, pulling out his Meteor Storm Switch.

 _ **METEOR STORM ! METEOR ON, READY ?**_

Changed and now wearing the yellow and blue armor of his upgraded form, Meteor rushed back into the fight even harder than before, pushing back the Zodiarts. Gentaro was about to join in, but as he grabbed his Cosmic Switch, something stopped him. Somewhere within him, he felt like this wasn't the right thing to do. He looked at the Switch a moment, then at Lucy, then back at the Switch, feeling like he knew what he had to do. But first, he needed to by some time.

 _ **NS MAGNET LIMIT BREAK ! RIDER CH**_ _ **Ō**_ _ **DENJI BOMBER !**_

Gentaro, instead of switching stated, fired with his magnetic cannons at the Zodiarts, hitting Pisces as it was locked, crushed and destroyed by the magnetic bomb he had fired. This made the fight easier for Meteor who could take care of the rest while Fourze turned to Lucy.

\- "Lucy, take this." He said as he handed her the Cosmic Switch, which she grabbed with slightly shaking hands. "This thing is your enemy to fight. You know what to do right ?" As she nodded, he smiled and joined Ryusei in taking care of the rest of the Zodiarts before holding back Another Lucy while the real one tried to infuse her magic in the device.

 _"Come on…"_ She was giving everything she had to the Switch, but it wasn't changing. _"I used too much magic to force close those doors. Damn it… I have to succeed. I can't let my friends down when they needed me. Come on… Come on… COME ON !"_

And then, as she was struggling to create an hybrid Switch, something she couldn't believe happened. Every stopped whatever they were doing when the a bright light shone on the roof of the room they were in, blinding them all for a few seconds before subsiding and letting people realized that the roof looked like it had been ripped apart, creating an opening showing a sky full of stars as if the room had been sent into space in which stood a massive old man wearing a shining armor, arms crossed as it looked at the battlefield beneath him.

\- "What's that ?" Asked Ryusei as Gentaro's eyes widened under his helmet.

\- "That's… It's the king of the Stellar Spirit." Said Gentaro, remembering the day he and Lucy met him when they tried to save Leo back when he was still known as Loki.

\- "The king… What are you doing here ?" Asked Lucy, dumbfounded by the spirit sudden appearance.

\- "Old friends, if I am here in front of you today, it is because I need your help as much as you need mine." Began the king with his deep voice, glaring at the Another Lucy. "This evil creature is causing my old friends to suffer and it also could threaten our world shall this continue. I may not be able to intervene directly, but I can give you some help to make sure this thing cease to provoke such grief and pain." As he said that, a ray of light fell from the starry sky and hit the Switch Lucy already infused with her magic, making it look like a massive silver key with an aquamarine upper part here and there with a golden star in the middle. "This will help you defeating that wretched being. I'll even allow you to rent the power of more than your own partners. Now, go and fight, dear friend."

Lucy nodded and got back up as golden light shone around her waist and formed a weird new version of the Fourze Driver. It was, just like the switch-like key, silver with aquamarine on top. However, while the original Driver had 4 slots with a screen and red Transwitches, this had 13 keyholes with one being larger and in the middle, located behind a round black screen. Not wanting to waste any more time, Lucy inserted the large switch in the corresponding hole, turn sideway.

 _ **STELLAR COSMOS !**_

Suddenly, Lucy's golden keys began to shine and float around her, circling above her head. And in addition, three golden keys appeared out of nowhere, joining the 9 others, completing the set, Lucy immediately understanding what they were. The Pisces, Capricorn and Libra keys. She now understood what the kind meant by renting more than her own partners. Even if it was for a short time, she was happy to be working with them. With the 12 keys by her side, she finally took a pose and put her hand on the Switch.

\- "HENSHIN !"

 _ **STELLAR COSMOS ON !**_

The 12 Golden Keys inserted themselves in the 12 slots of the Driver as Lucy turned the Switch which star was now facing forward. Light shone from above as it enveloped Lucy who, after a few minutes, was transformed and ready to fight. She was wearing a silver suit with aquamarine boots, gloves, chest plate and pauldrons with a golden star on her chest, knees and hands, but also on the helmet she was wearing, her hair flowing out of it from the back. She was also holding onto a sword that looked like the Barizun Sword but with a different color scheme and without the lever nor the rocket casing around the blade which had a silver edge and a center that looked like a live starry sky.

\- "Wow. Now that's what I call badass." Said Gentaro as he looked at Lucy who stood in the middle of the room, glaring at her evil twin.

\- "I wonder what kind of power she'll have with this." Wondered Ryusei.

Another Lucy simply growled and pulled out a key, summoning the Cancer and Scorpion Zodiarts that immediately ran at their opponent, but Lucy wasn't even fazed. She simply lifted a hand and turned two of her keys.

 _ **CANCER ON ! SCORPIO ON !**_

The symbol of said spirits shone on the screen in the middle of the Driver and two sphere of light shot out of it, quickly taking shape to become the Stellar Spirit in question that both stood at Lucy's side. But they weren't exactly the same. They looked as if they had been upgraded, Scorpion's cannon much bigger and Cancer's scissors much longer and sharper, as well as some armor covering them both.

\- "WE AAAAAARE !" Shouted Scorpio, blasting his Zodiart away with his sand.

\- "Time to make them pay." Said Cancer as he slashed at the Cancer Zodiart with his scissors.

Both spirits, empowered by the Rider powers that were granted to Lucy, were plowing through the Zodiarts, sending them both back with each blow. And after a good two minutes of beating down, Lucy pulled le lever of her Driver.

 _ **CANCER SCORPIO STELLAR BREAK !**_

Scorpio took position, crawling and pointing his cannon at his opponent as Cancer's blades shone brightly. After charging up, the two spirits unleashed their attacks, two crab pincer shaped energy blade, each fusing with the sand shot by Scorpio, both attacks overpowering the Zodiarts, slicing though them easily as they exploded. Another Lucy, after seeing this, growled and summoned many Zodiarts of every kind, all of them rushing at Lucy while some, like the Altar Zodiart, fired at Lucy from afar. But the blonde hasn't shown everything she could now do. She grabbed a key that she turned to the other side and grabbed another one that she pulled out of the Driver and inserted in the sword handle.

 _ **AQUARIUS ON !**_

 _ **SAGITTARIUS ON !**_

First, water came out of the Driver and formed a tidal wave that crashed onto the Zodiarts that were rushing at her, sending them back as energy seeped out of her sword and formed some kind of bow she then aimed at the ones who had kept their distances. She then pulled Sagittarius out of the sword and replaced it with Taurus while also activating Gemini and pulling the lever one more time.

 _ **AQUARIUS GEMINI TAURUS STELLAR BREAK !**_

Using Gemini's power, Lucy created a double of herself, wielding the same sword, weapon that got surrounded by water that took the shape of a gigantic axe. Standing side by side, the twins first spun their axes around, sending a blast of swirling water at the Zodiarts, trapping them inside a whirlpool that they then slashed by bringing their axes down on it, which destroyed all the monsters much to the Riders shock, the two of them looking at the scene in awe.

\- "She took them all at once ?! How strong is she, right now ?" Asked Ryusei, amazed by Lucy's performance and power.

\- "I don't know, but now I'm sure of one thing : she can destroy that fake." Added Gentaro and indeed, Lucy wasn't going to make this fight last any longer.

 _ **LEO ON !**_

Blade shining with the power of Regulus, she ran at her Another who tried to hit her with the spiky whip she was armed with but Lucy's sword took care of the weapon, slicing it to bits as she kept running at her opponent. Once she was close enough, the first thing she did was to cut the Another hand, forcing her to let go of the key she wanted to use and then slice said keys, sending them scattering on the ground and away from Another Lucy, the original now free to pummel her evil twin, unleashing a flurry of light powered slashes that the Another couldn't dodge at all. With one last slash that sent it rolling to the ground, Lucy decided that it was time to finish this once and for all and for that, she took the Stellar Cosmos Switch out of the Driver and plugged it in the sword.

 _ **ALL STAR ! STELLAR COSMOS LIMIT BREAK !**_

The same kind of distortion that created the sky in which the Stellar Spirit King appeared, but this time, the whole room disappeared and Lucy and her Another got stuck in what looked like the middle of space, surrounded by planet and stars. Lucy held her sword with both of her hands as twelves ray of golden light coming out of the golden keys, each ball of light shooting through space and reaching their own constellation, making the said constellation shine behind Lucy. They then all fired golden beams of light at the Another Lucy, putting their symbol on the creature as Lucy swung her golden light covered blade, sending a crescent moon shaped energy blade at the monster, blade that triggered the explosion of the different symbols before exploding itself, the whole thing creating a galaxy shaped explosion that blew the monster to smithereens as the void around them disappeared, sending Lucy and the mage that had been turned into Another Lucy back to the room where Gentaro and Ryusei both stood.

\- "That… was… awesome !" Shouted Gentaro, completely in awe at what he just saw.

\- "I knew upgrading the Cosmic Switch with magic would make a really powerful form, but that was much stronger than expected." Admitted Ryusei as Lucy powered down, joining them.

\- "Well, that was one hell of a fight." Sighed Lucy, her body still hurting from the beating she got. "But let's get back to what matters. What were you looking for, Gentaro ?"

\- "Oh yeah. We were all looking for whatever they were using to power that thing that they are building. That's why we split up in the first place. But I wasn't expecting to face this kind of opponent."

\- "Well, at least now this generator is defenseless." Said Lucy. "We better take care of this one and go find the others. I have a feeling this is only the beginning."

Nodding, the riders promptly destroyed the generator and ran out of the room with the Stellar Spirit Mage, looking for their friends, in hope to put an end to whatever Shocker was planning before it was too late, not realizing that this might already be the case.

 **DANGAN : Bullet / MAH** **Ō** **: magic / SAISOKU NO MUH** **Ō** **MONO : the quickest outlaw / SHIZUKANA SHI : Silent death / KANPEKINA SOGEKI-HEI : perfect sharpshooter**

 **There it is. I hope you liked it. Don't forget to review, fav or follow to show you liked it and we'll see each other later for some new chapter. See ya !**

 **Next time : The bookworm's life burn bright. Panther, Tora, Cheetah. The birth of a dragon and the speedster second coming.**


	57. Chapter 56 : Pen, Panther &Dragon Birth

**Hey guys ! I know it has been a while, but I had a hard time writing. It's not that I don't want to write fic anymore, it is more because of the context. Maybe you don't know it, but we're currently facing a virus named Covid-19 which forced a lot of people to work from home, and I'm one of those person. Some might think that working or even studying from home is the greatest thing ever, they are wrong. Before being confined (I'm french in case you forgot), I worked at my enterprise HQ and came back home between 12 and 14 to eat, which gave me time to properly write. But now that I'm working from home, I'm basically 24/7 on my computer and it's starting to take its toll on me and my motivation to do anything and that include writing fics, sadly. So it might take me a lot of time to write a chapter, but unless I personally tell you otherwise, I am NOT giving up that fic so don't worry, the update will come, just not as fast as you might like, sorry.**

 **Anyway, on with the 56** **th** **chapter. Enjoy !**

 **Chapter 56 : The soul of the pen. The desire of the panther. The birth of a dragon.**

After splitting up with their friends, Lucy, Alzack, Bisca and their Riders comrades weren't the only one that ended up facing some problem. In another part of the underground base, Team Shadow Gear, running side by side with Gajeel and Panther, and alongside a few Kamen Riders, Necrom, Birth and OOO, without Ankh who was with someone else for now, were looking for their missing friends in this dangerous territory filled with enemies.

\- "It's really starting to get annoying !" Stated Jet as he kicked a few soldiers away with the help of his magic. "How many of them are in there ?!"

\- "I don't know, and it doesn't really matter !" Answered Eiji, using his Latorata Combo, rushing and clawing at his opponents, helped by Droy's plant who either grabbed or at least hindered Shocker's movement. "We've got to find the other and put an end to their plan !"

\- "I agree, but it's going to take forever if they keep coming at us like that !" Answered Levy, her magic materializing a large LEAD word that squashed the soldiers in front of them.

\- "It doesn't matter as long as we reach them !" Said Alain, punching back a few soldiers. "They can protect themselves for the moment, we just have to find where they are hiding."

\- "And the best way to do that is to see the place those dumbass are defending !" Stated Gajeel, grinning like a madman as he plowed through the soldiers alongside Lily and Akira.

\- "Then we're on the right track !" Stated Akira, looking at a door heavily guarded by snipers and other shooters. "There has to be something behind that door. We have to reach it !"

The others nodded and in a matter of a few minutes, they reached the aforementioned door, immediately opening it to enter the room it was hiding. The all ended up in a large room that was filled with large glass container with pipes coming out of them and slithering across the wall and roof to finally disappear in a hole in the middle of it. On the other side of the room was another door, probably leading deeper in the base, but it was eerily silent, and that unnerved the Riders and mages a lot.

\- "It's too calm. I don't like this." Said Eiji, looking all around, on his guard in case something suddenly tried to attack them. And he was soon proved right.

\- "There are there." Stated Gajeel, his enhanced hearing catching some noises coming their way. And a few seconds later, they were faced by a new platoon, this time made of Gamma Commando and Yummies, led by two massive creatures.

The first was of average size, with blue hair standing in some kind of spikes with strands on both side of its face and a yellowish shredded ribbon holding them up and red eyes shaped to look like some kind of glasses. It was wearing a dress-like rust colored armor, its fingers looking like claws shaped like fountain pens with tubes connecting those tips to some kind of ink pot on the arms.

The other one was much more massive and feral looking. Completely black, it had heavy and well-defined muscles and thick black fur all over his body, mainly on the upper body. It had a mainly feline appearance, with sharps claws and fangs and a long tail and it was holding onto a massive jagged sword.

\- "Well. Looks like we found ourselves some new Another Mages." Stated Droy. "And they both look pretty familiar, too."

\- "Yeah. Those are Levy's and Panther's Another." Realized Jet.

\- "It can't be Another Levy's." Stated Gajeel, looking very serious and catching everyone's attention. "It is way too tall to be Shrimp's… AAAAAHH !" While Gajeel hopped into place, holding the foot Levy had crushed with LEAD, Alain seemed confused.

\- "But why does that Another Panther have a weapon ? You don't have one on you."

\- "Not right now, but I used too." Explained Panther as he glared at his evil twin. "It must have been made with whatever they got on me back in Edolas."

\- "Anyway… We'll hold the small fry for you." Said Birth as he, Eiji and Alain took a step forward. "We're leaving your doppelgangers to you."

The Riders did just that, running at the Shockers soldiers while leaving the mages to deal with the two Anothers. Gajeel immediately ran at the two, arm transformed into a large sword which he swung at Another Panther who countered with his own sword, both blades clashing with sparks flying all around as both metal weapon grinded against each other. After a few swings, Gajeel, with a smirk glued to his face, blocked the opponent's weapon, opened his mouth and began to munch on it. However, his confident look was replaced by confusion as he realized that he couldn't eat it, something he wasn't expecting. This moment of confusion gave Another Panther a counter-attack opportunity, kicking Gajeel's guts, forcing him back before slamming his blade into the iron dragon, sending him crashing in the wall. With Gajeel's down for now, Lily transformed into his human form and ran at his doppelganger, dodging the massive sword it was swinging around to get closer and throw punches, the first few hitting home before the twin began to dodge expertedly the assault. Panther prided himself in his overall physical abilities, which he proved back in Edolas by fighting mano a mano with Gajeel, but he had to admit that this twisted version of himself was starting to prove that it was better than him on this point. Another Panther was taking the upper hand, hit after hit, much to Panther frustration.

 _ **IRON DRAGON'S CLUB !**_

Just then, a large pillar made of iron shot out of nowhere, well almost nowhere, hitting Another Panther straight in the jaw, which sent him flying backward and away from Panther who could take a small break as Gajeel, a frown on his face, walked up to him, now covered in iron scales.

\- "As if I'm gonna let that shit beat me up that easily." He groaned, eyes locked on their opponent who was already back on his feet, barely grazed by the attack. "Tch. That's one tough bastard."

\- "I should feel happy that a monster born from my own power is that strong, but it doesn't feel right." Added Panther while taking a fighting stance, ready to pounce. "Let's get rid of that thing."

While the 2 on 1 fight between Dragon Slayer, Exceed and Another was a slightly uneven fight, the one opposing Team Shadow Gear to the Another of one of their member wasn't any better.

 _ **FALCON HEAVENWARD !**_

Jet, using his speed, dashed at Another Levy, hoping to knock it out or at least annoy it long enough for his friends and teammates to do something, but he was quickly stopped by a massive and sturdy WALL that suddenly appeared in front of him, the sprinter slamming into the word at full speed which stunned him a bit. Because yes, just like Another Lucy could use a dark and twisted version of the blonde magic, this one could also use the same Solid Script Magic as Levy, but with a simple but pretty annoying twist that came from its strange fingers.

 _ **KNUCKLE PLANT !**_

Droy threw his seed on to the ground and then used his magic to grow them into his famous fist shaped vines, heading to pummel the monster in front of him. But the monster, using his quill finger, wrote many BLADE which he then sent at the plant, the words cutting through the plants easily, making their way to slice Droy in pieces, which would have happened if it wasn't for Levy.

 _ **SOLID SCRIPT : WALL !**_

A massive WALL Appeared in front of Droy, the BLADE sticking to it like darts to a target, but it wasn't over just yet as Levy as something else planned.

 _ **SOLID SCRIPT : SMOKE !**_

The word was thrown at Another Levy who tried to swat it away, only for the word to 'explode' into a massive smokescreen that blinded the monster which gave the rest of Team Shadow Gear the perfect opportunity to counter-attack. Droy summoned another batch of vines that slithered their way to the smoke before wrapping around the monster who of course tried to fight against it, battling to free itself, but it wasn't fast enough to succeed.

 _ **FALCON HEAVENWARD !**_

Jet, jumping on the opportunity, used his speed to do what he wanted to the first time, throwing an highspeed kick at the monster's head who was thrown backward, flying and rolling on the ground on at least 20 meters before coming to a stop. However, this had been less painful that it looked, the Another already back on its feet and glaring at the mages who stood side by side, glaring back at it.

\- "It seems like it didn't hurt that much." Said Jet.

\- "He's tougher than he look for sure. But it's not just a matter of strength and stamina." Added Droy. "If it is like the ones we fought outside, then it has to be destroyed by Levy and no one else."

\- "You're probably right." Agreed Levy, squinting her eyes as she glared at her twin. "Then let's find a way to…"

Before she could finish her sentence, a ROCKET shot toward them, slamming into Jet before he or his friends could react, taking him for a ride and slamming him into a wall. And as if this wasn't enough already, the ROCKET was followed by a GLUE that splattered on Jet before he could get up, sticking him to the ground and preventing him from doing so.

\- "JET !" Shouted Droy, seeing his best friend completely stuck before turning to the one responsible for the attack. "You bastard !" He then threw some seeds to the ground but the ground suddenly froze around the seeds due to the FROST the Another Levy had wrote. Frozen, the seeds couldn't be used and the Another used that to make BOMB literally rain down on Droy, smoke surrounding him as he got pummeled and when the smoke cleared, the mage was on the ground, clearly not in the best of shape.

\- "DROY ! JET !" Levy then realized she was all alone to face her evil twin who stood there, the two of them glaring at each other, as if waiting the other to make the first move. And the Another was the one who did it, writing and sending a new volley of BOMB at Levy who tried to dodge, conjuring WALLS to try and limit the damages she knew she couldn't completely avoid. If she wanted to win, she had to find a solution, and quick.

In the meantime, the three Riders were taking care of an ever growing quantity of enemies that kept coming in successive waves, the three warriors successfully keeping them at bay. Necrom, with the power of Sanzo, was slashing at his opponents with his glowing Gokourin. Birth and OOO, side by side, were punching their opponents away, the first using his CLAWs like Drill and Shovel Arm, the second in the heavy punching Sagohzo. If the soldiers they were fighting weren't a lot of troubles, though they were annoying, it still let them have the opportunity to check on their mages friends who were in a bigger pinch than they were.

\- "Looks like they are in a tight spot." Said Alain as he looked at the two group of mages who were struggling against their opponents. Gajeel and Panther were still going at it against Another Panther, though they were little by little getting dominated while Levy, left alone by Jet and Droy who had been incapacitated by her evil Twin, struggled to stay in the fight, dodging or defending herself without having a single moment to attack.

\- "They need some help." Stated Eiji. "Those things are still Hybrid in a way, so they need to use Hybrid powers to defeat them, just like Jet and Droy when they faced their Another."

\- "You're right, Eiji." Agreed Akira as he grabbed a handful of Cell Medal. "Both of you go give them a hand, I'll take care of those guys."

 _ **BREAST CANNON !**_

Both OOO and Necrom agreed as they left Birth alone with the Shocker army he blew away with the large cannon, giving the other the opportunity to go help their friends a little bit. And they needed the extra hand.

\- "GAAGH ! / HYAAAH ! / URGH !"

At more or less the same time, both fight took a turn for the worst. After spending long minutes trying to find an opening to attack, Levy's stamina began to run out and this made her miss a step, her sudden lack of balance immediately exploited by Another Levy, one of his exploding words finally reaching its target, sending the blue haired girl crying in pain as she rolled to the ground. And at the same time, Gajeel and Panther had launched yet another assault on Another Panther who, suddenly making his sword grow in size, swatted the two of them away in one hit, the edge of the massive weapon slicing into the feline skin while it managed to break Gajeel's iron scales, the two of them being sent back at the same time as Levy, the three of them all landing close to each other's under Droy and Jet's fearful gazes.

\- "LEVY ! PANTHER ! GAJEEL !" They both shouted in fear, worried for the dear friend and partner, the Exceed and even the Iron Dragon Slayer as the three of them struggled to get up as the monsters were approaching them. The fake Panther rose his weapon, ready to strike while the fake Levy wrote a SWORD to slice the original with it. And just when they were about to strike.

 _ **SCANNING CHARGE !**_

 _ **DAI TENGAN ! SANZO ! OMEGA ULORD !**_

OOO, still in Sagohzo Combo, suddenly fell from the sky and landed in front of Another Panther, three silvery rings appearing on the ground and shrinking on Another Panther's legs, locking him into place before slowly dragging him toward the rider who welcomed him with his fists and horn, all striking at the same time. As for Levy, she was saved by Necrom who came flying on the Gokourin, Gan Gun Catcher in hand which he then used to attack Another Levy in a bright green flash, assisted by soul representation of Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing. The two Another were then sent flying backward, away from their target, thus giving them a moment to get up, helped by the Riders.

\- "Are you guys alright ?" Asked Eiji as he helped Gajeel and Panther.

\- "It could be better, I guess." Said Panther.

\- "I'll be much better once we got rid of that damned thing." Seethed Gajeel, glaring at the monster who was starting to get up too.

\- "And we're here to help." Added Alain.

\- "How so ?" Asked Levy, breathless but interested nonetheless.

\- "With this." Eiji then pulled out a full set of yellow Core Medals. "I'm pretty sure you know what to do with this, right ?" And that being said he threw them at Panther who caught them with a nod before looking at the Medals. After a few seconds, the medals shone and changed, now mainly black with yellow lines, showing the same medals, except for Lion who was now showing another feline who looked just as feral. "This should help you take care of your evil twin."

\- "But what about Shrimp ?" Asked Gajeel, glancing at a pouting Levy, annoyed by the nickname. "What do you have in store for her ?"

\- "Well, I don't really thought about it." Admitted Alain. "But I'm sure we can find someth…" Before he could finish his sentence, he was cut by an Eyecon who suddenly appeared out of nowhere, floating in front of the white Rider and the bookworm, the eye shining on both of them. Shielding their eyes, the two stayed unmoving a few seconds before finally opening their eyes, realizing they now stood in a library of some kind.

\- "Where are we ?" Asked Levy, her eyes glued to the many books that were on the shelves around them.

\- "We're inside an Eyecon." Explained Alain. "And judging by the look of it, it's…"

\- "Our Eyecon, of course !"

Both of them turned around and ended up facing not one but two men, clad in black with a white parka who had pen on their shoulders. They also were faceless, except for a pair of eyes, blue for one and orange for the other.

\- "Who… Who are you ?" Asked Levy, feeling uneasy at being face to face with such strange people.

\- "Those are the Grimm Brothers, Jacob and Wilhelm." Introduced Alain. "Heroic soul of the Grimm Eyecon."

\- "Wait, there can be more than one soul in those Eyecons ?!" Levy was shocked. After seeing Takeru fight so many times, she deduced that there was only one soul by Eyecon.

\- "Usually, there is just one soul by Eyecon. But we are the exception to this rule." Explained Jacod, the blue eyed one.

\- "No need to lose time with those kind of explanation, brother." Said Wilhelm, the orange eyed one. "We're here to land a hand to our blue haired friend !"

\- "Eh ?! Me ? But…"

\- "I can understand that it can be a bit too much to handle, but you're in quite a situation, right ?" Asked Jacob. "Besides, you did grabbed our attention."

\- "Really ?" Levy had a hard time believing it. "But we just met."

\- "Not really." Corrected Jacob. "We've been with Takeru ever since he came to this world and we've quickly took notice of you. You're a lot like us in a way. Just like Wilhelm, you like to have fun whenever you can with your friends…"

\- "And just like Jacob, you're a sharp mind, who know when it is time to be serious." Added Wilhelm. "And besides, you love books ! You're the perfect match for us !"

\- "What does me loving books have to do with all of this ?"

\- "It's because of what they are known for." Explained Alain with a smirk. "The Grimm Brothers are authors who wrote among the most popular folk tales of our world. Their stories lived through the centuries up to our time." This made Levy's eyes widen as she realized she was currently talking to legendary authors from another world. "I think they are right : you are basically made to work together."

\- "So if you want, our power is yours…" Began Jacob.

\- "…And the three of us together…" Completed Wilhelm as he and his brother fused together, now being one man with green eyes and a voice that was a mix of their two voices.

\- "…We'll show them the power of our words !" Levy stood there, looking at them, or rather him, in shock before grinning, looking at the ghost with a confident nod.

\- "Yes ! Let's do this !"

And with that, a light shone and enveloped the two humans as they got sent back to the outside world, Levy now clutching a blue and orange Eyecon. She turned her head to look at Panther and nod at him, the Exceed returning the nod as they both took a few steps forward, a OOO Driver appearing on him as a white Mega Ulorder with some blue patch lined in orange appeared on Levy's wrist.

 _ **STANDBY ! YES MA'AM ! LOADING !**_

While Levy inserted and triggered the transformation sequence, the Exceed inserted the Medals into the Driver and grabbed the scanner after tilting it.

\- "HENSHIN !"

 _ **PANTHER ! TORA ! CHEETAH ! PA-PA-PA-PAN-TORA; PA-PA-PAN-TORA-TA !**_

 _ **TENGAN ! MCGARDEN ! MEGA ULORD ! FIGHTING WORDS !**_

Suddenly, two Riders stood where Panther and Levy. The first was now wearing the same kind of armor as OOO in LaToRaTa Combo but here the part that were usually yellow were now black and the different shades of yellow, which were replaced by a single shade, were only present to mark the limit of the part that were normally colored. He also wore an helm of some kind, like the one he wore back in Edolas but black with yellow plume, completed with a blue vizor reminiscing of the blue eyes of LaToRaTah Combo. As for Levy, she had the same white armor as Necrom, with light blue replacing the lime green. Above this, she was wearing a light blue and white parka with orange lining and four fountain pen tips on her shoulders, two on each side surrounding ink pot, the hood pulled back to show the white and blue glasses with fountain pen tip shaped frame.

The two Another glared and growled at their counterpart, not liking what they were seeing as the two mages turned Riders, after checking themselves out, got ready for the second round.

\- "Let's see what this can do." Said Panther as he got into a stance, letting the power run through his legs before shooting forward, his body a blur that took everyone by surprise, including another Panther who received a highspeed punch to the face, the monster being sent flying backward, and crashing into a wall that broke down around him. He quickly got back up and ran at his opponent who was waiting for him. The two met with such force it sent a shockwave that blew away all the rubbles born from the fighting that happened until now, forcing Gajeel, who was grinning like a mad man, to protect himself as the two 'twins' fought with everything they got. At some point, the Another decided to bring his sword out, swinging it a few times at Panther who smirked, dodging the blows and summoning the power of his arms, deploying long curved claws that he used not only to counter the sword but to also slice at his opponent, forcing him to take a few steps back and take off. Because yes, being Another Panther, the monster also had the power to grow wings to fly out of the way. The creature may have tried to get a few moment to catch his breath, but Panther too had a few aces up his sleeves.

\- "I won't let you get away !" Shouted Panther as he summoned his last power, the only one that was truly different compared to OOO feline combo. His helm and the upper part of the symbol on his chest shone, sending the energy to his back which allowed him to deploy his wings, now mainly black with bits of yellow here and there. He used them to shot from the ground with the power of a ground-to-air missile, throwing a powerful punch in his twin's guts, which sent him crashing into the roof, with Panther hovering just under him, looking at the monster, who was still moving and trying to pull himself out of the roof, with a grin on his face. "You still have the strength to fight ? No problem. Come and get it."

While Panther was busy taking care of his twin, Levy was facing her own opponent, with Droy and Jet looking at her in hope.

\- "Levy ! You look amazing !" Said Jet.

\- "Go and show them the power of Shadow Gear !" Added Droy.

\- "Yeah ! As Natsu would say, I'm burning up !" Shouted Levy confidently, feeling the power of her partners filling her body. Looking up at her Another, she saw that it had just written a BOMB that was already coming at her and before she had time to react, it was already on her. The explosion engulfed her and for a split second, Droy and Jet feared the worst, but they had no reason to. When the smoke cleared, they realized she had been saved by the pen on her shoulder who had wrote a dome of SHIELD all around her without the girl noticing it. Glancing at her shoulder, she saw small version of Jacob and Wilhelm nodding at her, making her smile before looking back at her Another. "Allow me to correct that." The four pen then began to move on their own, hovering next to her like some kind of tentacles. "WE are burning up !"

Another Levy snarled after seeing this, hurling words at Levy who countered with her own words, matching her twins writing speed thanks to the pen the Grimm Brothers controlled, the pen also stopping the words that managed to pass through, allowing Levy to approach her opponent. When she was close enough, the two stopped using words for a moment, switching to a more classical fight, throwing punches and kicks around, the two heavenly matched despite the physical boost granted by Levy's Rider form. However, after a few minutes of fighting, Another Levy came up with a plan. The monsters lowered its defense to lure Levy into a trap, using the fact that she had lowered her defenses to use a GLUE on her feet to prevent her from moving and a SHACKLES to lock her hands together. Levy, taken by surprised, then looked to the sides as she just realized she was now surrounded by two huge BOMB, ready to slam into her, and those weren't the kind of words the brothers could easily counter. But instead, they did something completely different that took both Levy and her twin by surprise. Two of the pen shot outwards and stuck themselves into the words and literally absorbed them, the ink flowing through the tube connecting the pen to the ink pot where the words were stored. Then, a pen slashed at the Another, forcing it to take a few steps back while one of the ink pot shone and a little bit of ink flowed down the pipe to another pen who then shot one of the BOMB they had absorbed, the word exploding as it came in contact with the monster which got sent flying. The pen then absorbed the GLUE and the SHACKLES, freeing Levy who got ready for the next part. After a small telepathic talk with Jacob and Wilhelm, she decided to act, sending a large BIND at her evil twin, successfully trapping its arm and legs, thus preventing it from writing anything nor flee, but also at Another Panther, who had yet to find a way to beat his original, said original looking surprised to see the words wrapping around his evil twin and thus making him turn his head to Levy who smiled at him.

\- "Our friends need our help. We have to finish things here quickly to go and help them."

\- "Yeah, you're right." Smirked Panther as he turned to his opponent, grabbing his scanner. "Then lets finish it !"

\- "Yeah !" Answered Levy as she pressed a button on her Mega Ulorder

 _ **SCANNING CHARGE !**_

 _ **DAI TENGAN ! MCGARDEN ! OMEGA ULORD !**_

On Panther's side, once the Scanning Charge had been initiated, he had crouched down a bit and shot at his opponent with Cheetah's speed, passing through a first ring before landing an upward kick at his opponent as he reached him, sending him to the sky, where Panther followed him with his wings, passing through another ring as he hit him and send him away a bit more, Panther still rising until finally stopping neat the roof of the room they were in, one last ring appearing between him and his opponent as his claws detached from his arm to combine and form some sort of sword he held in his hand as he dived at Another Panther, the sword glowing and growing as he passed by the last ring before unleashing the accumulated power in one powerful strike that made the creature explode in midair.

On Levy's side, as soon as she had pressed the button on the Mega Ulorder, she began to float and rise high into the air, two of the pen on her shoulder writing many letters that aligned between Levy and her evil twin which was grabbed by the two last pen, holding the monster into place in mid-air. Once the letters were into place, Levy dived at them, one leg stretched forward, the letters combining on her foot as she collected them. First a R, then an I, then a D, E, R, K, I, C and K. Once Rider Kick had been written on her foot, it was glowing with power that allowed her to kick through her evil twin, passing through its chest as it exploded in mid-air.

When the two Rider turned mages landed, the only thing that was left of their opponent was the human who had been used as a base for them and the pieces of the now shattered Ridewatch that contained their magic. After this had been taken care of, Levy used her power to free Jet before turning off the transformation along with Panther and giving the Eyecon and Medals back to their rightful owner who were smiling underneath their helmet.

\- "That was really impressive." Congratulated Alain.

\- "He's right, the two of you really are some fighters." Added Eiji.

\- "Oh, thanks. But I don't know if it was that impressive…" Said Levy modestly, which triggered Jet and Droy.

\- "You kidding right !? This was awesome !" Said Jet, outraged Levy could be thinking otherwise.

\- "He's right ! You really showed that thing what it meant to be a Fairy Tail member !" Added Droy.

\- "I have to say you impressed me, shrimp." Admitted Gajeel with a grin, making Levy blush as the Slayer turned to look at his Exceed. "And you were truly awesome there, Lily ! Exactly what I was expecting from my partner !"

\- "Thanks, Gajeel, but now is not really the time for congratulations."

\- "He's right." Agreed Akira. "We still have to find our comrades before it's too late. Let's go." And with that, the group exited the room, running along the hallway, looking for their lost Riders friends, hoping they wouldn't be too late to help and save them. But luckily, they quickly found one. Even if the way they found him wasn't exactly the one they were expecting. Using Gajeel's hearing, they followed some noises that had led them to another room which they entered after getting themselves ready for whatever was on the other side. And when they entered, they immediately noticed three thing. The first was the massive reactor-like machinery in the middle of the room which seemed to be sending energy to another place. The second was a large group of Shocker Soldier waiting, lined up on both side of the reactor. And the third was a red Rider that was being hurled through the air, landing a few feet away from them, the Rider immediately identified thank to the tire that was wrapped around his left shoulder.

\- "SHINNOSUKE !" Shouted the group as they ran toward their friend who simply turned his head to look at them, surprised to see them all here.

\- "Guys ? What are you doing here !?" Asked Belt-san whose voice was coming from… Shinnosuke's head, surprising the mages.

\- "EH !? Why is Belt-san…"

\- "When in Type Tridoron, Shinnosuke and I basically fuse, my consciousness joining his in the same body." Explained Belt-san as he slowly got back up. "But you didn't answered my question."

\- "We received a message from one of Gentaro's Foodroid back at the guild." Explained Levy. "It showed Gentaro fighting against a fake Lucy."

\- "They told Tsukasa and we deduced those were some sort of Another Rider but for mages." Added Eiji which made Drive nod before his eyes, who were red, turned yellow before answering in Shinnosuke's voice.

\- "I see. I'm glad to see you. And looks like I wasn't the only one dealing with a strangely familiar monster." As he said that, he nodded toward a monster that was standing near the generator. It was a dark creature that looked like some kind of hybrid human-dragon covered in armor, with a squarish head covered by long and wild black hair with spikes above his eyes, along the nose, chin and forearms. It was wearing white pants and nothing on top, metallic wings on his back and long spikes tails. His hands and feet were sharps claws and his red eyes shone dangerously as his grinned madly, showing pointy teeth, grin that matched one of the mage as he realized who they had in front of them.

\- "Gihihihi… Looks like it's my turn." Laughed Gajeel, looking at the monster which looked like a mix between him and Metalicana before rushing at it, imitated by his evil twin, the two quickly beginning to exchange a few blows while the others looked at the scene.

\- "It must be pretty strong if you had such a hard time against it." Commented Jet, which made Shinnosuke grimaced a bit.

\- "Well, it is strong. But it wasn't the only thing that was problematic here."

And as soon as he said that, something came out of nowhere and slammed into Gajeel, sending him crashing into a few crates stored in a corner. The group then looked at the one responsible for the assault and noticed that if this was an Another, they had no idea which one. It was mechanical, mainly red in color and covered in black pipes that run down his legs and arms, all connected to some sort of engine that was sticking out of his chest and back with a single green eye.

\- "What the fuck is that ?" Wondered Droy, looking at the creature that looked more like a machine than anything else. "Whose Another is this ?"

\- "I don't think it is one of those Another, Droy." Corrected Levy, which Shinnosuke confirmed.

\- "She's right. This is a Roidmude. But this one is a bit special." Explained Shinnosuke.

\- "And what's so special about it ?" Just as Jet asked that question, a magic circle appeared under the Roidmude legs which was followed by a sudden dash from the machine which crossed the distance between the mages and himself, kicking each and every one of them before they had the time to react, sending them all to the ground.

\- "Did it just used magic ?!"

\- "I'm afraid it did." Said Belt-san, confirming Panther's fears. "It looks like this Roidmude copied the ability of a mage using the same kind of speed magic as Jet."

\- "Tch, talk about a fucking pain in the ass." Growled Gajeel as he got up, turning his eyes back to his evil twin. "I'm going to go and face myself. You take care of the mechanical fucker."

\- "Alright. Hey, Jet ! " Eiji shouted, grabbing the speedster attention. "If this thing want to play fast, we'll show it that it's not the only one whose fast here." As he said that, the Rider pulled the set of yellow medals as Jet nodded, taking place by the Rider side.

 _ **LION ! TORA ! CHEETAH ! LA-TAH LA-TAH, LA-TORA~TAR !**_

As Eiji changed into his feline themed armor, he and Jet dashed at the Roidmude, leaving Levy, Droy, Panther, Birth and Necrom to take care of the shocker Soldier that stood in the room. The two speedsters began their fight with the Roidmude, the three of them evenly matched in term of speed, which means that, having the numeric superiority, Jet and Eiji were in a better situation than their opponent, but that sadly wouldn't last. Because the Roidmude still had access to his main power.

*Dooooow* Suddenly, everything became slower around the Roidmude. Eiji and Jet could feel their body being suddenly much more heavier, slowed down by the Donyori the Roidmude just used. But unlike usual Donyori that affected large area, this Donyori only had effect on Jet and Eiji, the others continuing their fight without any slowing down. With his opponents slowed down, the Roidmude had no problem fighting them, each and every one of its attacks to fast for his enemies to be countered. However, in the middle of the pummeling, Jet and Droy suddenly began to move faster, successfully dodging a blow as Shinnosuke suddenly appeared in front of them, punching the Roidmude away.

\- "Shinnosuke ! Did you did that to us ?" Asked Eiji.

\- "Not really, it was those guys." As he said that, Jet and OOO noticed small bike the size of Shift Cars on their shoulders.

\- "What are those ?" Wondered Jet. "I didn't know you had bike themed Shift Cars."

\- "Those are Signal Bike, used by my friend and partner go, aka Kamen Rider Mach. He couldn't come to this world but he lend them to me just in case." Explained Shinnosuke. "With them, the Donyori shouldn't have that much effect on you."

\- "You mean we'll be slowed down, but not as much." Resumed Eiji. "I thought those were supposed to make you immune to the Donyori ?"

\- "It is the case normally, but this Roidmude's Donyori is much stronger than a normal one. I guess it reduced the area of effect to increase the effect." Said Belt-san. "Even in Type Tridoron we can feel it a little bit. And if you combine that to his magic that boost his speed, it makes a truly dangerous combination."

\- "I guess it's better than nothing." Said Alain. "Let's see what we can do to take down that thing."

While Shinnosuke and everyone else were busy dealing with the Roidmude, Gajeel was also dealing with his own opponent. Needless to say, fighting against himself was a strange experience for the Iron Dragon Slayer. His opponent using the exact same kind of magic as his, the fight quickly became dull and annoying for Gajeel.

 _ **IRON DRAGON'S ROAR !**_

Gajeel breathed in and unleashed the swirling blast of iron at his evil who, much to his annoyance, did the exact same thing, both attack cancelling each other in a strong shockwave that almost made them fly. Seeing that this wasn't working, Gajeel covered his body with iron scales and rushed at his opponent, throwing punches and kicks. But Gajeel quickly realized that this fight might be harder than what he first though. At some point, he managed to land a powerful right hook at his opponent's face, making him lose his balance but soon after that, he was too punched on the face by his evil twin and what happened next to him by surprise.

*CRACK* A crack suddenly appeared on his iron skin across his right eye, taking him by surprise. They were supposed to have the same kind of magic but the Another seemed to possess a stronger iron than Gajeel's which could quickly become a pain. And the better defense wasn't the only thing this stronger iron offered the Another. As he was starting to feel tired, Gajeel knew he needed to eat something. And when his opponent changed his arm into a jagged sword, Gajeel instinctively did the same but as the two weapons clashed, the Another one slowly chipping through his own, he realized something. If this guy was using the same kind of magic as him, the iron should be different enough for him to eat, which meant that his opponent would be his dinner. Grinning like a child, Gajeel changed his other hand into a claw to grab the word and immediately bite onto it. But much to his shock, he almost broke his teeth on the sword, which made him take a step back.

 _"What the fuck ?! How the hell is that thing so hard !?"_ Wondered Gajeel who failed to avoid his twin jumping on him and… biting onto his sword and taking a big chunk out of it. "What !? Let me go, you ass !" Gajeel managed to get away from his evil twin who was gulping down his iron, his muscles bulking up. "This is getting really unfair." As the Another was slowly making its way to him, Gajeel was saved by a volley of bullets that forced the Another back as Birth came to stand by Gajeel.

\- "Looks like this one is a tough one, huh ?" Asked Akira to Gajeel.

\- "You're god damn right." Seethed Gajeel as he got up. "This guy is going to be one hell of a challenge. But I won't be killed by a fucking clone. I'll show him that the original is always better."

Despite those good thoughts, the situation wasn't looking good for neither group. The magic-enhanced Roidmude was way too fast for Levy, Droy and Necrom and if Jet and Eiji managed to defend themselves pretty well, their opponent was still too fast for them to deal real damages to the robotic monster. The one who was carrying the group was none other than Shinnosuke whose speed allowed him to protect the other from suffering too much, but since he was too busy protecting them, he was slowly tiring himself out and had yet to deal some real damages to his opponent. As for the Another Gajeel, things weren't that much better. Birth and Panther both tried to fight against that creature but failed to deal some real damages, as Gajeel was supposed to be the one to deal with it, the problem being that Gajeel was starting to feel more and more tired as the fight continued. They all needed to find a way to turn the tables around or they might not survive this fight.

 _"This is starting to get really dangerous and annoying."_ Though Shinnosuke as he glared at the Roidmude. _"If only I were even a tad bit faster, I could…"_ Then it dawned on him as suddenly as a stack of brick falling on his head. If speed was what he lacked, then he knew exactly who to turn to for that. He powered down, the Tridoron reappearing next to him as he turn to the other speedster in the room.

\- "JET ! USE THIS !" The Tridoron Shift Car shot out of his hand and straight at Jet who caught it in midair, looking firstly at Shinnosuke then back at the car before nodding.

\- "Alright, let's finish this."

\- "And I won't let you do it alone." Said Shinnosuke as he grabbed the Shift Deadheat Car. "We'll take that thing for a ride with both of us."

Jet let his magic fill the Shift Car which quickly changed a bit, enough for the hood to look like a jet as wings appeared on the side of the Shift Car and a red Drive Driver with a jet wings appeared on his waist.

 _ **START YOUR ENGINE !**_

 _ **FIRE ALL ENGINE !**_

\- "HENSHIN !"

 _ **DRIVE : TYPE DEAD HEAT !**_

 _ **DRIVE : TYPE TRIDORON JET !**_

While Shinnosuke was standing in his classic Dead Heat Type, Jet was clad in a new version of the Tridoron Type. It was still red with white accent but looked like it was made after a fighting jet than a car. The wheels on his feet were still here even though they looked more like the one plane used for their landing, his eyes protected by a yellow vizor included in a cockpit shaped helmet. The tire had been replaced by some kind of landing runway with a red jet on the bottom of it near the waist and he had jet engines on his back, shoulder and feet.

\- "Oh, a jet aircraft themed Drive ?" Noticed Belt-san. "Well, why not."

\- "I think it's pretty cool." Added Shinnosuke as Jet looked at himself with a grin.

\- "Now that is nice !" He then looked at the Roidmude and took a stance, ready to go. "Let's see what this beauty can do !"

\- "Looks like they decided to bring out the big guns." Said Akira as he threw a quick glance at their friends fight.

\- "It's all nice and all, but if someone could give us a hand dealing with that thing, that would be great !" Said Panther, too busy fighting off Another Gajeel with his partner to look at the others.

\- "But I think this is exactly what we need." Said Akira as he fired some shots at the monster, forcing him back and giving some time to him and the others to talk about his plan. "It's an Another so we need Gajeel to take care of him and I think I know exactly what you need to do that." He then powered down and handed his Birth Driver to Gajeel who took it with a curious look in his eyes. "This will give you the boost you need."

\- "Seriously ?" Asked Gajeel with some incredulity. "But what are you going to do, then ? Stand on the side and watch us ?"

\- "Not at all, I have a spare one." He added as he pulled another Birth Driver out of nowhere. "This should be enough to take care of the small fry while you handle the big one."

\- "Well, if you're so sure about that." Gajeel's grin was back as he pulled the Driver on his waist, which change so the sphere and coin slot looked like a dragon head, taking a few Medals from Akira, medals whose side changed to be the Fairy Tail emblem on one side and a representation of Metalicana on the other side, the dragon head on the Driver munching on the coin as he turned the nob.

\- "HENSHIN !"

While Akira was now wearing the alternative form of Birth with the red lines, Gajeel was wearing a whole new version of said armor. It had the same color pattern as Birth, without the dark green part. The spheres on the armor were still there, but not exactly on the same place. The one on the left pectoral was now right in the middle on the chest, the one on the arm were now on the back of the hands. Some were also on the shoulder blades and lower back. As for the helmet, it looked like Metalicana's head with an opening in the mouth to show Gajeel's grinning face.

\- "Gihihihi ! Now that's what I'm talking about ! Now let's take care of that shit !"

First, let's look at the fight Roidmude vs Jet. Thanks to his new armor, the mage was now as fast as the Roidmude he was facing, making the fight much more easier for him. But it didn't stopped here. Thanks to the jet engine on his armor, his speed was helping him overpowering his opponent who had literally no time to even dodge the blows that came at him at a speed he couldn't even follow. At some point though, he managed to use his Donyori to slow Jet down, not enough to make him harmless, but slow enough to dodge his attack. The fight was starting to become a bit more even, but they had forgotten that Jet was more of a mage than a Rider, which was proven by the magic circle that suddenly appeared on his engines.

 _ **FALCON JET RUSH !**_

Shot forward by the engines on his back, Jet landed a kick on the Roidmude that sent the mechanical beast flying to the other side of the room where he broke down the wall as it caved down on him, immobilizing him long enough for Jet to finish it all, pulling on his Brace three times.

 _ **J-J-JET ! HISSATSU ! FULL THROTTLE ! TRIDORON JET !**_

Plane's wings appeared on Jet's arms as all of his engine began to growl, building up the power they unleashed at once, Jet shooting like a missile at the Roidmude, breaking the sound barrier as it did. Reaching the Roidmude, he rammed onto him, sending him high in the air before flying in circle around it so fast he became a blurry ring from which planes made of reddish energy shot out to hit the monster repeatedly and after a few seconds, Jet stopped circling his opponent, flew high above him and came down, leg stretched forward, kicking right through the monster which exploded soon after, scrap metal raining down around Jet as he landed, his friends cheering for him. But they didn't cheered for long as they knew another fight was currently happening.

On the other side of the room, Gajeel was currently facing his Another and with the help of Birth power, he was having a much better time than before and it was showing a lot. His punches were much stronger, almost leaving dent into the metallic skin on the human-dragon monster. And when the latter changed his arm back into a sword, Gajeel countered with a surprise. He took a Medal he then inserted into the Driver, the dragon head eating the medal.

 _ **IRON SWORD !**_

A magic circle appeared on Gajeel's arm as the orb on it shone, transforming into his sword which clashed against the other. But unlike the first times, things were different as the sword that got damaged after a few swings was the Another one, each impact slowly cutting through the metal. After a few more swings, Gajeel's sword cut right through the other, also slicing his metallic skin and making him take a few steps back as Gajeel, grinning like a madman, inserted another medal in the slot of his Driver.

 _ **IRON CLUB !**_

On his other arm, the sphere opened with a magic circle and a large pole of metal appeared, stretching all the way to the other side of the room, taking the Another on the way and slamming him into the wall in the process. When the Another got back up, pushing the rubbles off him, he roared in fury as large rusted wings appeared on his back and taking off to the sky while sending a flurry of metallic spikes at his opponents. But the Another wasn't the only one with a trick in his sleeve.

 _ **IRON WINGS !**_

The spheres on his shoulder blades opened and a pair of metallic wings appeared on his back, wings he then used to pursue his opponent in the air, both twins exchanging blows for a few minutes, minutes during which Gajeel was quickly taking the upper hand.

 _ **IRON TAIL !**_

In a quick motion, Gajeel had grown a tail he then used like a whip, the metallic appendage slamming onto the Another which got sent crashing onto the ground. Gajeel landed right after him, standing not far from him, ready to finish it all.

\- "Hey, Gajeel !" Came Akira's voice, grabbing the slayer attention. "Insert as many medal you want in the Driver ! I feel like you'll like it a lot !"

\- "Alright ! Let's see…" He inserted medal after medal inside the Driver, turning the nob once for each.

 _ **WINGS ! TAIL ! CLAWS ! SWORD ! CLUB ! HEAD ! IRON DRAGON BIRTHDAY !**_

This time, all of the sphere activated at the same time, covering Gajeel in magic circle as his whole body got covered in weapons. He had the sword on one arm, a club on the other, massive claws on his feet, a tail on his lower back, a pair of wings and a dragon head sticking out of his chest, looking like Metalicana's head. With his new upgrades, Gajeel began to pummel his evil twin who couldn't do anything but suffer, the hits breaking down the iron that made up the monster skin as he was forced back with each blow. And as much as Gajeel wanted to have fun, he also knew that he had to finish this.

 _ **IRON CELL BURST !**_

Firstly, Gajeel used his pole to slam his opponent on a wall, the iron melting to wrap around the Another, locking him into place as the dragon head on Gajeel's torso opened, revealing a cannon that began to gather energy as Gajeel inhaled deeply before he and the cannon unleashed two Iron Dragon's Roar that merged together, forming a dragon head shaped iron blast that came for the Another, opening its gigantic maw and closing it down on the blocked Another, creating a massive explosion coming from the blast and from the explosion of the Another who finally disappeared, leaving a poor unconscious mage behind, Gajeel grinning as he powered down, almost disappointed to let it go.

\- "Wow ! That was one hell of a boost !"

\- "Isn't it ?" Said Akira as he took back the Driver and cells he gave to Gajeel. "That was impressive, I have to say."

\- "You were impressive, Gajeel !" Cheered Levy before turning to Jet. "And you too, Jet !"

\- "It's true, but as much as I would like to let you all congratulate each other for those fights, we still have a reactor to destroy." Reminded Shinnosuke.

\- "He's right. We still don't know why they need those, but it probably is for something big judging by the size of it and the energy its generating."

\- "Alright, then. Let's get rid of that thing and go find the other." But as soon as they began to destroy the reactor, a old man in a dark room, looking at them via security camera and smirking at them.

\- "Come on and do as you please, Fairy Tail and Kamen Riders. It is alas already to late for you all and you'll soon realize it the hard way."

 **Ok, here it is. I hoped you liked it despite the delay. If you liked it or if you got any remark, leave a review or a PM ! See ya !**

 **Next time : Battle of Mount Katalto, part three. Juvia on the front line. The mage of the frozen infinity.**


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